History
Founded in 1993, Green Building Alliance has led educational efforts for and celebrated healthy and high-performing buildings in Western Pennsylvania for over 30 years.
GBA was established as a coalition of forward-thinking regional professionals looking to understand and explore the newly emerging field of green building. This collaboration, supported by start-up funding from The Heinz Endowments, created the first nonprofit organization in the country to focus exclusively on the greening of a region’s commercial building sector.
Today, GBA staff and its partners are still that forward-thinking and passionate group, and the organization is recognized as an established, trusted industry leader with over 1,000 members. Thanks to more than three decades of hard work and dedication on the part of staff, board members, organizational members, and interns, the marketplace conversation no longer centers around “What is green building and why should I adopt green building practices?” but instead focuses on identifying tailored solutions to improve energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions and energy use, improve indoor air quality, cut utility costs, and create healthy, welcoming spaces. These are conversations that GBA is proud to lead.
Recognizing that there is still a long way to go, GBA continues to leverage its early work in establishing and supporting the market for first adopters of green building practices while focusing its ongoing efforts on the next level of market expansion, with particular emphasis on converting the vast stock of existing buildings into green buildings and ensuring community stakeholders are engaged in and helping to lead conversations around projects impacting their communities. These efforts will enable GBA to reach its goal of ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to live, work, learn, play, and thrive in a healthy, high-performing building and community.
