Upcoming GBA Events
& Programs
December 5 - Alliance Building Breakfast: Annual GBA/USGBC Membership Update
Top News and Other Green Events
Sponsor GBA and See Results for Your Business!
Green Building Alliance Secures $750,000 to Develop Green Building Products in Pennsylvania
Be Listed On and/or Search New Pennsylvania Green Building Product Directory – Free!
Sustainability Week Highlighted by Green Building
House Committee Reports on Green Building Legislation
New Green Schools & Residential Green Building
Websites Launched!
Governor Rendell Announces Support for Allegheny County Innovative Alternative Energy Projects
Driving to Green Buildings: The Transportation Energy Intensity of Buildings
November 3 - Rachel Carson Homestead Presents: Rachel Carson Spirit & Nature Conference
December 1 - Ben Avon Holiday House Tour
DEP Announces $10 Million in Alternative Fuels Incentive Grants
Follow-Up: Mayoral Candidates Forum hosted by the Pittsburgh Civic Design Coalition
TOP
NEWS AND OTHER GREEN EVENTS
Sponsor GBA and See Results for
Your Business!
Don’t miss out on the terrific marketing benefits of being a sponsor of the Green Building Alliance. GBA reaches green leaders throughout Western Pennsylvania in the architecture, engineering, construction, design, and facilities and operations management fields. You can showcase your products and services at our annual five-state regional conference, Green$ense, or be an ongoing GBA education program sponsor. In addition to receiving recognition through the promotion of every event and tour on our robust education calendar, sponsors can provide literature at all programs, as well as receive special attendance discounts.
In a new twist, all 2008 sponsorships are automatically bundled with a tax-deductible GBA membership, making it easier to support the organization while simultaneously receiving promotional benefits. We are currently updating our website to feature sponsor logos on the home page, and are also aggressively promoting the site in search rankings and cross-links to affiliated high-traffic sites for greater exposure. Details can be found by visiting GBA’s website here, or by contacting Jeaneen Zappa at jeaneenz@gbapgh.org.
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Green Building Alliance Secures $750,000 to Develop Green Building Products in Pennsylvania
The Green Building Alliance received a $750,000 grant from the Ben Franklin Technology
Development Authority (BFTDA) for Year Two of its Green Building Products
Initiative and its role with the Pennsylvania Green Growth Partnership.
The
announcement came at the BFTDA October meeting . "The green market represents a significant economic stimulus for
Pennsylvania, which ranks 2nd in the country in the number of LEED
certified buildings. Through the work of GBA's Green Building Products
Initiative and the Pennsylvania Green Growth Partnership, substantial
progress is being made as the Commonwealth moves towards improved
conservation and energy independence measures," said Dennis Yablonsky, Secretary of the Department of
Community and Economic Development, and chair of the BFTDA board.
The Green Building Alliance is providing consultation and education
services, a building product directory, and funding support for the
development of new products. GBA is actively recruiting additional
product manufacturers and architectural service providers to be involved
in the initiative.
[Read More]
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Be Listed On and/or Search New Pennsylvania Green Building Product Directory – Free!
At the Green Building Product Summit on October 29th, the Green Building Alliance announced that the Pennsylvania Green Building Products Directory is now on-line. This directory, developed by GBA as part of the Green Building Products Initiative, connects Pennsylvania green building product manufacturers with green building specifiers such as architects, engineers, interior designers, contractors, and other green building professionals. The goal of the directory is to use Pennsylvania-produced green building products in buildings throughout the state, the country, and abroad. To list or search green building products, visit
www.pa-greenbuildingproducts.org. For more information, contact Eric Perl at GBA: 412-977-8259.
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Sustainability Week Highlighted By
Green Building
Rebecca Flora, GBA's executive director, returned to her alma mater, Virginia Tech, last week to give a presentation on green building implications for college campuses as part of the school's Sustainability Week.
“We’re not just here to talk,” said John Randolph, director of the School of Public and International Affairs. “We’re here to figure out what to do.”
According to Flora, the core issue revolves around changing people’s attitudes, with educators expected to be leaders in the growing movement toward green building. Challenges lie in overcoming suburban sprawl and current climate trends, and creating a more healthy society. Green building practices are proving successful in these areas, with evidence of 20 percent better testing rates in schools and earlier discharges from hospitals.
[Read More]
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Two New Local Housing Developments Anticipate Greener Times
Under the sponsorship of the Green Building Alliance, members of two design teams recently showed plans for the River's Edge of Oakmont by Rothschild Doyno Architects (for Brooks Blair Property Development), and Mellon's Orchard South redevelopment in East Liberty (under the guidance of East Liberty Development, Inc.).
Both projects are part of the pilot version of the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED-ND initiative. The well-known LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program, through which Pittsburgh has claimed legitimate national leadership in environmental building conscientiousness, is now expanding to document and recognize neighborhood development as one of several type-specific subprograms. River's Edge and Mellon's Orchard South are two of only four projects in the state to participate in what is essentially beta-testing of the program.
[Read More]
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House Committee Reports On
Green Building Legislation
Two bills related to green buildings are being considered as part of the Governor’s Special Session on Energy that commenced on September 24: the High Performance Buildings Tax Credit Act and the High Performance State-Funded Buildings Standards Act.
The High Performance Building Tax Credit Act (Special Session House Bill 5), which is sponsored by Representative Matt Smith and seeks to reward building owners for meeting high energy conservation standards, was approved by the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee on October 23rd and the House Appropriations Committee on October 29th. This legislation is currently awaiting consideration by the full House of Representatives, and a vote on the House floor is expected within the next two weeks.
The High Performance State-Funded Buildings Standards legislation (Special Session House Bill 4), sponsored by Representative Carole Rubley, mandates that new buildings receiving state funding for construction meet certain green building standards. This bill is currently awaiting committee approval and may be considered by the state House within the next two weeks.
Upon passage in the State House, the bills will move to the State Senate for consideration. HB 4 and 5 must pass the State Senate with the identical language as the State House in order to be signed into law by the governor.
GBA is a key member of the Green Building Forum, which is comprised of the following additional groups: AIA PA, Delaware Valley Green Building Council, Green Building Association of Central Pennsylvania, Penn Environment, PennFuture, Pennsylvania Environmental Council, 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania, and the U.S. Green Building Council.
For more information on these bills or the Special Session, please contact gba@gspconsulting.com.
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New Green Schools & Residential Green Building Websites Launched!
Build Green Schools - www.buildgreenschools.org
Green schools are healthy for students, teachers and the environment. Built properly, green schools are productive learning environments with ample natural light, high-quality acoustics, and air that is safe to breathe.
Schools everywhere are going green, nurturing children while saving money. Get the facts and learn how you can make the case to build green schools.
Green Home Guide - www.greenhomeguide.org
Green homes save money because they use less water and energy than conventional homes. Their use of non-toxic building materials makes them healthier, and they have fewer mold and mildew problems. They are filled with natural daylight, resulting in happier occupants. Additionally, they are better for the environment, consume fewer resources and cut greenhouse gas emissions.
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Governor Rendell Announces Support for Allegheny County Innovative Alternative
Energy Projects
Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell recently announced the investment of more than $11 million in 24 innovative, alternative and renewable energy projects that are designed to attract nearly $122 million in new, private economic growth; and create more than 730 permanent jobs and 1,200 temporary positions.
HydroGen LLC — $500,000 for design and installation of modules to clean hydrogen-rich gas from U.S. Steel’s coke oven operations in the Mon Valley Works plant. The cleaned gas will be used in a demonstration project that could lead to a commercial-scale fuel cell power plant.
Phipps Conservatory and Pittsburgh Botanical Gardens, Inc. — $250,000 to support construction of a zero-net-energy education/research/administration center utilizing anaerobic digesters, solar and on-site wind energy technologies. The center will annually offset 443,124 pounds of carbon dioxide, and create 23 permanent jobs and hundreds of indirect jobs.
PFBC Environmental Energy South Park Technology, Inc. in partnership with CONSOL Energy, Inc. and Sargas AS — $600,000 to develop a pressurized, fluidized-bed combined cycle technology to use wet waste coal for efficient power generation with reduced carbon dioxide emissions. PFBC expects to generate 2.8 million kWh of electricity annually and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 2.6 million tons. The project will result in 1,000 construction jobs over three years and 150 permanent staff.
Carnegie Mellon University — $80,000 to partially fund a prototype hybrid ventilation/automated window opening system. The system will reduce energy use by at least 10 percent.
Walnut Capital Acquisitions Inc. — $400,000 to install a 100 kW solar system, which will demonstrate viability of third-party ownership of commercial solar projects for distributed generation in the redevelopment of old industrial properties.
[More Info]
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Driving to Green Buildings: The Transportation Energy Intensity of Buildings
Designers and builders expend significant effort to ensure that buildings use as little energy as possible. This is a good thing—and very obvious to anyone who has been involved with green building for any length of time. What is not so obvious is that many buildings require the use of much more energy due to their occupants commuting habits. That’s right—for an average office building in the United States, calculations done by Environmental Building News (EBN) show that back and forth trips by office workers use 30% more energy than the building itself.
More Info
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November 3 - Rachel Carson Homestead Presents: Rachel Carson Spirit &
Nature Conference
When: November 3, 2007 – 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Where: Chatham University, Pittsburgh, PA
Why: The Rachel Carson Homestead Association (RCHA) brings to Pittsburgh current national and international dialogue on faith, global warming and earth stewardship. A multi-faith panel will discuss earth stewardship teachings of various world religions, as well as Rachel Carson’s environmental ethic
Cost: $25 Adults; $10 College Students.
Register on-line at: www.rachelcarsonhomestead.org
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December 1 - Ben Avon Holiday House Tour
When: December 1, 2007;
10 a.m.-4 p.m and 6-9 p.m.
What: Enjoy this carbon-neutral walking tour of beautiful Ben Avon, PA. The tour, sponsored by the Avon Club, showcases six historic homes that embody preservation, recycled and renewable materials, adaptive re-use and energy efficiency in a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood.
Cost: $20 in advance/$25 at the door
For more tour information, see
www.benavon.org/avonclub.
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DEP Announces $10 Million in Alternative Fuels Incentive Grants
The Department of Environmental Protection announced $10 million in Alternative Fuels Incentive Grants to support new projects that will replace nearly 95 million gallons of conventional diesel fuel with homegrown biodiesel and spur innovation in alternative fuel technologies.
The grants will leverage another $108 million in private investment.
In addition to supporting technology advancements, the alternative fuel grants will also expand the market for homegrown fuels by providing financial incentives to producers. The program awards five cents per gallon to Pennsylvania biodiesel and ethanol producers, up to 12.5 million gallons in any 12-month period.
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Follow-Up: Mayoral Candidates Forum hosted by the Pittsburgh Civic Design Coalition
More than 125 members of the design community and media attended the Mayoral Candidates Forum hosted by the Pittsburgh Civic Design Coalition at the David Lawrence Convention Center on September 27.
The 90-minute program, moderated by WDUQ radio’s Katherine Fink, was the first time Mayor Luke Ravenstahl (D) and Mark DeSantis (R) met for a public exchange.
Both candidates expressed support for making the North Shore casino LEED-certified, both acknowledged the city is financially strapped and solutions must be creative, and both agreed that there should be better mass transit linkage between Oakland and downtown.
The candidates disagreed on the effectiveness of current community engagement efforts and on the roles of the URA and City Planning
Read More
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UPCOMING
GBA EVENTS
December 5 - Alliance Building Breakfast:
Annual GBA/USGBC Membership Update
In the final Alliance Building Breakfast of 2007, join Green Building Alliance staff and board members for the annual membership update. This breakfast meeting will share new developments and initiatives happening nationally within the USGBC and locally in Western Pennsylvania.
Guests are welcome to attend the live event in Pittsburgh, or participate via videoconference downlink in the Laurel Highlands.
