leed bldg

Pittsburgh’s Green Building Alliance (GBA) celebrated its silver anniversary at the Emerald Evening Fundraising gala, an annual event to recognize local construction projects that emphasize green, sustainable design. This year’s ceremony was especially auspicious.

For a quarter of a century, the GBA has provided advocacy, networking resources, and technical support to hundreds of construction and rehabilitation projects across the state.

“The 25th anniversary of Green Building Alliance is an opportunity to reflect on the region’s outstanding achievements in sustainability while celebrating the incredible innovation underway,” says GBA Executive Director Jenna Cramer. “The sustainability movement is indelibly linked to Pittsburgh’s transformation, and we are honored to celebrate the people who continue to create places and a region where everyone can thrive.”

To mark the milestone, the GBA recognized 25 innovative green structures built in the last 25 years. The University of Pittsburgh’s McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine laboratory building at 3025 E. Carson St. in Pittsburgh’s South Side was an honoree:  Perhaps the most sci-fi space on the list, researchers at the McGowan Institute are making stunning strides in the field of artificial organs within this green building. In 2005, Pitt announced that this was the first university building in Pennsylvania to earn LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold status.

A sustainable or “green” building is one that emphasizes an integrated approach to building design, engineering, material selection, energy efficiency, lighting, furnishings, technology, building operations, maintenance, and waste management strategies. It should be practical, economical and make a natural connection to both the community and the land.

And finally, an environmentally sensitive building should be beautiful, warm, and a pleasant place to work and learn…the goal for the McGowan Institute building.  The building is a 45,200-square-foot, two-story building approximately three miles east of downtown Pittsburgh on a former LTV steel site. The building holds office and laboratory space for more than 100 scientists, researchers, and staff developing such cutting-edge medical breakthroughs as artificial hearts and lungs and other life-saving devices. The McGowan Laboratory Building helped launch the economic revitalization of the East Carson corridor of Pittsburgh’s historic South Side.

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University of Pittsburgh News Services Press Release