Alliance of Pittsburgh building owners slashes carbon emissions by 45%

The Pittsburgh 2030 District, an alliance of building owners in the Pittsburgh area, says that it has reduced carbon emissions by 44.8% below baseline.

Begun in 2012 under the guidance of the Green Building Alliance (GBA), the Pittsburgh 2030 District encompasses more than 86 million sf of space within 556 buildings.

The project has created a savings of $205.8 million in energy and water costs, and 1.85 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions avoided since 2012, according to its 2022 Progress Report.

GBA provides participants with education, training, and guidance to further their progress, covering topics such as:

Conducting deep carbon retrofits on existing buildings to dramatically improve efficiency
Case studies of net zero carbon retrofits
Examples of whole building life cycle analysis
Embodied carbon
Facilitating building electrification to eliminate fossil fuel use, including replacing furnaces and boilers that run on natural gas with ground- or air-source heat pumps.
Thermal energy storage

Pittsburgh is the North American leader in amount of square footage committed to 2030 District goals. There are 22 international 2030 Districts in total.

Roughly one in three office buildings in the largest U.S. cities are well suited to be converted to multifamily residential properties, according to a study by global real estate firm Avison Young. Some 6,206 buildings across 10 U.S. cities present viable opportunities for conversion to residential use.

The Shipyard Condos

Multifamily Housing | May 19, 2023

Biden administration beefs up energy efficiency standards on new federally funded housing

The Biden Administration recently moved to require more stringent energy efficiency standards on federally funded housing projects. Developers building homes with taxpayer funds will have to construct to the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) 2021 for low-density housing and American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers ASHRAE 90.1 for multi-family projects.

Shear Wall Selection for Wood-Framed Buildings

From wall bracing to FTAO, there are many ways to secure the walls of a building. Learn how to evaluate which method is best for a project.

A woman uses her iPhone to access the elevator and her apartment door.

The Key To Multifamily Access Control — Consistent Resident Experiences

Explore the challenges of multifamily access control and discover the key to consistent user experiences with a resident-first approach and open platforms.

Affordable Housing | May 17, 2023

Affordable housing advocates push for community-owned homes over investment properties

Panelists participating in a recent webinar hosted by the Urban Institute discussed various actions that could help alleviate the nation’s affordable housing crisis. Among the possible remedies: inclusionary zoning policies, various reforms to increase local affordable housing stock, and fees on new development to offset the impact on public infrastructure.

Multifamily Housing | May 16, 2023

Legislators aim to make office-to-housing conversions easier

Lawmakers around the country are looking for ways to spur conversions of office space to residential use.cSuch projects come with challenges such as inadequate plumbing, not enough exterior-facing windows, and footprints that don’t easily lend themselves to residential use. These conditions raise the cost for developers.

Rendering of Class A apartment building in Metuchen, N.J, that replaces a factory-warehouse.

Multifamily Housing | May 12, 2023

An industrial ‘eyesore’ is getting new life as an apartment complex

The project, in Metuchen, N.J., includes significant improvements to a nearby wildlife preserve.

Aegis Living Lake Union senior living community in Seattle aims to be world’s first to achieve Living Building Challenge designation

Senior Living Design | May 8, 2023

Seattle senior living community aims to be world’s first to achieve Living Building Challenge designation

Aegis Living Lake Union in Seattle is the world’s first assisted living community designed to meet the rigorous Living Building Challenge certification. Completed in 2022, the Ankrom Moisan-designed, 70,000 sf-building is fully electrified. All commercial dryers, domestic hot water, and kitchen equipment are powered by electricity in lieu of gas, which reduces the facility’s carbon footprint.