Master Builders of Western PA carry the “green” standard into new headquarters

When it occupies its new headquarters in Green Tree later this year, the Master Builders Association of Western Pennsylvania will add a completely renovated manufacturing space, the former home of Iron City Sash and Door Co., to a growing inventory of LEED-certified buildings in the region.

Perhaps as important, the regional chapter of the U.S. construction industry’s Associated General Contractors will also have its first public showcase for the unsung–except in the MBA’s bi-monthly magazine Breaking Ground–influence of its members on the green building movement in western Pennsylvania.

According to communications director Jonathan O’Brien, who organized a recent work-in-progress tour of the site, the 27 general contractors and 60 subcontractors who form the association’s core membership have been responsible for 90 percent of the construction in its nine-county region that have gained the LEED certification of the U.S. Green Building Council.

“We went through all the LEED-certified buildings of the Green Building Alliance,” O’Brien says, “and it turned out that 90 percent of the square footage was built by our members.”

That impact might appear relatively large, considering the size of the MBA. However, the proportions also reflect the practice of the industry. MBA members construct 80 percent of all contractor-developed buildings in the region, O’Brien says. Contractors build a broad range of projects, whether or not designed to LEED standards, and leave advocacy for LEED more squarely in the hands of the Green Building Alliance.

Even so, the association’s new headquarters will raise the roof on one message. When it comes to green construction, MBA members turn the standards for energy and environmental leadership into high performance buildings.

Source: Master Builders Association, Jonathan O’Brien
Writer: Joseph Plummer

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