Adopted by the City of Pittsburgh in 2022, the Oakland Energy Master Plan (OEMP) is a comprehensive approach to understanding the neighborhood’s current energy demand while developing a practical, data-driven roadmap for achieving energy efficiency, emissions reductions, and resilience goals, and reducing residential energy burden.  

Green Building Alliance was chosen as project manager and convener for the OEMP due to our longstanding relationships with major institutions and energy users in Oakland, and the shared vision of making every community sustainable so that every person can thrive. 

GBA works on behalf of the Oakland Energy Taskforce that includes the City of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Museums, Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh, UPMC, Phipps Conservatory, Carlow University, and local utility providers.  

Phase 1: Create Energy and Carbon Baselines, including Projections (Complete)
Phase 2: Develop Strategies and Scenarios  (Complete)
Phase 3: Create a comprehensive Implementation Plan or Plans  

Buro Happold has assessed Oakland’s energy infrastructure and produced a calibrated energy baseline, projected energy model, and digital twin of the neighborhood. The calibrated energy baseline establishes the current energy use in each of Oakland’s 3,100+ buildings and is the basis for future energy projections, test recommendations, and strategies to determine energy-related impacts at the individual building and neighborhood scale. 

Phase 3 will aggregate the most advantageous energy scenarios into a comprehensive implementation plan with the City of Pittsburgh, to be implemented in partnership with Oakland institutions, private developers, utility companies, and other stakeholders. The implementation plan will detail the necessary steps and responsibilities for each stakeholder group, while providing a digital platform for ongoing refinement and visualization of energy strategies to improve Oakland’s quality of life, mitigate risk, reduce energy and carbon, and address the capital improvements of individual and shared energy infrastructure. 

Learn more at Oakland Energy Master Plan – Buro Happold.