Penn State official may make your building energy-efficient

He wrote a textbook on how to make and use chemicals, a 507-page tome titled

Introduction to Chemical Engineering Analysis Using Mathematica

.

It's probably not on your nightstand.

But the author, Pennsylvania State University vice president Henry C. Foley - Hank to friends - may come to affect the lives of everyday Americans in a big way, after being tapped on Tuesday to lead a $159 million program with a gargantuan, green goal: to develop new ways of making buildings dramatically more energy-efficient.

"We really want to revolutionize the way buildings are designed and built," Foley said yesterday, hours after Sen. Bob Casey (D., Pa.) announced his appointment. "It's a very tall order."

No one is seeking to create show-pony systems to serve as science-fair demonstrations. The purpose is to invent practical, working systems that can be installed in existing structures and included in new ones.

In the United States, buildings account for nearly 40 percent of energy consumption and carbon emissions.

Foley will devote at least one-third of his time to the project, the rest to his duties at Penn State, where he is vice president for research and dean of the graduate school.

"He's extremely well-prepared for this job," said Paul Hallacher, Penn State's director of research program development, who reports directly to Foley. "The man just gets things done."

Hallacher, who will help manage the new enterprise, described Foley as a scholar, a thinker, and a leader who has hands-on experience in business and in research.

"He's a wonderful guy to work for," Hallacher said. "He sets a pace. But he gives good recognition to the people under him, he supports the people under him, and he's not afraid to roll up his sleeves and get his hands dirty."

Foley, 54, was born and raised in Providence, R.I., and attended Providence College, about a block from his house. He received a master's degree from Purdue University, earned his doctorate at Penn State, and later worked for American Cyanamid Co., now part of the German chemical giant BASF. There he consulted with firms including Monsanto, DuPont, and Englehard Corp.

After teaching chemical engineering at the University of Delaware, he returned to Penn State in 2000 as head of the department of chemical engineering. In 2004, as director of strategic initiatives, he worked closely with state and federal agencies, helping lead the school's Homeland Security Coordination Council, the Office of Military and Security Programs, and the Center for Space Research.

He spent three years as dean of the College of Information Sciences and Technology before becoming a university vice president in January.

He and his wife live in State College. They have two college-age daughters, one at the University of Pennsylvania, the other at William and Mary in Virginia.

Foley said yesterday that the Energy Department grant was cause for immediate but not endless celebration. "People have been high-fiving all day by e-mail, but now we've got to do the work," he said.

His first task: to gather the researchers - and then to begin to retrofit, renovate, and reinvigorate the first of the buildings that the group will use at the Navy Yard. That building, No. 661, is probably 60 or 70 years old, Foley said.

"We want to turn it into something that's as modern and efficient as it can possibly be," Foley said.

His goal, Foley said, is to produce the kind of change in buildings that the automotive industry has produced in cars: to make them lighter, cleaner, and vastly more energy efficient.

And then - no small trick - to create financial incentives that will make the new science attractive to builders. And to teach the people who wield hammers and wrenches how to put those systems into buildings.

Complicating that challenge, he said, is that a building can't simply be energy-efficient. It must also be comfortable and healthy for people who work or live there.

"This hub really ties all those pieces together," Foley said. "It's a big complicated organization we're building, from the ground up."

He was asked if, given the difficulty and complication, he expected to have any fun.

"Are you kidding me?" Foley answered. "This is a blast. It's everybody's dream to do this sort of thing."