Talk about walking the walk. The downtown Pittsburgh headquarters of the Green Building Alliance will receive western Pennsylvania’s first-ever LEED platinum designation at a ceremony Friday, June 26. The award recognizes the highest levels of energy-efficient, sustainable design.
GBA’s 3,850-square foot office occupies part of a weathered, brick 1906 structure on the city’s south side, bordering the Monongahela River.
“It was originally a multi-modal warehouse,” says GBA’s Aurora Sharrard of the space now known as River Walk Corporate Center.
Like many local LEED projects, the GBA office chose to renovate a historic space rather than build a new headquarters. Its 2008 renovations allowed the organization, which promotes energy-efficient construction throughout western Pennsylvania, to apply their best ideas.
Wooden floors on two levels were salvaged from another green building project. Low-flow fixtures use 40 percent less water than conventional plumbing, and lighting and power use 22 percent less energy than conventional office spaces. Nearly all office furnishings are reused or refurbished, and 99.9 percent of construction waste were kept from dumpsters by recycling or donating items to Construction Junction, the local building material reuse retailer.
The combined strategies earned GBA a 75 percent score on the LEED score sheet for commercial interiors. Sharrard says the group is now tracking 130 green building projects registered in western Pennsylvania, joining 55 completed structures.
Source: Aurora Sharrard, Green Building Alliance
Writer: Chris O’Toole