Pittsburgh's Commitment to Sustainability Drives Innovative Solutions to Stormwater, Energy Use, and Shale Development Challenges

PITTSBURGH, May 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Pittsburgh's commitment to a sustainable future is driving the development of innovative solutions and new, green technologies that address the challenges of reducing energy usage, addressing stormwater issues caused by aging and inadequate infrastructure, and reducing the environmental impacts of shale gas development.

These efforts and more are captured in detail at PittsburghGreenStory.com, a new resource for journalists providing the latest news, data, stories, people and places driving Pittsburgh's continuing green evolution. Current leads featured on the site include:

    --  Like many older cities served by aging infrastructure, Pittsburgh is
        challenged by combined stormwater runoff -- and subsequent spillage into
        its rivers. In response, the City of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Water
        and Sewer Authority (PWSA) have released the Citywide Green First Plan,
        which outlines how Pittsburgh intends to use innovative, cost-effective
        and green infrastructure approaches to manage stormwater, mitigating
        local street flooding and sewer backups caused by heavy rainstorms. The
        proposed management practices will include solutions such as rain
        gardens, tree plantings, water detention basins, stream restoration, and
        pervious pavement that mimics natural processes to slow and capture
        rainwater.
    --  Pittsburgh startup WindStax builds scalable, vertical axis wind turbines
        that can operate in urban environments. WindStax manufactures the
        largest vertical turbines in the U.S., requiring wind speeds as low as
        five miles. WindStax has pioneered linkages to microgrids and batteries
        to store energy, using their ZeroFirst(TM) technology to allow customers
        to transition between alternative energy sources, smooth supply and
        demand cycles, and still have public power as a fallback. WindStax
        turbines are portable, avian-friendly and silent.
    --  With Pennsylvania at the heart of the shale development boom, Epiphany
        Water Solutions has developed a process to treat produced water at
        natural gas drilling sites, reducing the need to transport produced
        water, which contains high levels of salts as well as trace amounts of
        metals. The Epiphany distillation process leaves the water cleaner than
        tap water so that it can be safely returned to the environment. The
        crystallized salt and material that remains after distillation can also
        have beneficial uses, resulting in waste reduction of up to 97 percent
        of the original produced water volume. Epiphany's solution drastically
        reduces transportation costs and air emissions.
    --  Thar Energy, LLC has developed the next generation of sustainable
        geothermal heating and cooling solutions that offer enhanced energy
        efficiency and a reduced environmental footprint. Thar Energy differs
        from other commercial geothermal systems in that its technology uses an
        established natural refrigerant, recycled carbon dioxide (also known as
        R744), and its system uses a simpler, more efficient, direct exchange
        geothermal design. Additionally, carbon dioxide properties allow for the
        design of significantly smaller diameter tubing capable of being
        installed in smaller diameter boreholes. Reducing borehole diameter is
        central to reducing upfront installation costs that have historically
        hampered the adoption of geothermal technology. The use of recycled
        carbon dioxide as a refrigerant makes Thar Energy's system the most
        sustainable HVAC system available.
    --  Pittsburgh leads North America in urban properties committed to 50
        percent reduction in CO(2) emissions, energy and water by the year 2030,
        as established by 2030 Districts. The Pittsburgh 2030 District's newly
        released 2016 Progress Report details how property partners cut $19
        million in 2016 energy costs by implementing innovations in lighting,
        heating, cooling, and ventilation, totaling $53 million in savings since
        initial reporting. Participants increased total energy avoided 13
        percent from last year alone, saving 982 million kBtu -- or the
        equivalent CO(2) emissions of driving a car 271 million miles. With 491
        participating properties, Pittsburgh leads all 17 established 2030
        Districts in committed square footage (including Seattle, San Francisco,
        and Toronto). The 2030 District initiative also prompted Pittsburgh to
        become one of 23 cities mandating utility disclosure from nonresidential
        properties.

Note to Reporters, Editors: Log on to pittsburghgreenstory.com for more on these and other emerging stories, as well as connections to Pittsburgh's green instigators, expert sources, and video and photography assets. Or, contact us at info@pittsburghgreenstory.com. Story leads are updated regularly.

Pittsburgh Green Story is a collaborative and growing partnership of organizations who are champions of Pittsburgh's legacy, current, and future green story; it is a project of Green Building Alliance and is funded by the Richard King Mellon Foundation.

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SOURCE PittsburghGreenStory.com