ULI Pittsburgh partnered with the City Of Pittsburgh’s Department of Planning and the Urban Land Institute’s Greenprint Center for Building performance on a trilogy of virtual programs designed to convene and engage public, private stakeholders for informative conversations and discussion on the City’s Climate Action Plan.

The first program, “Pittsburgh Is Going Green-What You Need to Know,” was held on September 10^th.  How is the city of Pittsburgh moving towards a sustainable future, and what role can ULI Pittsburgh members play.

Staff from the City of Pittsburgh’s Department of City Planning joined for a discussion about current and future city sustainability projects, like the Climate Action Plan 3.0 and new district energy programs, to learn what’s new in local sustainability, why it matters to real estate, and how people can get involved.

Speakers included Marta Schantz, Senior Vice President for the Greenprint Center for Building Performance, Urban Land Institute; Sarah Yeager, Climate and Energy Planner, City of Pittsburgh; Flore Marion, Energy Advisor, City Energy Project, City of Pittsburgh’s Sustainability and Resilience Division; Kathrine Thyø Mønsted, District Energy Advisory, Danish Trade Council in North America.

Chip Desmone, AIA, LEED AP, Principal, Desmone Architects ended the program with an overview of Desmone’s WELL Certified building in Lawrenceville.

The 2^nd program was on October 2^nd, with the topic of climate adaptation being an essential aspect of sustainability as real estate prepares for the climate risks we currently face – whether it be storms and flooding or extreme heat.

Speakers included Steven Baumgartner, Urban Systems Strategist, Baumgartner Urban Systems Strategy; Rebecca Kiernan, Principal Resilience Planner at City of Pittsburgh; Will Bernstein, Climate Advisor, American Cities Climate Challenge.

Derrick Tillman, President, and CEO, Bridging the Gap Development, LLC, ended the program giving his developer perspective and how he is working towards more sustainable development designs.

Our last program in the series was on November 18^th, meant to engage in an open discussion about improving building performance through policy. This requires communication between policymakers and the real estate and buildings sector to be successful. The virtual workshop convened City staff and ULI Pittsburgh members for an open collaborative discussion on future directions in sustainability policy provided an opportunity for members to weigh in and inform the city on how new regulations, mandates, and incentives can be designed to help drive innovation, minimize disruption, and maximize value-add for the real estate sector.

Speakers included Grant Ervin, Chief Resilience Officer, City of Pittsburgh, Department of City Planning; Flore Marion, Energy Advisor, City of Pittsburgh; Rebecca Kiernan, Principal Resilience Planner, City of Pittsburgh, Department of City Planning; Kathrine Thyø Mønsted, District Energy Advisory, Danish Trade Council in North America.  The program was moderated by Marta Schantz, Senior Vice President, ULI Greenprint Center for Building Performance.

The series was recorded and can be found on the ULI Pittsburgh YouTube Channel.