PITTSBURGH, Feb. 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Pittsburgh's
ongoing physical, economic, and environmental transformation has
propelled a surge in sustainable development, green innovation, and
collaboration across multiple sectors – from municipal government,
private business, nonprofit agencies, and university-based
initiatives to major infrastructure projects, technology
manufacturing, and equitable development. To capture the
region's collective efforts in sustainability, Green Building
Alliance and its partners announce the launch of
PittsburghGreenStory.com, a new resource for finding the
latest news, data, stories, people, and places driving Pittsburgh's ongoing green
evolution.
"PittsburghGreenStory.com will provide a regular feed of
new and emerging story leads and background for reporters and
others interested in learning more about the opportunities,
achievements, and challenges facing Pittsburgh as it strives towards true
sustainability," says Dr. Aurora
Sharrard, executive director of Green Building Alliance.
"Pittsburgh's legacy is as a
manufacturing powerhouse – its success driven by the hard work and
innovation of early industrialists, entrepreneurs and
workers. Today, that same spirit continues to energize the
remaking of a city, its riverfronts, neighborhoods, and
economy. It is these deep and broad stories we are looking to
share through PittsburghGreenStory.com."
Current story leads headlining PittsburghGreenStory.com
include:
- Growing a net zero, living building in the heart of the
city. One of Pittsburgh's largest city parks now serves as
a hub for immersive environmental education for Pittsburgh city school children and as a
gathering place for community programs. The new Frick
Environmental Center has been built to meet the rigorous
standards of both LEED Platinum and the Living Building
Challenge. When certified, will become the world's first
municipally owned, free and open to the public, Living
Building.
- Abandoned coal mine cleanup at 460-acre Pittsburgh Botanic
Garden. Coal mine cleanup efforts on 66 acres of land occupied
by Pittsburgh Botanic Garden. Is funded by $716,000 in federal funds. Part of the 460 acres
comprising the Garden, the land was deep mined through the 1920s
and surfaced mined through the 1940s. Pittsburgh Botanic
Garden is working to achieve a radical transformation of the land
involving expanded use of a passive water treatment system to
remove acid mine drainage; the removal of dangerous highwalls;
filling subsidence holes and vertical mine shafts; removal of coal
refuse piles; and installation of a sludge control
system.
- Transforming discarded plastic bottles from the streets of
Haiti and Honduras into the most responsibly made fabric on the
planet. Since 2012, Pittsburgh-based fabric manufacturer
Thread has moved more than 1 million pounds of waste from
Haiti and Honduras and provided dignified jobs
supporting more than 6,000 income opportunities for their
residents. Thread is committed to a carefully monitored,
transparent fabric supply chain, from Ground to
GoodTM; fabric is made in the United States with up to 50 percent
recycled PET from plastic. Beyond income, employees benefit
from job training, process improvements, and micro-loan
programs.
- Construction of petrochemical ethane cracker plant,
Pittsburgh region's largest industrial project in three
decades. Shell Chemical Appalachia has received
approval to build the nation's newest petrochemical ethane cracker
plant in Beaver County, near
Pittsburgh. Located on a former zinc smelter site, the new
facility will be the largest scale industrial project to be
constructed in the tristate region in at least three decades, with
expected job growth and an estimated $6
billion in economic development. Local citizens,
environmental groups, and others have opposed the cracker plant,
citing concerns over its impact on local communities, air quality,
and water quality.
- Sustainable redevelopment of Pittsburgh's last brownfield
site. Foundation, civic, and community leaders are
collaborating in the redevelopment of the 178-acre "Almono" urban
riverfront brownfield formerly occupied by LTV Steel in
Hazelwood, a Pittsburgh neighborhood that employed nearly
13,000 people at the height of the steel industry. The Almono
master plan calls for a mixed use development comprising a
blend of housing, offices, research and development, light
manufacturing, retail, parks, trails and transportation, and
employing a host of sustainable standards and
infrastructure.
Log on to www.pittsburghgreenstory.com for more on these
and other emerging stories, as well as connections to Pittsburgh's green instigators, expert
sources, and video and photography assets. Story leads will be
updated regularly.
Pittsburgh Green Story is a collaborative and growing
partnership of organizations who are champions of Pittsburgh's legacy, present day, and future
green story; it is operating as a project of Green Building
Alliance and is funded by the Richard King Mellon Foundation.
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pittsburghs-transformation-from-industrial-to-sustainable-propels-surge-in-green-innovation-and-collaboration-across-sectors-300414084.html
SOURCE PittsburghGreenStory.com