Measuring Carbon Effects of Urban Orchards

This research project, conducted in partnership with the Philadelphia Orchard Project (POP), aims to investigate the carbon impacts of urban orchards, particularly focusing on perennial fruit and herb crops. The project seeks to quantify carbon sequestration by trees and shrubs in community orchards, assess the carbon impacts of local food production, and compare water usage at urban orchards with that in conventional food production systems.

The project involves building a tree inventory database for selected orchards in Philadelphia, categorizing trees based on growth rate and type. The project also aims to develop a method for calculating carbon offsets that considers various factors such as reduced transportation, chemical fertilizer use, and water usage, as well as the displacement of food from other sources. The findings will be disseminated to urban agriculture support organizations, offset platform operators, city governments, and development agencies investing in urban agriculture.

This grant is made possible by the Goldsmith Research Fund, a gift from Carl H. Goldsmith (W ‘88).

Domenic Vitiello

Associate Professor of City and Regional Planning, Weitzman

Domenic Vitiello is an associate professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning in the Weitzman School of Design.

Allison Lassiter

Assistant Professor, City and Regional Planning

Allison Lassiter is an assistant professor of city and regional planning at the Weitzman School of Design. Her work examines opportunities to use landscape infrastructure and emerging technologies to build resilience and increase adaptive capacity.

Michael Nairn

Lecturer, Weitzman School

Michael Nairn has worked for the South Street Design Company in Philadelphia, as a lecturer for the Department of Architecture for Temple University and for the Department of Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning for the University of Pennsylvania.

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