Pittsburgh - GreenZone in the GreenZone

Pittsburg is certainly going green - GreenZone, that is.

(note: I'll finish up my MOMA posts over the next day or so, but I saw something last night that I wanted to share with you if you missed it.)

You're probably aware to one degree or another, that the Pittsburgh is hosting the latest summit of the G20 - essentially a meeting with economic heads of the largest and financially influencial countries in the world. Gatherings like this, where conversations concerning world economic decision-making are taking place are more and more frequently becoming a stage for protests where violence and destruction are unfortunately part of the planning process organizers must consider.

Several of the major news outlets have broadcast from Pittsburgh and many of the stories were about the security or the city's role in hosting them. What you might not be aware of is that the city was selected at the proverbial last minute, setting both a logistical scramble and ironic setting (ironic to me, anyway)

Many broadcasts started with a look at the unprecedented level of security that law enforcement officials created to assure the safety of the President, visiting diplomats and protesters as well as the people working and living in the city. 1000 police officers from around the country, some from as far away as Arizona, arrived in Pittsburg days before the event to be sworn in as part of the security detail. The officers, along with soldiers from the Pennsylvania National Guard, established a perimeter with gates and concrete barriers and defended it with pepper spray, less lethal munitions and other crowd control devices such as sonic disruptors. The force was used to create a GreenZone for discussions to take place while separated from protestors. Most businesses in the area just closed for the 2 days that the meetings were taking place.



But Pittsburgh wasn't only getting attention for having HUMVEE's roaming the streets this week. This high profile visit seemed to give city officials an opportunity to showcase work they've done to upgrade city systems so that they reflect a newer, greener attitude and infrastructure.

Charles Dickens is credited with describing Pittsburg as "Hell with the lid off" in describing the air quality. Beginning in the 1990's, Pittsburg has made impressive strides in turning around a reputation built on belching smoke stacks and dirty rivers. 40 of the buildings in the area are either certified or registered with a LEED rating. And the Lawrence Convention Center is the first and largest convention center in North America with LEED certification and is the venue for the 2009 G20 summit. According to PittsburgGreenStory,

Pittsburgh's 10-year leadership resulted in a collection of buildings, many of which are built on brownfields and save an average 30-60 percent in energy use, 20-50 percent in water use, and recycle up to 90 percent of construction waste.

Oil was discovered near Pittsburg just about 100 years ago in Titusville and since then Pennsylvania has built a large industry based on petroleum and coal. Now, three wind energy farms in the southwestern part of the state comprise to form the largest wind project in the eastern United States. The three wind farms, which combined produce 70 megawatts of electricity, will also help to nearly triple the amount of wind energy in the eastern United States, supplying enough emission-free electricity annually to power 8,200 Pennsylvania homes.

GreenZone in the GreenZone

I just thought it was interesting to see a GreenZone set up around one of the largest GreenZones in North America. Renewable, Reliable, Remarkable.