New Philadelphia public housing goes green

Geothermal, solar and rainwater collection systems are all part of the $3 million in eco-friendly parts of Paschall Village

The Philadelphia Housing Authority has broken ground for a new housing development that is state of the art from construction to energy efficiency.

Philadelphia Housing Authority Executive Director Carl Greene says they’re drilling into the earth to give the Paschall Village homes and apartments the most current green technologies.

“We’re installing geothermal heating and cooling, and that means we will take advantage of the natural water temperature at the water table at the ground level they put a couple thousand wells about 400 feet into the ground. We’re doing rainwater harvesting here, where we put the rainwater in underground tanks and reusing it to irrigate the grass.”

Greene says the homes will also use solar panels for hot water and electricity to cut typical utility bills in half. The eco-friendly features added $3 million to the cost of the 100 unit project, but Greene says they were paid for that with state and federal grants. The homes replace public housing that were so crime and drug-ridden, that P.H.A. tore them down.