Grant Ervin – Deputy Director of Planning and Chief Resilience Officer Aftyn Giles – Senior Sustainability Coordinator

Rebecca Kiernan – Senior Resilience Coordinator Sarah Yeager – Resilience Analysis

Division of Sustainability & Resilience Pittsburgh, PA

Pittsburgh 70 years ago

1940

“Smoky City” or “Hell With the Lid Off”

2017

Pittsburgh Today

• 55 Square Miles

• 305,709 residents

• Daytime population of ~457,000

• Population increasing

• 2nd Largest city in Pennsylvania

• 2nd and 3rd largest economy in

Pennsylvania

• 68th largest in the Country

• Healthcare, Science, Technology

and still steel, glass, and coal

• 90 neighborhoods

• Three Rivers

• Current Mayor: William Peduto

• Hills, hills & more hills!

Pittsburgh

• Pittsburgh is a North Eastern valley city in the Appalachian Mountains.

It was settled by the Iroquois then the British and French as a

strategic transportation node where the Allegheny and Monongahela

Rivers meet to form the Ohio, which leads to the Mississippi River.

• At its height between the mid 1850’s – 1900’s Pittsburgh was the 8th

largest City in the US and rivaled New York and Chicago for industry

and finance.

• Its rivers, sports and historic production of about a half of the nations

steel earned it nick names such as: “Gateway to the West”, “The Steel

City”, “City of Champions”, “Smokey City” and “City of Bridges”.

• 1762 a coal seam was discovered along the south bank of the

Monongahela River. (A superior coal product much denser than

typical coal allowing the achievement of efficient high burn rates.)

• Coal and other rich mineral deposits opened the door for its strong

industrial foundation including a population boom to over 600,000

people and the manufacturing, mining, and export of steel, glass,

aluminum, iron, brass, tin, zinc, ships and petroleum in over 1,000

factories along its river banks.

• Heavy industry created a massive increases in road and river traffic

and pollution leading to a decline in air, soil and water quality.

• As popular commercial transportation routes, the rivers became

disposal location for both industrial waste and sewage overflow.

Historic Facts

The “Smokey City”

Embracing the pollution “ Here’s to grim Pittsburgh

the city of Smoke,

Where the sky’s but a memory

and sunshine a joke,

Where the incense of stogies

perfume the air-

But in spite of her faults

we all love to be there.”

- Meda Logan, poet circa 1907

Initially, Pittsburgh residence embraced it’s

“smoke” as a sign of prosperity and economic

success. Many even felt it made their lungs

stronger… however…

Between 1872 and 1908, Pittsburgh had the

highest typhoid fever mortality rate of any city in

the nation. An individual in Pittsburgh was three

times more likely to die of typhoid fever than any

other American at that time.

The 1940 Donora Smog disaster brought many of

the city’s issues to light. Pittsburgh still struggles

with clean air quality attainment.

“I am convinced that our people want clean air. There is no other single thing which will so

dramatically improve the appearance, the health, the pride, the spirit of the city.”

- Mayor David L. Lawrence, inaugural speech 1946 -

Call to Action

• In 1800’s to reduce air pollution, smoke control ordinances and the Bureau of Smoke Control were introduced

• 1970, Clean Air Act passed in Pittsburgh • 1972, Clean Water Act • In 2006 the City of Pittsburgh along with the Green Building

Alliance formed a Green Government Task force to assist in creating a plan for reducing the City’s GHG emissions.

• 2008 the Climate Action Plan (CAP) was developed as a guide towards achieving a sustainable future for Pittsburgh.

• 2008 the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability and Energy Efficiency (OSEE) and the Sustainability Commission was formed.

• 2009 Pittsburgh hired its first Sustainability Coordinator. • 2010 Joined National Better Buildings Challenge • 2013 Joined Pittsburgh 2030 District • 2014 The department of Innovation and Performance was created

of which the Office of Sustainability (formerly the OSEE) was apart.

• 2014 Sustainability Manager added to the Office of Sustainability. • 2015 Pittsburgh accepted into 100 Resilient Cities Challenge and

Changed name to Office of Sustainability & Resilience • 2016 Joined the Department of Planning as the Division of

Sustainability and Resilience. • 2017 City reaffirmed “Paris (Agreement) and Pittsburgh”

Key Enviro Policies & Actions

Office of Sustainability and Energy Efficiency

Office of Sustainability

Division of Sustainability & Resilience

Mayor’s Office

Innovation & Performance

Department of Planning

Where Do We Fit In?

What Does Planning Do?

The Department of City Planning

performs the processes and functions

that create an orderly, timely,

environmentally sustainable, and

consistent development of public and

private property within the City.

Pittsburgh Department of City Planning

Community Development

Strategic Planning

Zoning & Development

Review

Public Art & Civic Design

Geographic Information

Systems (GIS)

Sustainability & Resilience

P4 Values

Division of Sustainability & Resilience

Division of Sustainability & Resilience

Pittsburgh’s Office of Sustainability & Resilience

What We Do

Responsibilities • Convene, Coordinate and Facilitate

Partnerships

• Create Regulation and Influence Policy

• Set An Example

• Influence Internal and External Investment

Decisions

• Present case studies and research

• Communicate

How We Do It

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17

Current Environmental Goals

2008 Citywide Climate Action Plan Goal: • Reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 20% lower than

the 2003 level by 2023. 2030 include: • 100% Renewable Energy Supply • 50% Energy Consumption Reduction • 50% Water Use Reduction • 100% Fossil Fuel Free Fleet • 100% Diversion from Landfill • 50% Citywide Transportation Greenhouse Gas

Emissions Reduction • Create a Fossil Fuel Divestment Strategy for City of

Pittsburgh Funds

2035 Paris and Pittsburgh Goal: 100% Citywide Renewable Energy Supply

Current Goals

● City Energy Project ● 100 Resilient Cities ● 2030 Districts ● Better Buildings Challenge ● Carbon Disclosure Project ● Sustainable Pittsburgh Challenge ● Innovative Policy Development ● Pittsburgh Climate Action Plan 3.0 ● Preliminary Resilience Assessment ● Resilience Action Plan ● EcoInnovation Districts ● University and Non Profit Sector Partnerships

Paths to Achievement

• Mayor issues an Executive Order to upgrade City facilities • Conducted the City’s first waste audit and worked with PA Resource Council and ALCOA

to conduct a waste pilot project and evaluate waste removal and recycling strategies. • Deployed SPECK pilot to sample indoor air quality in all City departments. • Working with PWSA and American Water to being tracking non-revenue water usage

and identify facilities in need of meters. • Working with PITT to improve current facility data and identify gaps. • Reporting to the Carbon Disclosure Project, PA Municipal Certification and ACEEE • Establishing the framework for Pittsburgh’s 3rd GHG Inventory and Climate Action Plan • Competing in Pittsburgh’s Green Workplace and 2030 District Challenge and the

national Better Building’s Challenge. • Convening stakeholder conversations on Resiliency, Transportation, Waste to Energy,

and Clean Technology. • Working with CMU and partners such as BOSS Controls to develop an Energy

Intelligence Network platform for public facility performance data reporting. • Creating a citywide resilience plan targeting energy usage, water quality, air quality,

health, equity, and community emergency preparedness. • Investing an estimated 7 million in funding for program implementation in areas such as

resiliency, energy efficiency, eco-district development, training, green infrastructure, and staffing.

• Lighting Retrofits and Office Upgrades • Metro 21 Building Diagnostics and Visualization • Energy Audit and Facility Optimization Plan • 2nd Phase Street Light Replacement • Tree Canopy Recovery

Internal Projects

Citywide

Climate Action Plan Goals • Reduce emissions • Improve resiliency • Increase innovation • Foster leadership • Promote workforce development • Introduce economic opportunities

Buildings Energy Waste

Transportation Food and Agriculture

Sequestration

• Energy and Environment: Local generation for air quality improvements, Combined Heat and Power and District Energy Accelerator, Urban Agriculture Zoning

• Buildings: Sustainable Communities Challenge, Addressing the energy burden- Bloomburgh Challenge, EcoDistricts, Zoning Density Changes, Green Garagues, Facilities Optimization, Energy Benchmarking Ordinance

• Waste: R20 Roadmap to Zero Waste, recycling bins pilot • Transportation: Electrification of City vehicle fleet, Mobile Renewable Electric Charging, Complete Streets, Anti Idling, Bus

Rapid Transit • Sequestration: Biophilic Cities Initiative, Greenways 2.0, Tree Ordinance, Clean and Green Plan, Urban Tree and Greenways

Master Plan, Open Space Plan

Civic Projects

Civic Engagement

• Engaged > 1,000 people throughout the process

• Roundtables, Deliberative forums, working groups, steering committee, etc

• Coordinated with the Center for Deliberative Democracy, > 140 people participated

• Over 150 meeting per year world wide sharing Pittsburgh’s story

1940

2017

Why it Matters?

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25

Mill

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Met

ric

Ton

s e

CO

2

Pittsburgh Emissions

Things to Consider

• The Resilience and Equity Dividend • Integrating Resilience into Planning and Design • Training of practitioners in Resilience Approaches • Working Across Sectors to Solve Problems • Empowering Neighbors • Preparedness and Response Teams (Architects, Engineers, IT ,

Community Development) • Adopting the Resilience Framework

• (Coordinate, Initiate, Accelerate, Amplify) • Educating Communities about Ongoing Challenges

The Not so Smoky City?

In the 2016 State of the Air report, the region landed as the 8th worst in the country for year-round measures on fine particle pollution (or soot), and the 14th worst for short-term particle pollution (the number of days with unhealthy particle levels when air quality is especially dangerous). Pittsburgh also ranked 26th worst in the nation for smog from ground level ozone. Asthma rates for the Pittsburgh region, especially children, exceed the national average and air pollution plays a big role in that.

Ongoing Challenges

- Leadership Matters (Top Down – Bottom Up) - Leaders are lifetime “learners” - Communication is key – If you don’t tell your story, someone will

make it up for you! - Sharing is Caring – Develop a Team Dynamic (Many hands make

the load lighter) - Plan to re-plan - Goals are a moving target - Solutions create new problems - Occasionally write out acronyms - No is as important as Yes

Lessons in Progress

Thank You

Aftyn Giles: Aftyn.Giles@PittsburghPA.gov

PittsburghPA.gov/Sustainability Pittsburghpa.gov/onepgh