Resource Directory
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Resource Directory Green building projects, services and products in Western Pennsylvania Since 1993, Green Building Alliance (GBA) has educated local professionals about, worked directly with, advocated for, and promoted green buildings and green building products in Western Pennsylvania. As a national pioneer, GBA continues to lead change in our region by advancing economic prosperity and human well-being through the greening of the built environment. Buildings in the United States account for over 70% of the country’s electricity consumption, nearly 40% of its energy use and close to 40% of all its greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Energy Information Administration. Compared to standard buildings, green buildings have been shown by the U.S. General Services Administration to lower maintenance costs by over 10%, reduce energy use more than 25%, lower greenhouse gas emissions by 33% and signifi cantly increase occupant satisfaction. Since the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that Americans spend nearly 90% of their time inside buildings, improvements within the building industry can have a vast impact. This is why GBA continually seeks to further its role as a nonprofi t catalyst for environmentally sound building practices, materials and healthy indoor environments. This Resource Directory celebrates local green building projects, services, professionals and products – and will hopefully serve as both an inspiration and resource as you incorporate green principles into your next building related project, career or venture. What are you waiting for? Erie Susquehanna Warren McKean Bradford Potter Tioga Wayne Crawford Headquartered in Pittsburgh, GBA works with Branches in Forest Wyoming Cameron Sullivan Lackawanna Elk Venango Pike the Laurel Highlands and Northwestern Pennsylvania to Mercer Lycoming Clinton Clarion Luzerne Jefferson Columbia Monroe thoroughly serve all of Western Pennsylvania. These GBA Clearfield Montour Lawrence Union Butler Centre Carbon Armstrong Northumberland Snyder Northampton Branches educate professionals, build technical capacity Beaver Schuylkill Indiana Lehigh Mifflin Juniata and advocate for greener developments and policies Allegheny Cambria Blair Perry Dauphin Berks Lebanon Bucks Westmoreland Huntingdon Montgomery beyond the Greater Pittsburgh area. GBA also works with Washington Cumberland Lancaster Bedford Chester Philadelphia Somerset the other state USGBC affi liate, Green Building Association Fayette Fulton York Delaware Greene Franklin Adams of Central Pennsylvania (GBACPA), and USGBC chapter, Green Building Service Areas for Pennsylvania Delaware Valley Green Building Council (DVGBC). Greater Pittsburgh Branch Outside of GBA’s Network Laurel Highlands Branch Green Building Association of Central PA Northwest PA Branch Delaware Valley Green Building Council Projects 3 Highlighted to celebrate and inspire, this section features Western Pennsylvania’s green building projects. By meeting or pursuing the stringent requirements of U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED rating systems or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR Label, these buildings deserve recognition. They are presented by project category: • Community Institutions 5 • Offi ces 16 • Healthcare 8 • Retail 20 • Schools (PreK-12) 9 • Mixed-Use & Neighborhoods 22 • Higher Education 11 • Residential 23 • Industrial 15 Specialized Services Greening a building requires focused resources and actions beyond the status quo. This section summarizes the specialized service companies and local nonprofi t organizations that support Western Pennsylvania’s green building activities. LEED Credentialed Professionals Dedicated professionals are a vital local resource for green building project and product knowledge. This section contains the Western Pennsylvania building owners and operators, product manufacturers, and design and construction companies that employ at least one LEED credentialed professional. Products Constructing and maintaining green buildings requires sustainable building products that exceed conventional standards. Based on information contained in GBA’s online Pennsylvania Green Building Products Directory, this section includes Pennsylvania manufacturers, distributors and sales offi ces offering green building products. Table of Contents | 2 Introduction As an early adopter of green building practices, Western Pennsylvania has a large number and variety of green buildings. Supported by dedicated individuals, nonprofi t organizations, foundations and higher educational institutions, the region’s green building leadership took shape without government mandates and with few government incentives. As GBA and its members work to add local, state and federal incentives to support energy effi ciency projects and green building development, doing the smart thing becomes even more appealing. A green, sustainable or high performance building is a structure that is designed, built, renovated and/or operated to use resources effi ciently and reduce its overall impact on the economic bottom line, the environment and its occupants. Green buildings typically take advantage of existing infrastructure, including public transportation and amenities. They minimize energy use and may utilize on-site or purchased renewable energy sources such as solar, geothermal and wind. Green buildings also reduce water and material use, both in the construction/renovation and operation phases, and positively affect indoor air quality. Additionally, they can serve as an informative education tool. While various rating systems are available to certify green buildings, numerous structures in Western Pennsylvania contain green features but are not certifi ed. These projects include many homes, buildings that pre-date certifi cation systems (e.g., Carnegie Mellon University’s Robert L. Preger Intelligent Workplace) and others. Such buildings are very important to our region’s overall sustainability, but are often hard to consistently track and verify; consequently, this directory focuses on those projects that have been vetted through a green building certifi cation system that requires third-party verifi cation. Therefore, although this directory is not a complete listing of all of our region’s green buildings, it does showcase the leaders in the fi eld and highlights local green building development trends. Shades of Green specifi cally features projects that participate in the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Green Building Rating System, as well as the ENERGY STAR for Buildings program. There are several other green building certifi cation systems in the country, but LEED and ENERGY STAR dominate the marketplace and, by focusing on them, a fairly comprehensive overview of regional certifi ed projects can be provided. Programs such as Green Globes, Labs21 and the National Association of Home Builders’ National Green Building Standard are not profi led in this directory because they have not been widely adopted in this region. Of the other green building certifi cations, the Living Building Challenge (www.ilbi.org) is particularly cutting-edge in terms of its scope and requirements. Several projects throughout the region are pursuing net-zero energy status and although none have yet been listed in the Department of Energy’s Zero Energy Buildings Database (zeb.buildinggreen.com), Pittsburgh’s fi rst net-zero home was recently completed. LEED Green Building Rating System At this time, the most widely recognized green building rating system in the U.S. is LEED, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). It is an internationally recognized green building certifi cation system with third-party verifi cation through the Green Building Certifi cation Institute (GBCI). LEED has been modifi ed and expanded several times since its initial release in 1998. In its present version, LEED 2009 rating systems exist for the following specifi c building types, sectors and project scopes (listed here by local frequency of use): • New Construction & Major Renovations • Healthcare • Commercial Interiors • Retail • Core & Shell • Homes • Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance • Neighborhood Development • Schools New and existing buildings can register with the appropriate LEED rating system to attain certifi cation at the basic (Certifi ed), Silver, Gold or Platinum level, depending on the number of points achieved. More information about LEED can be found online via USGBC (www.usgbc.org) and GBCI (www.gbci.org). 3 | Green Projects Introduction When LEED was fi rst launched in the late 1990s, two of the fi rst 12 buildings in the country to achieve certifi cation were located in the Greater Pittsburgh area. Since then, Pittsburgh has consistently ranked high in comparison to other cities for its LEED certifi ed buildings (both in number and square footage). In about a dozen building type classes, Western Pennsylvania also boasts the fi rst green buildings of their kind—including the fi rst green convention center (David L. Lawrence Convention Center) and fi rst green fi nancial institution (PNC Firstside Center). However, Western Pennsylvania is not satisfi ed to rest on the laurels of its early successes. Through this directory, GBA applauds our region’s LEED certifi ed projects, recognizes those poised for certifi cation through LEED registration and encourages new projects to join their ranks. Known projects through February 2010 are included here; contact GBA