Sustainable Facilities & Geoexchange Plant Tour

Swarthmore College's Dining and Community Commons is a unique collection of spaces that brings together sustainability, community, and campus infrastructure. It includes our newly constructed dining center, featuring an all-electric kitchen, mass timber framing, and a variety of sustainability initiatives, including 430 kW of rooftop solar PV. It also encompasses our renovated former dining hall, now transformed into a student center and community gathering space. Completing the complex is our Central Geoexchange Plant, the "beating heart" of the campus's decarbonization effort, which serves as the central hub for distributing low temperature hot and chilled water throughout campus.

This event is free but space is limited - register today!

Meet Our Guides

Susan Smythe is a Sr. Project Manager in the Facilities Department, where recent projects include the PPR Apartments, Whittier Hall, Danawell, extensive renovations to the Lang Music Building, the Dining and Community Commons Project, and the reuse of one of the former fraternity buildings as the College’s Campus Post Office. Her other role is as the College’s ADA coordinator/504 Coordinator. In this role, she successfully negotiated a settlement with the US Dept. of Justice around ADA compliance, and produced and managed a 6-year plan for barrier removal across campus

Jill Karpinski joined the Swarthmore College community in June 2025 as Director of Sustainable Energy Services. In this leadership role, she helps advance the college's 20x35 Energy Plan. She brings extensive experience in facilities management, along with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and a master's degree in management with a concentration in sustainability.

One of her primary responsibilities is leading the campus's transition from an aging fossil fuel–based energy infrastructure to a modern geoexchange system. Her work includes completing the geoexchange plant and wellfields, upgrading the electrical infrastructure, installing distribution piping and converting campus buildings to the new energy system.