Category: News || By

While protesters are taking to the streets of Pittsburgh during the G-20 summit to decry the evils of globalization, a Penn State professor says that McKeesport's newest home is demonstrating the benefits of international partnerships.

"We can't go back --- globalization is here --- but we can make sure that it's more humane," says James Stewart, professor of labor studies and employment relations at the university's Greater Allegheny Campus in McKeesport.

Stewart was one of the speakers at Wednesday's dedication of the first Blueroof Research Cottage, located at the corner of Jenny Lind and Ninth avenues, Downtown.

"I really wish the leaders of the G-20 countries could come here, along with the protesters," he says. "I believe this project can help bridge the gap between rich and poor, disabled and (able-bodied), and really make it possible for all of humanity to benefit from globalization."

. . .

The research cottage --- designed to allow the elderly or handicapped to live on their own --- was developed by city-based Blueroof Technologies in cooperation with German industrial giant Robert Bosch GmbH and Pittsburgh's Quality of Life Technology Center, a joint venture between Carnegie Mellon* and the University of Pittsburgh.

The local, regional and international mix is a symbol of the "finest that globalization has to offer," says Stewart, chairman of Blueroof's board of directors.

An unidentified married couple in their 70s has agreed to rent the home from Blueroof through McKeesport Housing Authority.

The trim, one-story house with light-blue siding is located in what Blueroof hopes will some day be an entire neighborhood of similar residences.

. . .

Sensors throughout the home will monitor conditions such as water flow, kitchen use, lighting conditions and movement to ensure that the residents are taking care of themselves, says Robert Walters, director of technology for Blueroof.

If not, social-service providers will intervene.

Meanwhile, both Bosch and the Quality of Life center will use the same sensors to collect data on the couple's habits with the hopes of understanding how to make it easier for older citizens to live on their own.

"What you see here represents part of the new economy of western Pennsylvania," says Jim Osborn, executive director of the Quality of Life center. "This is the beginning of the convergence of health care and computer technology to serve a real need that we have here.

"This is kind of the flagship of many good things to come," he says.

. . .

The surrounding blocks --- a mix of newer homes constructed by McKeesport Housing Authority amid vacant lots and decaying older buildings --- could use more good things to come.

In cooperation with the city's Redevelopment Authority, Blueroof wants to build more than a dozen "research cottages" in a so-called "McKeesport Independence Zone."

However, without finding a new source of revenue, it will be difficult to make that happen, says John Bertoty, executive director of Blueroof.

With all of the embedded technology, the actual cost of the home was about $150,000, Bertoty says. Blueroof hoped to obtain a $75,000 mortgage and make the payments by collecting rent.

. . .

Unfortunately, bank appraisers assessed the house at only $45,000, citing low property values elsewhere in the city.

"We thought we had a business model," Bertoty says. "We got killed on the mortgage. So until we find a better way to fund these, we have to step back and decide what we're going to do."

Blueroof hopes to start work on the second research cottage in a few months, Bertoty says, but the status of the third, fourth and beyond are still up in the air.

. . .

There are hopes that the house's energy efficiency could attract funding designed to boost "green" technologies. Three geothermal wells drilled more than 200 feet below the front yard will work with a Bosch-designed heat pump to cool the house in the summer and warm it in the winter.

Assuming the wells do their job, the average winter heating bill for the house will be under $50 per month, Walters says.

"We've got to prove that this technology will save money," he says, both through energy efficiency and by keeping people out of hospitals and nursing homes.

. . .

And Blueroof continues to install monitoring devices and accessible technology in other structures.

Later this year, for instance, four apartments in the McKeesport Towers high-rise will receive a scaled-down version of the research cottage's technology, says Diane Raible, Housing Authority administrator.

Blueroof also was intended to spark economic development in the Mon-Yough area. All of the 15 structures built by Blueroof so far have employed recent graduates of the information sciences and technology program at Penn State's McKeesport campus, Walters says.

"We want to keep our best and brightest and youngest people in this area by giving them meaningful jobs," he says.

. . .

Osborn, of the Quality of Life center, thinks Blueroof and its partners will be able to attract the funding to continue developing the "independence zone."

The participation of Bosch is a strong vote of confidence, he says. "They're not a small company, and they did this for a reason --- because they see many commercial opportunities ahead for this kind of technology," Osborn says. "We're frankly proud to be a part of it."

Disclaimer: The writer is an employee of Carnegie Mellon University. Opinions expressed at Tube City Almanac are not those of Carnegie Mellon University or its affiliates. No remuneration was exchanged in connection with this story and university officials have no editorial control over Tube City Almanac. (Go back.)