One organization wants to make Downtown a little greener — on the rooftops, at least.
The Downtown Neighbors Alliance is working with Point Park University and the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust to add some greenery — as well as some environmental benefits — to some of its Golden Triangle properties.
John Valentine, the alliance’s executive director, said he reached out to Point Park and the Cultural Trust to get the initiative rolling because they are among the largest property owners Downtown.
“Our organization is going to be the lead in the green economy in Downtown Pittsburgh,” he vowed.
The drive to add more green roofs is one of several initiatives the alliance is planning this year.
Others include a plan to clean up some Downtown alleys, an ambassadors program to assist Golden Triangle businesses with advertising and marketing, creation of a merchants association to help improve Liberty Avenue, and implementation of a committee to potentially give developers more of a voice in shaping the future of the central business district.
The latter initiative came at the request of some developers who wanted to build a consensus on an approach to improving Downtown.
It’s needed, Mr. Valentine said, because “if you talk to multiple developers you get multiple opinions on what the best approach is.
“We’re trying to bring them together to tell us their opinions. We don’t know where it’s going to go from there,” he added. “At this point, it’s more a conversation than anything else.”
During the alliance’s annual dinner last week, Mr. Valentine argued that all sectors — developers, government, businesses, foundations and nonprofits — must work together to improve Downtown, which has been beset with high office vacancies and concerns about safety and cleanliness.
He said he told developers, “What I will do is be a voice of reason because it’s important that we all work together. We want to make sure that we get your thoughts. … But we also want you to listen to what others have to say.”
As for the green roofs, the alliance believes the initiative could help reduce temperatures in parts of Downtown during the summer while improving sustainability and cutting utility costs.
Mr. Valentine cited the green roof on the County Office Building at the corner of Ross Street and Forbes Avenue as one example of the kind of impact such a venture could have.
According to the county, the roof, installed in 2010, has helped to slash the building’s energy costs by about $80,000 a year.
It also has extended the life of the roof, trimmed maintenance costs, improved air quality, decreased heating and cooling costs by 10% to 20%, and reduced the “urban heat island” effect by significantly reducing the level of heat in the concrete areas.
“[Carnegie Mellon University] students documented a 75% reduction in heat intrusion on [the] green vs. conventional roof section in the cooling season,” the county stated.
Mr. Valentine predicted that such benefits could be multiplied if more green roofs are added Downtown.
“The initiative will pay for itself because you save on utilities. There are a lot of benefits to it,” he said.
A spokesman for the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust noted that the plan is still in its early stages and that the organization has yet to identify specific buildings to target for green roofs.
Point Park has had an initial conversation with the alliance about the venture and hopes to arrange a meeting between Mr. Valentine and its physical plant director to further discuss it, a spokesman said.
Beyond the County Office Building, PNC Financial Services Group at one time had a living wall filled with evergreen ferns, sedum, ajuga and other plants on one side of One PNC Plaza.
However, PNC removed the 2,380-square-foot vertical garden, once hailed as the largest in North America, in 2016 after making improvements to the building that increased energy efficiency. The wall had helped to cool the 30-story skyscraper in summer and cut down on heat loss in winter.
The bank currently has three green roofs and a rooftop garden at the Tower at PNC Plaza, its Downtown headquarters.
“PNC is proud to be an industry leader in sustainable development, nationally, and right here in our headquarters market,” a spokeswoman stated in an email.
Seven years ago, the Pittsburgh Downtown Community Development Corporation, a forerunner to the neighbors alliance, had proposed adorning new or repurposed buildings with trees and other greenery to create a “vertical forest,” but that plan never took root.
The Neighbors Alliance also is teaming with the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, another group devoted to improving the Golden Triangle, to spruce up alleys, which have been another source of concern among workers, residents and businesses.
Mr. Valentine said the alliance is planning to clean up two alleys: one near Market Square and another off Penn Avenue in the Cultural District.
The PDP launched a similar initiative last year after complaints from business owners and others about people using alleys to do their business.
Mark Belko: mbelko@post-gazette.com.
First Published: July 1, 2024, 8:00 a.m.
Updated: July 2, 2024, 3:15 p.m.
