![Community Acupuncture in Mt. Airy owner Elise Rivers "greening" the old building](http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/hash/89/35/89357ca9ecaccaaad19408201a21b517.jpg "Community Acupuncture in Mt. Airy owner Elise Rivers "greening" the old building")
Several small businesses in Philadelphia have been awarded stimulus funds through the DEP to “green up” their workspaces.
Community Acupuncture of Mt. Airy received $7,432 for the purchase and installation of high-efficiency windows, insulation, and HVAC to conserve energy.
The business, with five employees, occupies an 87-year old building on Germantown Avenue in Northwest Philadelphia.
“The grant was specifically targeted to people like me.,” said owner Elise Rivers. “My intention was to give an old building some help – it needed a total rehab.”
She applied for the grant in May and went ahead with construction projects while waiting for word about acceptance.
The total projects far exceeded expected grant funding, but the rehab was important on principle, Rivers said. “We did it because it was the right thing to do.
“We are setting an example. We are a sustainable business inside and out,” she said, adding that Community accepts patients on a sliding scale, with a mission to provide affordable alternatives to people with chronic illness.
Other grant recipients include:
• Kaplan’s New Model Bakery Inc. -- $9,633 for the purchase and installation of energy efficient oven to conserve energy.
• Re: Vision Architecture -- $6,368.75 to seal the thermal envelope of building through air sealing, increased insulation, and high performance windows/doors along with replacement of skylights to more energy efficient ones.
• Tymbal Art Company -- $2,717.50 for the purchase and installation of an energy efficient HVAC system to conserve energy.
• Coating Development Group -- $4,497 for the purchase and installation of windows, doors, and insulation to conserve energy.
• PA Realty Works LLC -- $14,032.12 for the purchase and installation of high efficiency windows, HVAC, and lighting to conserve energy.
The small business energy-efficiency grant is designed to help business owner rehab workspaces with Geothermal or solar energy systems, or to complete simple upgrade s like installing insulation and replacing leaky windows.
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