3E Links readers are early adopters of sustainable policies, products, and practices, and agents of change who educate friends and colleagues about the triple bottom line. Please share your issue of 3E Links with others and encourage them to subscribe by e-mailing info@sustainablepittsburgh.org.

Events

Actions for Businesses: Resources to Reduce Energy Use, Costs, and Climate Impacts

Presented by: The Business Climate Coalition (BCC) and Champions for Sustainability (C4S)

Thursday, October 29
4:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Pittsburgh Opera Headquarters, 2425 Liberty Avenue, Strip District
Cost: $25 per person; Light hors d'oeuvres and beverages provided
Space is limited.
For more information and to register, click here or contact: Jillian Ryan, 412-258-6652 or Matthew Mehalik, 412-258-6644

Discover practical, “what to do” resources and perspectives for businesses to save money through smarter ways of using energy and reducing climate impacts.

Energy conservation provides an ideal way to reduce costs and climate impacting emissions. Businesses of all sizes are looking to seize opportunities to advance both of these objectives. This event is intended to help businesses by highlighting energy reduction programs in utility operators and distributors under PA ACT 129 and other programs. Other tools to be covered, such as Energy Star-affiliated Portfolio Manager and energy audits, provide useful guidance and ways of measuring progress, both keys to successful business management. Learn about other businesses who are leading in their achievements that have positively impacted their bottom lines.

This event builds off of the summer’s insightful energy and climate debates by providing practical, tangible steps for businesses that pay off. The presented solutions remain robust despite pending legislative uncertainty regarding energy and climate policies.

Panel of Featured Business Case Studies:
Pittsburgh Opera Headquarters and Evolve EA
-Shawn Fertitta, Pittsburgh Opera Resident Artist Program Administrator/Facility Manager, Pittsburgh Opera
-Dave Deal, LEED AP, evolve environment ::architecture

Regional Enterprise Tower and Constellation Energy
-Southwestern Pennsylvania Corporation
-Greg Lok, Director of Program Development, Constellation Energy

Panel of Resources:
- Business opportunities through PA ACT 129: Dave Defide, Program Manager, Duquesne Light
- Energy Procurement and Demand Response Programs: Carolyn Pengidore, CEO, Clearchoice Energy
- Portfolio Manager: The Key to Measuring Progress: Eric Carlson, WV EPA Congressional/State Liaison, U.S. EPA Region III
- Energy Efficiency and Auditing: Chuck Watson, Director, EnergyChaser and Greg Wozniak, President, G. A. Wozniak & Associates
- Regional Energy Strategy: Tim Carryer, Director, Diagnostic Energy Auditor’s Association of Western Pennsylvania
- State energy grants for businesses: Maureen Guttman, Executive Director of the Governor's Green Government Council, PA Department of Energy

Moderated by Nagaraj Sivasubramaniam, Associate Professor, Palumbo*Donahue Schools of Business, Duquesne University

Events Continued

Resources

Support Sustainable Pittsburgh by Supporting Wilkinsburg

Through the generosity of The Pittsburgh Foundation, you have a one-time opportunity to significantly leverage your donations to nonprofits that are featured on a new online giving Web site: www.PittsburghGives.org. Please consider making an online donation to Sustainable Pittsburgh through this web site on Wednesday, October 28 at 10:00 am sharp. Your donation will be matched .50 cents on the dollar by The Pittsburgh Foundation up to a maximum of $2,500! Sustainable Pittsburgh will designate your donation and the match funds you leverage toward conducting a Sustainability Assessment of the Borough of Wilkinsburg.

A Sustainability Assessment is a niche service we offer to municipalities and businesses to assess and recommend practical means to save money, conserve resources, and integrate sustainability into management systems for the long haul.

Please help us help Wilkinsburg -- a community to be applauded for its commitment to accelerating the policy and practice of sustainability. Wilkinsburg is on the cusp of a transformation. Through collaboration with the state, county, local businesses and nonprofits, the community is laying the foundation for future prosperity where sustainability is the framework for maximizing social, economic, and environmental wins. The Sustainability Assessment is well-timed to complement their soon to be completed local comprehensive planning process.

In helping to deploy Wilkinsburg's Sustainability Assessment, you not only benefit this community but the region as a whole as the sum is only as strong as the parts.

Learn more by visiting www.sustainablepittsburgh.org/PittsburghGives_SP.html.

Business Solutions Energy and Climate Focus Group Series

Hosted by: The Business Climate Coalition (BCC) and Champions for Sustainability (C4S)
October 19 and 26, 2009
11:30 am – 2:30 pm
Regional Enterprise Tower, 425 Sixth Avenue, Downtown Pittsburgh
To register, click here or contact: Jillian Ryan, 412-258-6652 or Matthew Mehalik, 412-258-6644
Please indicate which date you would prefer to attend. Meeting details will be provided upon registration.

The Business Climate Coalition (BCC) and C4S are hosting a series of focus group luncheons for businesses. The goal of the luncheons is to gain insights from the expertise of Southwestern Pennsylvania’s business community on what action items participants believe are feasible, cost effective, and produce meaningful energy savings and climate impact reductions. The results of the sessions will characterize which action items, both behavioral and technological, are the most effective for regional businesses in reducing their energy cost and climate impacts. Your participation will help the BCC to provide useful recommendations for Pittsburgh’s businesses.

Adventures in Regionalism – European style
How Pittsburgh can learn from Turin, Italy and Essen, Germany

Sustainability and Smart Growth Brown Bag Forum
FEATURING: Tracy Certo, Pop City; Pat Getty, Benedum Foundation; Allen Kukovich, Power of 32; and Audrey Russo, Pittsburgh Technology Council

Tuesday, October 20
11:30 am - 1:00 pm
Regional Enterprise Tower, 23rd Floor, A.E. Hunt Room
No fee to attend. Bring a bag lunch. Desserts provided.
To register, email: info@sustainablepittsburgh.org or call 412-258-6642

While the Pittsburgh region is recognized internationally for its comeback story, nevertheless many regions around the globe similarly offer valuable lessons from their own renaissances. The featured guests of this forum are recently back from a Transatlantic Cities Network idea-exchange in Europe hosted by the German Marshall Fund of the US. Come hear about the regionalization reform strategy of two metropolitan areas: Turin, Italy, and Essen, Germany. What lessons apply to Southwestern Pennsylvania and our mega-region as we aspire to prosper and compete in the ever-broadening global contest? With the G-20 behind us, the question surely will be: How to catalyze the Pittsburgh region's next great story of prosperity through regional collaboration and sustainable development on the global stage? For a discussion preview, see Tracy Certo's article in the Post-Gazette.

Actions for Businesses: Resources to Reduce Energy Use, Costs, and Climate Impacts

Presented by: The Business Climate Coalition (BCC) and Champions for Sustainability (C4S)

Thursday, October 29
4:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Pittsburgh Opera Headquarters, 2425 Liberty Avenue, Strip District
Cost: $25 per person; Light hors d'oeuvres and beverages provided
Space is limited.
For more information and to register, click here or contact: Jillian Ryan, 412-258-6652 or Matthew Mehalik, 412-258-6644

Discover practical, “what to do” resources and perspectives for businesses to save money through smarter ways of using energy and reducing climate impacts.

Energy conservation provides an ideal way to reduce costs and climate impacting emissions. Businesses of all sizes are looking to seize opportunities to advance both of these objectives. This event is intended to help businesses by highlighting energy reduction programs in utility operators and distributors under PA ACT 129 and other programs. Other tools to be covered, such as Energy Star-affiliated Portfolio Manager and energy audits, provide useful guidance and ways of measuring progress, both keys to successful business management. Learn about other businesses who are leading in their achievements that have positively impacted their bottom lines.

This event builds off of the summer’s insightful energy and climate debates by providing practical, tangible steps for businesses that pay off. The presented solutions remain robust despite pending legislative uncertainty regarding energy and climate policies.

Panel of Featured Business Case Studies:
Pittsburgh Opera Headquarters and Evolve EA
-Shawn Fertitta, Pittsburgh Opera Resident Artist Program Administrator/Facility Manager, Pittsburgh Opera
-Dave Deal, LEED AP, evolve environment ::architecture

Regional Enterprise Tower and Constellation Energy
-Southwestern Pennsylvania Corporation
-Greg Lok, Director of Program Development, Constellation Energy

Panel of Resources:
- Business opportunities through PA ACT 129: Dave Defide, Program Manager, Duquesne Light
- Energy Procurement and Demand Response Programs: Carolyn Pengidore, CEO, Clearchoice Energy
- Portfolio Manager: The Key to Measuring Progress: Eric Carlson, WV EPA Congressional/State Liaison, U.S. EPA Region III
- Energy Efficiency and Auditing: Chuck Watson, Director, EnergyChaser and Greg Wozniak, President, G. A. Wozniak & Associates
- Regional Energy Strategy: Tim Carryer, Director, Diagnostic Energy Auditor’s Association of Western Pennsylvania
- State energy grants for businesses: Maureen Guttman, Executive Director of the Governor's Green Government Council, PA Department of Energy

Moderated by Nagaraj Sivasubramaniam, Associate Professor, Palumbo*Donahue Schools of Business, Duquesne University

Global Sustainability - Trends and Developments in the Built Environment

Sustainability and Smart Growth Brown Bag Forum
FEATURING: Vivian Loftness, University Professor at the School of Architecture, Carnegie Mellon University and a Senior Researcher for the Center for Building Performance and Diagnostics

Friday, November 6
11:30 am - 1:00 pm
Regional Enterprise Tower, 23rd Floor, Fetterolf Room
No fee to attend. Bring a bag lunch. Desserts provided.
To register, email: info@sustainablepittsburgh.org or call 412-258-6642

Vivien Loftness is an internationally-renowned researcher, author and educator with expertise in environmental design and sustainability, advanced building systems and systems integration, climate and regionalism in architecture, as well as design for performance in the workplace of the future. An appointee to the Assurance Group to Advance Mandate of the Energy Efficiency in Buildings Project of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), Vivien will discuss global sustainability trends and developments. She will also provide insight to the work of WBCSD, a CEO-led, global association of some 200 companies dealing exclusively with business and sustainable development. The Council provides a platform for companies to explore sustainable development, share best practices, and to advocate business positions. Come learn about the business case for and how businesses in our region can be advocates for sustainability here and globally.

Presented by:
Green Building Alliance
Sustainable Pittsburgh

7th Annual Public Officials Sustainable Community Design Charrette
CALL FOR MUNICIPALITIES

Friday, November 20
8:30 am - 12:30 pm
Greentree Municipal Building
Free; lunch will be provided.
Open to limited number of municipalities.

Municipalities in SWPA, this is for you:
Free expert consultation on pressing sustainable community design challenges and opportunities.

Sustainable Pittsburgh's Sustainable Community Development Network, AIA Pittsburgh, and the Local Government Academy are now welcoming interested municipalities to propose to be "clients" for this free, half-day, hands-on, charrette-style consultation.

How it works: Up to five municipalities will be selected to benefit from the assistance of a team of pro bono experts. The municipality identifies a pressing sustainability challenge or opportunity and we assemble a team of experts to be on hand to work through the issue and generate practical solutions. Issues may relate to: main street revitalization, infill development, transportation access, energy efficiency or resource conservation, community development, a social or human service concern, community or green space, etc. For ideas and insights, refer to the Sustainable Community Rapid Assessment and 14 Sustainable Community Resource Sheets found at: www.sustainablecommunityessentials.org

Are you an interested municipality? Please call 412-258-6643. We'll discuss your needs and determine if there's a good fit. All that is required is attendance from your municipality to include at least one elected official, a municipal staff person, and one community leader.

6th Annual Southwestern Pennsylvania Regional Equitable Development Summit
"Going Regional on Addressing Blighted and Abandoned Properties"

Tuesday, December 15
8:30 am - 12:30 pm (8:00 am - Registration and Continental Breakfast)
Twentieth Century Club, 4201 Bigelow Blvd., Oakland
Fee: $10 Sustainable Pittsburgh members; $15 non-members
Registration and details
Contact: info@sustainablepittsburgh.org or 412-258-6642
Keynote: John Kromer, Sr. Consultant at the Fels Institute, author of Fixing Broken Cities: The Implementation of Urban Development Strategies

The presence of blighted and abandoned properties are among Southwestern Pennsylvania's most pressing threats undermining sustainable communities and regional equitable development. Blight and abandonment is a tip of the iceberg issue that undermines and potentially exacts a downward spiral sentence on quality of life and prosperity across social, economic and environmental essentials for a sustainable community. Without mitigation, this problem will continue to grow and be a drain on the region’s resources. It undercuts the ability of the region's communities to maintain their footing as places of choice. There are real costs. As the Statewide Blight Task Force noted in 2008, “Blight is an “economic crime” costing taxpayers and municipalities millions of dollars annually in lost property tax revenues, sewer and water fees, and increased municipal expenditures.”

Addressing blight and abandonment offers the chance to build assets in a community. It is a win-win strategy that pays in stabilizing neighborhoods, increased revenue, job creation, increase in property values and lower crime. Given the regional nature of this issue, regional approaches are in order. However, at present, there exists no regional plan, decision-making table, nor coordinated regional effort to tackle the growing crisis of abandonment and blight in our communities.

This year's Summit will present findings are recommendations from recent work, specific to our region, on how regional capacity can be developed to address blight and abandonment. Practical strategies and cooperative efforts will be highlighted as ripe for deployment to the benefit of individual communities and the regional as a whole. The Summit will be a key milestone in developing new structures and well-substantiated plans for raising capacity around the region to attack blight and return properties to community benefit and often local tax rolls.

Keynote, John Kromer is Senior Consultant at the Fels Institute of Government and is the author of Fixing Broken Cities: The Implementation of Urban Development Strategies. He is a serving as strategic consultant to Sustainable Pittsburgh's Regional Blighted and Abandoned Properties Solutions Project.

Presented by:
- Sustainable Pittsburgh's Sustainable Community Development Network
- University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs: Johnson Institute for Responsible Leadership
- Housing Alliance of PA

Sponsored by:
The Buhl Foundation
The Heinz Endowments
Richard King Mellon Foundation

Three Rivers Bioneers Conference

October 16-18, 2009
Times:
- Friday Registration 7:30 am - 8:15 am. Conference 8:15 am - 5:30 pm, with social events in the evening until 7.
- Saturday Registration 7:30 am - 8:15 am. Conference 8:15 am - 5:30 pm, with social events in the evening.
- Sunday Registration 8:00 am - 9:00 am. Conference 9:00 am - 6:00 pm.
Pittsburgh Project in the Northside
Fee: Full Registration (3 Days) $99.00; Student/Low Income Registration (3 Days) $75.00; Single Day Registration $45.00; Two Day Registration $90.00
For more information and to register, visit www.3riversbioneers.org/registration

Founded in 1990, Bioneers promotes “practical environmental solutions and innovative social strategies for restoring Earth’s imperiled ecosystems and healing our human communities”. The Bioneers believe in a systemic "solve-the-whole-problem" approach”, “Taking care of nature means taking care of people, and taking care of people means taking care of nature”. They “connect the dots among most areas of human endeavor including environment, health, justice and spirit”.

The annual conference held every October has grown so large, and so popular, that twenty cities throughout this country are now holding satellite conferences in tandem with the main conference in California. The Pittsburgh Urban Ecology Collaborative is partnering with Bioneers to bring a 2009 satellite conference to Pittsburgh this fall.

3Rivers Bioneers will feature some of our local visionaries, with mornings of workshops and tours. Locally grown and cooked meals will precede the national speakers; an evening of socialization, networking, and fun will follow. The two keynote speakers are two true Bioneers. Khari Mosley is the Director of Green Economy Initiatives at GTECH and is the liaison with the national organization, Green for All. He will be speaking on regarding green jobs and social justice. Greg Boulos, the Western Region Director of Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA), will be speaking about local food/local economy. These two will be joined by over 40 other visionaries that will be running morning workshops on everything from urban school gardens to how to form community benefit agreements.

City of Pittsburgh Tree Giveaway

Monday, October 19
11:30 am - 1:30 pm
City-County Building, 414 Grant Street, Downtown Pittsburgh
Contact: Mayor’s Office of Sustainability at 412-255-2254

The City of Pittsburgh will be providing tree seedlings free of charge to City residents to plant in their yards. The week will kick-off with a give-away hosted by Mayor Ravenstahl at the City-County Building on October 19th. Tree seedlings will also be handed out at the various Citiparks Farmers’ Markets tis week. The trees to be given away are smaller species. All events are on a “first come, first served” basis and will last until all of the trees have been distributed. The tree give-aways are generously supported by the Shady Tree Commission, Friends of the Pittsburgh Urban Forest, and Eilser’s Nursery.

Dates for Seedlings Giveaway:
Tuesday, October 20
3:30 pm – 7:30 pm
18th and Carson Streets, South Side

Wednesday, October 21
3:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Carrick Shopping Center, Brownsville Road & Parkfield Street, Carrick

Thursday, October 22
3:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Immaculate Conception School parking lot, Cedarville Street & Friendship Avenue, Bloomfield

Friday, October 23
3:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Allegheny Commons Park, (East Commons), East Ohio Street & Cedar Avenue, North Side

Sustainable Transportation Choices for Monroeville: A Community Discussion

Monday, October 19
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Gallery Space, Monroeville Public Library
All programs are FREE. No registration is necessary.
For information, visit www.monroevillelibrary.org

Please come for a community discussion about how we can create a sustainable transportation system that works for everyone in Monroeville and southwestern Pennsylvania. Our panel will include Marilyn Skolnick (Transportation Committee, Sierra Club Allegheny Group), Lee Szymkiewicz (Education Coordinator, Group Against Smog and Pollution), Tom Klevan (Coordinator of Regional Transit Projects, Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission) and Michael Hodes (Monroeville resident). The discussion is open to all, so please bring your ideas, issues, questions and concerns as together we consider the future of transportation in Monroeville and the Pittsburgh region.

Health and the Environment: The Human Connection

Tuesday, October 20
6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Whole Foods Market, East Liberty
Cost: $20 per person To register for classes contact Sarah Alessio or call 412-488-7490 ext. 236
For more information visit PRC's web site.

This program is designed to heighten awareness and encourage action around the issue of toxins in the environment, the consequences of these toxins on human health, and how to avoid exposure. The program provides the public practical solutions such as safe alternatives and healthy lifestyle choices. All participants will receive a free green cleaning starter kit.

Green Infrastructure Symposium

Wednesday, October 21
8:30 am - 4:30 pm (8am registration)
Point Park University, Downtown Pittsburgh
Cost: $25, $10 for each additional individual from the same organization/municipality
Breakfast and lunch is provided with registration.
Space is limited. Reservations are required by October 15.
Contact: Gavin Deming at gdeming@paconserve.org
For more information, visit www.paconserve.org/270

Western Pennsylvania Conservancy's Community Garden and Greenspace Program invites municipalities and community organizations to come learn from top researchers and practitioners from across the country about the value of green infrastructure for solving some of our toughest community problems including:
*Storm water management
*Business district revitalization
*Air and water quality
*Vacant land management

These experts will present information and examples of successful work that is helping communities solve problems using practical, often low-cost green strategies. With support from local groups that are beginning to put these strategies into action here in the Pittsburgh area, participants will have a chance to dig deeper and work directly with the speakers on questions about their own communities.

Reclaiming Abandoned Pennsylvania: Conservatorship for Abandoned Properties

WEBINAR
Thursday, October 22
12:00 PM EDT (Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes)
Cost: $25
Registration required. To register please visit: https://cc.readytalk.com/r/u9lx5cq4l0ys

The Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania will host an educational web conference on the new Conservatorship Act. The Abandoned and Blighted Property Conservatorship Act (Act 135 of 2008), is the most far reaching tool enacted thus far for revitalizing blighted and abandoned property. This web conference will walk you through the law’s provisions, highlight the opportunities and the challenges in the law, share the current state of the law’s application, and address your questions on the use of Conservatorship in your community.

Presenters: Martin J. Danks, Esq., Assistant City Solicitor, City of Allentown, has extensive municipal law experience including lien enforcement, debt collection, code enforcement, and nuisance bar. He is currently in the process of preparing a Conservatorship action on behalf of the City of Allentown.

Irene McLaughlin, JD, is working with the Housing Alliance to monitor and support the implementation of Conservatorship. She was the Pittsburgh City Magistrate specializing in municipal code prosecutions. She has provided legal services to the Beaver County Blight Reduction Program and manages ‘tangled title’ legal services for lower-income homeowners.

Co-sponsors include: PA League of Cities & Municipalities (PLCM), PA State Association of Township Supervisors, PA State Association of Boroughs (PSAB), and Regional Housing Legal Services (RHLS)

40 Environmental Heroes

Friday, October 23
6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Union Project, 801 N. Negley Avenue, Highland Park
Tickets: $40
Limited parking available in the Craig Academy lot on Stanton Ave. Otherwise, street parking is available.
Tickets may be purchased online or by calling Lee Szymkiewicz at 412-325-7382.
More information

Join the Group Against Smog and Pollution (GASP) at its 40th Anniversary Celebration and Benefit in honoring 40 environmental heroes. GASP is a non-profit citizens’ group in Southwestern Pennsylvania working for a healthy, sustainable environment. Founded in 1969, GASP has been a diligent watchdog, educator, litigator, and policy-maker on many environmental issues, with a focus on air quality in the Pittsburgh region.

Big Thinking for a Big World

Luncheon Sustainability Session: "How to Ride the Sustainability Wave and Thrive"
Friday, October 23
Noon - 1:30 pm
Chatham University, Shadyside
Participants may select to attend the morning or luncheon session, or both.
Cost:
Luncheon Session: $45 individual (table of 10: $450)
Register by October 16, 2009
Parking is free. Register early - limited space available.
For more information about the morning and luncheon sessions, and to register, visit Think Big Registration

The Center for Women's Entrepreneurship at Chatham University is celebrating the University's 140th anniversary by encouraging "Big Thinking for a Big World" at its annual THINK BIG Forum. This year's event will encourage big thinking through panel discussions with prominent local businesswomen who will address issues pertaining to strategic business growth, entrepreneurship, leadership, and sustainability.

The luncheon features a panel of cutting-edge Pittsburgh women who work in the growing area of sustainability. This session will focus on what sustainability means to business growth, product positioning, profit, consumer expectations and acceptance.

Luncheon Panel Moderators
* Mary Whitney, University Sustainability Officer, Chatham University
* Nancy Gift, Acting Director of the Rachel Carson Institute, Chatham University

Luncheon Panel Speakers
* Lindsay Baxter, Sustainability Coordinator, City of Pittsburgh
* Tania Bikerman, Chief Operating Officer, Castle Co-Packers
* Janice Donatelli, Owner & Co-Founder, ARTEMIS Environmental
* Victoria Holt, Senior Vice President, Glass and Fiber Glass, PPG Industries, Inc.
* Christine Mondor, Principal, Evolve Environment

Wind 101 Workshop

Saturday, October 24
Time: Session 1: 9:30 am - 12:30 pm
Session 2: 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Slippery Rock University's Macoskey Center, Slippery Rock
Cost: $30, $15 for SRU students.
Call 724-738-4050 for more information or visit http://www.sru.edu/pages/756.asp and look on the left-hand side under '2009 Events'.
Space is Limited – You must Pre-Register for this event. Class size: limited to 25 each session.
Receipt of your check payable to “Macoskey Center at SRU” confirms your registration for the workshop.

The Macoskey Center at SRU invites homeowners, small business owners, contractors and students to the Wind Power 101 Workshop Saturday, October 24th. Tax credits, energy de-regulation, reducing costs, decreasing your environmental impact - these are all reasons why your home or business improvement plans should include renewable energy. Wind power is a plentiful, renewable energy source that could reduce your energy bills and your carbon footprint.

Joe and Lisa DiFrancisco of North Coast Energy Systems will teach the Wind Power 101 Workshop and give you the knowledge you need to see if your site is suitable for your own wind turbine. They will explain the basics of wind power, how wind turbine equipment works and give tours of the 2.5 kilowatt-hour wind turbine installation in use at the Macoskey Center. In addition each participant will receive a wind design workbook. **Dress appropriately for the weather -- some outdoor activity**

Green, Healthy Schools Conference

Wednesday, October 28
8:00 am - 4:00 pm
Phipps Conservatory, Oakland
Cost: Members of GBA, Tri-State Area School Study Council, or Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens: $95
Non-members: $110
More information

Featuring Two Nationally Recognized Keynote Speakers: David Orr and Bob Kobet

Twenty percent of United States residents attend school every day - that's more than 56 million students and more than four million faculty, staff and administrators. Over 25% of these students and teachers attend schools that are considered substandard or dangerous to occupant health.

Green schools are healthier for students, teachers and the environment. When built right, green schools are productive learning environments with ample natural light, high-quality acoustics and air that is safe to breathe.

Public and priviate schools alike are realizing that going green just makes sense. On average, green schools save $100,000 per year--enough to hire two new teachers, buy 250 new computers, or purchase 5,000 new textbooks. If all new school construction and school renovations went green starting today, energy savings alone would total more than $20 billion over the next 10 years.

By promoting the design and construction of green schools, we can make a tremendous impact on student health, test scores, teacher retention, school operation costs and the environment. Presented by Green Building Alliance in collaboration with Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens, the Tri State Area School Study Council, and University of Pittsburgh School of Education.

David Lewis Lecture on Urban Design: Featuring Peter Bosselmann

Thursday, October 29
6:00 pm
Carnegie Museum of Art Theater, Oakland
Free
Contact: Lori Sipes at Urban Design Associates, 412-263-5200

A world-renowned practitioner and urban theorist, German-born Bosselmann lectures internationally on urban design and planning. He established urban simulation laboratories in Milan, New York City, and Tokyo, modeled after the Berkeley laboratory that has been under his direction since 1983. His most recent book, and the subject of his lecture, is Urban Transformation: Understanding City Design and Form. He has produced documentary films about urban design issues in San Francisco and New York City, narrated by Jason Robards and Paul Newman.

Bosselmann has won numerous design awards for his projects and research from the American Institute of Architects, the American Society of Landscape Architects, and the American Planning Association and has held teaching residencies at the Politecnico di Milano, the Royal Danish Academy of Art, and the University of Tokyo. An invited exhibition of his work was shown at the Triennale in Milan. Bosselmann is a graduate of the Karlsruhe University in Germany and earned dual master degrees in Architecture and Urban Design at the University of California, Los Angeles.

This will be the eighth annual David Lewis Lecture on Urban Design. It is co-sponsored by the Remaking Cities Institute of the School of Architecture of Carnegie Mellon University and the Heinz Architectural Center of the Carnegie Museum of Art. The lecture series is underwritten by Urban Design Associates in honor of Mr. Lewis, founder of the firm and Emeritus Distinguished University Professor at Carnegie Mellon. Previous speakers in the David Lewis lecture series have been Donlyn Lyndon, Fred Koetter, John Norquist, Leon Krier, Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Hank Dittmar, and Joan Busquets.

Resources

Coal Plant Air Scrubber Technology Results In Increased Water Pollution

Three years ago, Allegheny Energy-after having been sued by five states over the "pollution and acid rain" being put into the air by the company's plant in Masontown, Pennsylvania-installed scrubbers in the plant's smokestacks to remove pollutants from its exhaust. However, since the scrubbers went online in June, the plant daily "dumps tens of thousands of gallons of wastewater containing chemicals from the scrubbing process into the Monongahela River, which provides drinking water to 350,000 people and flows into Pittsburgh, 40 miles to the north." The piece continues to examine the problem of increased water pollution at coal-burning plants which are working to reduce air pollution across the country.

A safe operating space for humanity

Identifying and quantifying planetary boundaries that must not be transgressed could help prevent human activities from causing unacceptable environmental change, argue Johan Rockström and colleagues.

More

Drilling water may be cause of fish kill

The Pennsylvania DEP said that algae -- which may have "hitchhiked" to the Mason-Dixon Line on drilling rigs brought up from Texas to work in the Marcellus shale gas fields in Pennsylvania and West Virginia -- was able to flourish in a brackish Dunkard Creek because of the high levels of dissolved solids and chlorides discharged into the stream by Consol's treatment facility.

German firm says Pittsburgh plant could create 300 'green' jobs

A manufacturing facility slated to open at month's end will create 200 "green jobs" in the region, and could employ up to 300 people when it is running full-bore. Flabeg Solar US Corp., a new subsidiary of German glass finishing firm Flabeg GmBH, is building the 230,000-square-foot plant in Clinton Commerce Park in Findlay to make solar mirrors for power stations that use sunlight to generate electricity.

Sunday Forum: The best new idea in urban design: old-fashioned towns

We know sprawl is bad. During the last 50 years, low-density, auto-dependent development has emptied our cities and towns, chewed up farmland and open space, increased traffic congestion and contributed mightily to global warming. . . If we want to coax people out of their cars and their suburban McMansions, we need to create communities that are a joy to experience up close and personal. That means good design.

China: From economic growth to sustainability

Shocked by the punishment from nature, the provincial government decided to close down 2,100 coal pits by the end of 2010, and equip the remaining with clean energy capacities. It also planned to diversify its industry by introducing organic farming. Shanxi's painful change is an inevitable path for the country to follow.

Consumer Understanding of Energy Terms Falls

While most consumers view "energy efficiency," "smart energy" and "energy conservation" as positive concepts, few fully understand what those and other energy-related terms mean, according to a recent survey.

For information on becoming a Member of Sustainable Pittsburgh, please visit our website.

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Click here to access the 3E Links Archive. Use "Search" on SP's homepage for a great resource.

Sustainable Pittsburgh affects decision-making in the Pittsburgh Region to integrate economic prosperity, social equity and environmental quality bringing sustainable solutions to communities and businesses.

Sustainable Pittsburgh benefits from support in 2009 from:

Bayer Corporation
Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation
Buhl Foundation
Dollar Bank
Falk Foundation
FedEx Ground
The Giant Eagle Foundation
The Heinz Endowments
Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield
Elsie H. Hillman Foundation
Richard King Mellon Foundation
Dylan Todd Simonds Foundation
University of Pittsburgh
UPMC


Special thanks to the SP Members

Sustainable Pittsburgh
425 Sixth Avenue, Suite 1335
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
(412) 258-6642
fax (412) 258-6645
E-mail SP