Grim or green? Like every other big city (and quite a few smaller ones), Philadelphia is facing one of those two choices for its future. Skyrocketing energy costs, pollution-related threats, traffic and population issues, and the spectre of global warming have steadily crept to the foreground in the city called the birthplace of American democracy. Officials have begun taking steps to address these challenges, but here, as in the rest of the country, progress has been sporadic and the payoff unpredictable.

The Urban Green Partnership (UGP) formed to help speed the greening of Philly, by bringing together architects, universities, engineers, green tech experts, local business leaders and philanthropists. The UGP’s primary goal to date: ensure the construction of the world’s biggest, smartest, greenest mixed-use building in America–with retail space, research facilities, and private apartments–in the middle of an established Philly neighborhood.

I worked with UGP to refine its business plan, which in its early drafts communicated the UGP’s goals too strongly, and gambled on bold but unsupported claims that risked a loss of credibility with grantors, city officials, and other decision makers. Working from their extensive research, I constructed a new storyline that gave UGP room to recognize how much work Philadelphia has already accomplished, but let them speak honestly and accurately to the challenge of how much more needs to be done to make Philly a green leader, not just nationally but globally.