Every community faces challenges as a result of changing and more extreme weather patterns and rising energy costs. Similarly, communities have the opportunity to leverage their built environment to become more resilient to the impacts of flooding, storms, wildfires, grid outages, and more. Join Green Building Alliance for a lesson in energy efficiency and building resilience. Paying special attention to municipal buildings and schools, municipality representatives and community residents will use climate risk maps to identify hazards most likely to impact their neighborhoods, as well as ways buildings can be used as tools to prepare for, respond to, and recover from the effects of severe weather events. We’ll look at common risks such as extreme heat, precipitation, flood, drought, wildfires and poor air quality, and see examples of resilient buildings in communities at similar risk. Participants in this workshop will walk away with a self-constructed toolkit to assist in advocacy for more energy efficient and resilient changes in the buildings in their neighborhoods, as well as compliance with Pittsburgh climate and resilience ordinances.
This workshop will also feature a Tree Adoption brought to you by Tree Pittsburgh. Attendees will be able to take home a tree to plant in their own yard. You can learn how to choose the right tree for your property, as well as how to plant and care for trees, in this document. Here is the list of possible species for adoption. Adoptions can take place just before the workshop (3:30 PM-4:00 PM), as well as during a brief mid-workshop break.
Financial and other support for the Building Vibrant Communities Workshop Series has been provided by the Department of Environmental Protection’s Environmental Education Grants Program.
