For decades in the early part of the 20th century, boosters referred to Philadelphia as the Workshop of the World. Once a world leader in industrial production, from the Crane shipyard to the manufacturing of Stetson hats, Philadelphia was recognized for its innovation in production.

Now, our City of Brotherly Love is being recognized for innovation in energy efficiency. Enter, the Energy Efficient Buildings (EEB) Hub, located at the Navy Yard. It was established in 2011 by the U.S. Department of Energy as an Energy-Regional Innovation cluster.

“It’s this really unique playground for us,” said Christine Knapp of EEB.

According to the folks at EEB, Philadelphia’s energy expenditures are 29 percent higher than the national average. Their goal is to reduce energy use in the commercial buildings sector by 20 percent by 2020. To accomplish this, they’ve concentrated…