INNOVATION SPOTLIGHT - Other Resources

City putting energy into first-of-kind initiative to go green:
The Black and Gold City Goes Green, the first-ever attempt by any city in the nation to run a citywide citizen action campaign to cut global warming. Click here to read more.

Creating Green Jobs in PGH
Millions of dollars will be pumped into Pittsburgh and Allegheny County for green collar jobs.’ A closed-down technical college in The Hill is being eyed for a new green-tech education center. Click here to watch video.

Fossil Free Fuel
Fossil Free Fuel offers the latest in two tank renewable fuel system retrofits for diesel engines. Click here for more information.

GTECH Strategies
Growth Through Energy and Community Health (GTECH) merges community development and principles of sustainability into a synthesized model for sustainable community development. Click here for more information.

Regional Enterprise Tower Conservation and Sustainability Project
SPC and Oxford Development are pleased to announce a $3.1 million investment in building upgrades and improvements in lighting, temperature control, restroom facilities and energy conservation. Click here to read more.

Solar Tomorrow
Solar Tomorrow’s mission is to be the global leader in the development and delivery of innovative, aesthetic, architecturally-integrated solar thermal systems of outstanding quality, efficiency, and functionality, which produce energy more economically than conventional solar thermal systems. Click here for more information.

Steel City Biofuels
Steel City Biofuels is dedicated to building the awareness, policy, technology and infrastructure necessary for the sustainable production and use of biofuels in southwestern Pennsylvania. Click here for more information.

YERT
YERT (Your Environmental Road Trip) is a year-long eco-expedition through all 50 United States. With video camera in hand and tongue in cheek, we're exploring the landscape of America's unique approach to environmental sustainability. Click here for more information.

Giant Eagle Columbus Supermarket Becomes LEED Gold(R)-Certified
Supermarket retailer Giant Eagle(R), Inc. today celebrated the receipt of a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED(R)) Gold-certification in northeast Columbus, near New Albany. Click here to read more.

'Green' operators get boost in training
Workers who maintain mechanical systems and equipment in so-called "green" office buildings will get an opportunity for training to help them do their jobs better. Hundreds of new jobs area expected to be created in the Pittsburgh area in the renewable energy field, and the state is investing $400,000 in an effort to train individuals for those positions. A U.S. Conference of Mayors report issued in October estimated that 2.4 million jobs related to renewable energy will be created through 2038 nationally, including about 76,000 in the Pittsburgh region. Full story.

How can a local business help Pittsburgh save energy, clean the rivers and beautify downtown? Build a green roof.

Highmark adds 22,000-square-foot green roof to Fifth Avenue Place terrace

As Pittsburgh struggles to find solutions to its ever-growing energy needs and its continued sewage overflow into the region’s rivers, local businesses can play a role in helping to save energy, clean the rivers and beautify downtown by building green roofs.

Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, the region’s largest health insurer, joined other local businesses as a catalyst for Pittsburgh’s environmental change today as it unveiled a 22,000-square-foot green roof on its Fifth Avenue Place facility in downtown Pittsburgh. The green roof, located three stories above the street on a terrace at the corner of Liberty Avenue and Fifth Avenue, will reduce the company’s energy usage by an estimated 12 percent and will use most of the 37 inches of average annual Pittsburgh rain in the roof instead of sending it to the local storm water system.

“Highmark should be commended for its leadership in demonstrating how we can solve multiple regional issues including storm water runoff, energy performance of existing buildings and reduce the overall warming effect of ‘heat islands’ on the surrounding environment by the installation of green roofs,” said Rebecca Flora, Green Building Alliance Executive Director. “Green roofs provide all of these benefits, plus, they last longer and provide aesthetic appeal. This green roof installation provides added evidence of Greater Pittsburgh’s commitment to green solutions and a green economy.”

According to John Schombert, executive director of 3 Rivers Wet Weather, a local nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of Southwestern Pennsylvania’s water resources, sewage overflow into the region’s rivers can be triggered by as little as one-tenth of an inch of rain. An average Pittsburgh rainfall is one-quarter of an inch.

“At least half of the recreational season from May through September, the waterways are contaminated with polluted overflows,” said Schombert. Schombert also noted that sewage overflows expose Pittsburghers to disease-causing organisms, which is a public health risk.

“At Highmark, we’re committed to environmental initiatives because we know that creating a healthier environment also helps to create healthier communities and healthier people,” said Phyllis Barber, Highmark sustainability coordinator. “By installing this green roof, we are able to cut down on the company’s energy usage and use rainfall instead of sending it into our local systems. We encourage other local businesses to consider green roofs in their building planning so that together we can make a measurable impact on the health of our rivers and our residents.”

Highmark’s extensive green roof system is made from a waterproof roof membrane, some 180 tons of growth medium and 25,000 plants. The growth medium and plants were added at varying depths over the roof – from six-inch fields to 18-inch mounds – to represent a flowering meadow with colorful hearty plants, such as sedum, aster, day lilies and grasses. The green roof replaces a previous 20-year-old roof and is expected to last a minimum of 40 years. The roof is not accessible to the general public or to Highmark employees, but it can be viewed from a variety of downtown office and residential buildings adding green and color to the downtown Pittsburgh skyline.

Highmark worked with a design-build team to develop the green roof including CentiMark Corporation, a Pittsburgh commercial roofing company acting as the prime contractor; Graves Architects, Inc., a Pittsburgh architectural firm acting as project consultant; Lichtenfels Nursery, Inc., a Johnstown-based company providing consultation and plantings; and Oxford Development Company, acting as construction manager.

Highmark’s commitment to environmental leadership includes a variety of sustainable, eco-friendly, green business projects that are aimed at creating a healthier environment and healthier people. These include the operation of a Silver LEED certified Data Center near Hershey, Pa., paper and utilities conservation initiatives and the use of certified green seal cleaning supplies in Highmark's facilities.

As one of the state’s leading health insurers and with nearly 70 years of community involvement, Pittsburgh-based Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield serves 3.1 million members. The company’s mission is to provide access to affordable, quality health care enabling individuals to live longer, healthier lives. Highmark exerts an enormous economic impact throughout Pennsylvania. A recent study states that Highmark’s positive impact exceeded $2.5 billion. Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield employs more than 5,000 people in the region and provides the resources to give its members a greater hand in their health. Highmark Inc. is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans. For more information, visit www.highmark.com.

Manufacturer of cells for solar panels negotiating space in Westmoreland County
This Rostraver manufacturer of cells for solar panels is in negotiations for 500,000 square feet at Sony Electronics Inc.’s plant in Westmoreland County. Sony spokesman Michael Koff confirmed the negotiations for space in the 2.8 million-square-foot facility in East Huntingdon and Hempfield where Sony occupies all but about 1 million square feet. “We have been looking at a number of things in regard to leasing that space, using that space,” Koff said. “That is an opportunity to lower some of our fixed costs.” Full story

Converteam counting on renewable energy, expanding and hiring 100
Pittsburgh-based Converteam, manufacturer of high performance power conversion systems and wind turbines, is expanding and hiring 100 at its North American headquarters as part of its growing commitment to renewable energy. Converteam has an established reputation in the field of wind energy with 3,000 wind turbines around the world that use Converteam electronics. Company growth is attributed to all four of Converteam’s sectors, which manufactures electromechanical machines that convert power for propulsion in the defense, marine, oil and gas and energy industry, says Ralph Ross, director of human resources. But the key is renewable energy, he says. “We see renewables as the industry that will lead us further into the future,” says Ross. “We are very much in a growth mode to have job openings in a bad economy. People want to be here. We’re very high on the workforce in Pittsburgh.” Full story.

eLoop
Recycling Electronics In A Socially Responsible Way. Our national problem with e-waste is quite simple. It is unethical to export e-waste to countries that do not have the infrastructure to protect their people and environment, and it is a bad decision to place electronics that contain hazardous materials in a landfill. Once you have the burden of this knowledge, contracting with an environmentally responsible recycler becomes the right decision.

The mission of eLoop llc is clear. We certify and control the destruction of you data and will track your equipment from the time it leaves your location to its final destination. We will assure that the material is not exported to underdeveloped countries or placed in a landfill, by operating a complete recycling system that turns end of life electronics back into commodity grade materials like metal, glass and plastic. Our goal is to prepare electronic materials for a second life in another form through the loop of activity that will keep our environment safe. If there is an opportunity,eLoop will reuse, remarket or resell the electronics.

By establishing a network of strategic partners that share the Basil Action Network (www.BAN.org) philosophy, eLoop has positioned itself to be the only socially responsible recycler in Western PA. By developing a chain of custody for all equipment that includes documented collections (tracking of serial numbers), manifest for all shipment and certificates of proper recycling issued be the partners of the chain of custody, all equipment is accounted for all the time.

As of August 1, eLoop has the only permanent electronic equipment collection site in the City of Pittsburgh. We have partnered with the Construction Junction, the premier collection site for all recyclable materials located in the East End. By October 2008, we will launch a second permanent collection site in State College, PA.

Please visit our website at www.eloopllc.com or call 724-325-1326 for waste-free, worry-free asset disposition.

Economic Impacts of Climate Change on Pennsylvania
This report identifies key economic sectors in Pennsylvania, which are likely affected by climate change, and the main impacts to be expected for these sectors. The report provides examples of the direct economic impacts that could be experienced in the state and presents calculations of indirect effects that are triggered as impacts on individual sectors in the economy ripple through to affect others. Full report.