Green Buildings

==Pittsburgh's Green Building is a non-profit organization that has made some valid points and publicity headway in specific areas.==
* Rebecca Flora is of the Green Building Alliance, a group that promotes sustainable architecture.
== Insights==
Large buildings as vast, energy-guzzling sinks. In America, buildings account for 65% of electricity consumption, 36% of total energy use and 30% of greenhouse-gas emissions. Making buildings energy-efficient can make a significant impact on energy policy. 
===Green architecture movement is changing the way buildings are designed, built and run.===
Rise of the Green Building in The Economist, Dececember 2, 2004.
====Pittsburgh Green Building examples:==== 
* Castcon Stone, Inc , 
* Coro Center for Civic Leadership, 
* Siemens Westinghouse Fuel Cell Facility, (never opened)
* McGowan Institute for regenerative Medicine, 
* CMU New House Residence Hall, 
* Felician Sisters Convent and
* Sacred Heart High school.
Featured in the Nov-Dec 2004 edition of Deign Cost Data magazine which focuses on Building Green in America.
===Greening is a Good Investment.===
Investments in greening and in vacant land management can increase property values by as much as 30 percent according to "The Determinants of Neighborhood Transformation in Philadelphia - Identification and Analysis," a study undertaken by the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania's Real Estate Department. 
The author of the study, Susan M. Wachter, says the study looks at the entire city, and it is anticipated that the findings will be applicable to other cities throughout the United States. 
====Keys:====
# Neighborhood blocks with higher concentrations of unmanaged vacant lots displayed lower house prices.
# Tree plantings showed a significantly positive effect on housing prices - increasing value close to nine percent (this equates to about a $3,400 premium on the standard).
# There is a 64 percent rise in housing prices for neighbors of vacant lots that have been cleaned and greened. On the standard house, this would amount to a $24,000 increase.