Pittsburgh holds its place as the North American city with the most buildings formally committed to deep reductions in energy use, water consumption, and transportation emissions, as well as to improvements to indoor air quality.
Pittsburgh leads all 19 established 2030 Districts in the world with 81.7 million square feet committed. The Pittsburgh 2030 District, aninitiative that supports building owners and managers as they strive toward 50% reductions in energy use, water consumption and transportation emissions by 2030, represents 506 buildings. The buildings represent a variety of sectors, including office towers, hospitals, multifamily residential buildings, universities, professional sports facilities and museums.
In 2017, 2030 District Property Partners avoided 1.1 billion kBtu of energy and nearly doubled their water use reduction, leading to a combined $26.7 million dollars in savings. The District has collectively saved $85.4 million in energy and water costs since 2012, while avoiding 434,400 metric tons of CO2.
Pittsburgh 2030 District Accomplishments by the Numbers (2017):
Energy: 12.0% reduction below baseline
Water: 14.5% reduction below baseline
Building on partners’ quantifiable successes, the Pittsburgh 2030 District also launched the city’s first indoor air quality (IAQ) survey. In partnership with the University of Pittsburgh’s Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation, the District recorded more than 300 buildings’ design, construction, operations, and maintenance practices, which will contribute to the development of a measurable IAQ metric for 2018 and beyond.
“2030 partners have pushed us to rethink how we build communities,” says Pittsburgh Mayor William Peduto. “With their leadership and experience, we can create a sustainable and healthy city for everyone.”
In June 2016, energymanagertoday.com reported on Pittsburgh’s performance amongst all cities within the 2030 Challenge. At the end of 2015, the city reduced aggregated building energy use 12.5%, transportation-related emissions by 24.2% and water use intensity by 10.3%. The reductions were due to a combination of efficiency programs and the general increase of efficiency of the equipment and products used in the buildings.
The 3rd Annual Environmental Leader & Energy Manager Conference takes place May 15 – 17, 2018 in Denver. Learn more here.
