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'Green' buildings spur new market
That scenario will be one of the topics discussed at a forum from noon to 2 p.m. today at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall in Oakland.
"Protecting Pennsylvania's Resources: Successes, Challenges, Opportunities and Citizen Action" is the theme of the event being held by the Green Building Alliance, which promotes environmentally friendly construction.
Scheduled to speak are Mayor Bob O'Connor and Kathleen A. McGinty, secretary of the state Department of Environmental Protection.
Green buildings use renewable products and promote use of sunlight and other energy-efficient systems for lighting, heating and air conditioning.
The impetus for the region becoming a manufacturing center for green building products comes from the Green Building Alliance, based on the city's South Side.
Rebecca Flora, the alliance's executive director, will present a 54-page report, "Green Building Products: Positioning Southwestern Pennsylvania as the U.S. Manufacturing Center," at the forum.
The region already has a strong building products industry, with about 450 manufacturers who employ more than 13,000 people, the report notes. Of the largest companies in the area, 20.7 percent are related to building products.
There are more than 50 green projects under way or completed here, making the region a leader in the number and diversity of green building efforts.
Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania State University host three internationally renowned research centers and a variety of innovative advanced degrees related to substantial buildings, Flora said.
These programs are collaborating with the alliance to form a statewide green building research and education consortium called "Inspire," she said.
If the region becomes the nation's green building products manufacturing center, that would expand employment, expand and retain existing businesses, create new companies and products and attract businesses that need an East Coast or North American location, the report concludes.
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