2025 Sustainability Fellowship: Thermal Energy Networks Suitability Analysis and Outreach

Thermal Energy Networks Suitability Analysis and Outreach 

Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission 

Philadelphia, PA 

Position is in person or hybrid

About the Sustainability Fellows Program: 

UNH Sustainability Fellowships pair exceptional students from UNH and across the U.S. with municipal, educational, corporate, and non-profit partners to work on transformative sustainability initiatives each summer.  Sustainability Fellows undertake challenging projects that are designed to create an immediate impact, offer a quality learning experience, and foster meaningful collaboration.  Fellows work on-site (or online) with their mentors at partner organizations during the summer, supported by a network of Fellows, partners, alumni, and the UNH Team.   

A detailed description of one Fellowship follows.  To learn more about the other Fellowships offered this year, and for application instructions, click here.  

Eligibility: 

Either 

UNH undergraduate students who will graduate after May 2025 (current first, second, and third year students). 

OR

Students and recent graduates who will have earned an undergraduate degree from ANY accredited college or university by May 2025 (current seniors, recent graduates, and graduate/PhD students). 

About the Host Organization: 

The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) is the Metropolitan Planning Organization for the Greater Philadelphia region, which is the 9-county bi-state region in Pennsylvania and New Jersey that includes the Cities of Philadelphia, Chester, Camden and Trenton. The Greater Philadelphia region comprises 350 municipalities, the majority of which are small or midsize, creating a unique challenge for approaching energy projects. The Sustainability Fellow will be housed under DVRPC’s Community Planning Division in the Office of Sustainable Energy (OSE). The OSE is a small but mighty office that develops energy efficiency and clean energy programs to overcome common barriers and take advantage of regional cooperation. The OSE also provides energy and climate expertise to local governments in the region, convenes with sustainability staff from local governments, and develops strategies to meet local climate and renewable energy goals. Pennsylvania has a very different environmental and renewable energy context than that of New Jersey, particularly regarding state-level capacity, regulations, and renewable energy markets. For this reason, the OSE primarily focuses its efforts on supporting communities and local governments in the collar counties of southeastern Pennsylvania. 

 About the Fellowship – Project Description: 

This project will be a mix of research and data analysis (including GIS), and outreach and engagement activities, focused on new strategies and policies for creating more efficient, low carbon building energy systems with Thermal Energy Networks (TENs). 

DVRPC has a vision for an equitable, resilient, and sustainable region and the goal to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 across the Philadelphia MSA region, as outlined in our Priority Climate Action Plan and DVRPC’s Long Range Plan, Connections 2050.  In order to meet this goal, we will need to pursue ambitious sustainability initiatives and programs that reduce emissions, prioritize progress in environmental justice communities, and transition the region to a cleaner and more resilient electricity grid. Enhancing opportunities for improving building energy use, which is a primary driver of greenhouse gas emissions in the region, is an essential aspect of a just and sustainable energy transition.  

Thermal Energy Networks (TENs) are a solution that can support an equitable clean energy transition within the building sector. Thermal Energy Networks are neighborhood-scale systems that leverage an existing thermal energy resource, such as geothermal or waste heat from an existing building or facility, to supplement the heating and cooling loads provided to multiple buildings. TENs use a single underground pipe system to connect buildings to a thermal resource and include individual heat pumps at each building in the network. TENs legislation and pilot projects are being implemented or explored in a handful of states across the country as these innovative projects continue to emerge. TENs are one tool in the toolkit for ensuring an equitable clean energy transition for several reasons including 1) the ability to connect a variety of building types, 2) the increased efficiency and cost effectiveness of these systems relative to stand-alone heat pumps, and 3) the ability for these systems to be strategically deployed in underserved communities that otherwise may be the last to transition away from on-site combustion technologies. 

The OSE team is currently conducting research on TENs, including national trends, siting requirements, and implementation best practices. The Fellow will build off of this existing work and analyze data to understand the feasibility of TENs pilot projects within southeastern Pennsylvania (specifically Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties). For this phase of the project, the Fellow will conduct additional research and data analysis, which may include spatial analysis with GIS, using available environmental, socioeconomic, equity, and building data. The Fellow will map locations of potential thermal energy resources and optimal sites for TENs projects, giving priority to sites located in Low Income and Disadvantaged Communities (LIDACs). The Fellow will create a presentation and final report to summarize the results of their site suitability analysis. The Fellow can utilize the support of the Creative Services and GIS teams at DVRPC to help with the graphic design and digital mapping for the presentations, documents, and online resources if needed. 

The Fellow will also develop outreach materials for educating local governments and communities on this topic. Thermal Energy Networks have recently gained momentum in the U.S. with a growing number of states providing legislative and programmatic support. At this time, Pennsylvania state legislation does not specify that gas utilities can sell thermal energy, so DVRPC and its planning partners will need to evaluate the policy and regulatory pathways that will support utility-scale TENs. This research on TENs will support DVRPC’s ability to continue to explore and evaluate the regulatory and implementation pathways for this critical strategy. It will enhance our efforts to communicate to our planning partners the value of TENs as part of a just and equitable clean energy transition for the region.  

In addition to the TENs research, the Fellow will be exposed to and may assist the OSE on tasks related to our other projects as time permits, including the Clean Energy to Communities in-depth partnership, the Comprehensive Climate Action Plan, and the Energy Transition Framework. 

Outcomes 

The Fellow’s final deliverables will include: 

• A final report that describes the findings of the site suitability analysis for potential Thermal Energy Networks (TENs) pilot projects, which includes maps, charts, and visuals that illustrate optimal sites for TENs, as well as methodologies, data, and site recommendations for potential utility-owned TEN pilot projects.
• A final presentation to communicate these findings to DVRPC’s partners and potentially individual municipalities with suitable sites.
• Educational materials (e.g. fact sheets, presentations) to raise awareness about TENs among local governments and communities.
• If time allows, the Fellow may create digital resources like a webpage on the OSE (DVRPC) website or an ArcGIS StoryMap to highlight key data and recommendations, and/or host meetings or webinars to present their research and suitability analysis findings to a wide audience of stakeholders.
• The Fellow may assist in drafting language for municipalities and counties to integrate TENs into their local climate action and sustainability plans, helping to pave the way for broader adoption of this emerging technology across the southeastern Pennsylvania region.

This will be an exciting opportunity to learn about a cutting-edge policy and technical solution that can advance equitable climate solutions regionally. The Fellow will benefit from seeing how regional planning agencies like DVRPC work with a wide range of local governments and other stakeholders to support and advance sustainability.  The Fellow will also further their research, communications and technical skills, with engaged mentorship from the OSE team. 

Desired Qualifications: 

• Academic Background:
  • Graduate students, undergraduate students, and recent graduates with majors in the following subjects or related fields: environmental science, urban planning, public policy, geography, sustainable energy, and/or engineering.
• Experience:
  • Coursework, training, experience, and/or interest in renewable energy, energy management, sustainability, climate change, public policy, land use, healthy communities, environmental justice, smart growth or similar topics.
  • Demonstrated ability to complete technical analyses, and to effectively communicate results to a general audience, is desirable.
  • Familiarity with energy systems, technologies, and policies.
  • Coursework, training, and/or experience working with local governments is a plus.
• Technical Skills:
  • Experience in spatial data analysis using GIS or a willingness to learn how to use ArcGIS software.
  • Data analysis, coding, and/or research experience is ideal.
  • Familiarity with Google Suite and Microsoft Office.
• General Skills:
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills.
  • Comfort with or openness to public speaking.
  • Stakeholder engagement and outreach.
  • Problem solving, teamwork, and time management skills.
  • Curiosity and an eagerness to learn.

 Location:  

Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, 190 N Independence Mall West, Philadelphia, PA. 

Work will be performed either fully in-person or hybrid with at least two days in the office per week. Our DVRPC office operates on a hybrid working schedule and will provide an on-site workstation to the Fellow at DVRPC. Working in person or in a hybrid format will allow the Fellow to make stronger connections to the DVRPC staff and interns.  

Mentors: Lauren Pawlowski, Program Coordinator, Office of Sustainable Energy (Supervisor); Liz Compitello, Manager, Office of Sustainable Energy is available to provide additional mentorship support.  

Compensation:  

$6,500 (undergrads) 

$8,000 (post-bac) 
(taxable and distributed on a two-week payroll cycle over the course of the fellowship) 

Expectations: 

Fellows are expected to be primarily dedicated to their assigned projects throughout the summer, and also participate in a variety of networking activities, professional development opportunities, and presentations coordinated by UNHSI.  Specifically, Fellows are expected to: 

Attend a mandatory virtual orientation prior to the start of the Fellowship term, May 27 & 28, 2025.   

Work full-time for the partner organization, May 27 - August 15, 2025  

Complete 400 hours of work, including project work with host organization as well as UNHSI activities, between May 27 - August 15, 2025.  

Complete a Fellowship project according to the work plan. 

Participate in weekly webinars and advisory group meetings. 

Present work at in person launch event on June 17 and 18, 2025 and virtual final presentation on August 7. 

Engage in additional professional development, networking, and advisory activities as offered. 

Provide and receive feedback at the end of the Fellowship. 

Apply by February 9 at  

https://www.unh.edu/sustainability/sustainability-fellowships