Access Green Building Alliance

In 1993, Green Building Alliance began as a loose coalition of forward-thinking western Pennsylvania professionals interesting in green building. They created the first non-profit organization in the country to focus exclusively on greening the commercial building sector of a region. In the years that followed, GBA’s profound influence on both public and private development in western Pennsylvania has made it a model for organizations in regions ranging from Cleveland, Ohio, to Shanghai, China.

In 1997, GBA hired its first full-time executive director, Rebecca Flora. GBA then focused on three program areas: building western Pennsylvania’s technical capacity for green building (education), fostering regional leadership in green building and making green building a key component of the area’s regional identity (public relations & policy), and providing direct services to green building projects (Green Team Builders).

GBA’s success in all of those areas has been dramatic. Western Pennsylvania has become a national leader in LEED-certified buildings. The region is home to several LEED certification “firsts”—including the world’s first LEED-certified convention center (David L. Lawrence Convention Center) and the U.S.’s first LEED-certified visitor center (at Phipps Conservatory).

With GBA’s help, western Pennsylvania has also become a leader in technical expertise for green building. There are more than 120 LEED Accredited Professionals in the local community, and several thousand people have attended GBA workshops and training events since 1998.

GBA’s direct assistance to green building projects includes the Green Building Fund, developed with the CL Fund to provide loans to green projects, and the Product Innovation Grant program, currently in its first round of funding for innovative green product development.

Today, GBA recognizes that western Pennsylvania has only touched the surface of what is possible in green building. We are bringing our services to more people with new branches in the Laurel Highlands and Northwestern Pennsylvania. We are building a broader constituency for green building with new membership and sponsorship programs. And we’ve launched the Green Building Products Initiative, a dynamic strategy to grow green jobs and create economic opportunity in Pennsylvania.

Helped the City of Pittsburgh become a national leader in green building, with 21 LEED-certified buildings
Been instrumental in the development of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center as the world’s first LEED-certified convention center
Launched the Green Building Products Initiative, the country’s first initiative to grow jobs and create economic opportunity through green product manufacture
Formed the Pennsylvania Green Growth Partnership with the Pennsylvania Consortium for Technology and Sustainability
Helped the City of Pittsburgh develop more than 2,748,910 square feet of LEED-certified space, placing it eighth in the U.S.
Recruited more than 130 members
Built a solid base of community support, with a monthly electronic newsletter sent to more than 2,000 people, a quarterly report sent to nearly 5,000 recipients, and an annual report that is distributed nationally to 7,500
Co-hosted the first-ever Greening Historic Properties Summit in conjunction with the 2006 National Trust Conference in Pittsburgh
Partnered with the City of Pittsburgh and with Allegheny County to incorporate green building practices into government building projects and programs
Partnered with more than 20 building-related professional organizations to sponsor events and educational workshops
Collaborated with area universities and colleges in the expansion of their green building curriculums
Built a staff whose members have received local and national honors and awards for promoting green building, including Interiors & Sources magazine’s “Environmental Hero” award in 2004
Been instrumental in bringing the U.S. Green Building Council’s Greenbuild conference, with 4,000 attendees, to Pittsburgh in 2003