WHAT MAKES A BUILDING GREEN? WHY SHOULD WE CARE?
LECTURE SERIES CONTINUES SEPT. 27 AT SCHRADER CENTER

WHEELING, W.Va. (September 14, 2009)- - What makes a building green? Why should individuals, corporations and communities construct greener buildings?

Oglebay Institute’s next program in its Living Green Lecture Series is geared toward those who want to learn more about why and how to build green and the costs and benefits associated with this practice.

Holly Childs, executive director of the Green Building Alliance (GBA) in western Pennsylvania, will present “An Overview of Residential and Commercial Green Building,” at 2p.m. Sunday, September 27 a the Schrader Environmental Education Center in Oglebay. The program is free and open to the public.

According to Schrader Center director Eriks Janelsins, a green building, also known as a sustainable building, is a structure that is designed, built, renovated, operated or reused in an ecological and resource-efficient manner.

“Green buildings are designed to meet certain objectives such as using energy, water and other resources more efficiently; improving employee productivity and reducing the overall impact to the environment,” he said.

GBA is a non-profit organization devoted to helping western Pennsylvania integrate environmentally responsible, high performance green building practices into the design, construction and operation of buildings throughout the region. Founded in 1993, GBA was the first non-profit organization in the country to focus exclusively on greening the commercial building sector of a region. Since its founding, GBA’s influence on both public and private development has made it a model for organizations in regions ranging from Cleveland, Ohio to Shanghai, China.

Some of the GBA’s accomplishments in the past decade include: helping Pittsburgh become a national leader in green building, with 21 LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)-certified buildings; launching the Green Building Products Initiative, the country’s first initiative to grow jobs and create economic opportunity through green product manufacture; partnering with the city of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County to incorporate green building practices into government building projects and programs; collaborating with area universities to expand green building curriculums and bringing the U.S. Green Building Council conference, with 4,000 attendees, to Pittsburgh.

Sponsored by Jackson Kelly PLLC, this is the fifth lecture in Oglebay Institute’s Living Green Lecture Series, which aims to inform local residents about a variety of environmental education topics.

“Environmental preservation encompasses numerous complicated topics. Our Living Green series puts these concepts into layman’s terms and helps people incorporate eco-friendly practices into their everyday lives,” Janelsins said.

The series features environmental science experts from throughout Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Each program is free and open to the public and includes a coffee reception, following the presentation, for further discussion of the topic.

For more information or to register for the program, contact the Schrader Center at 304.242.6855. Visit Oglebay Institute on the web at www.oionline.com

This program is made possible through the generous support of the members of the Institute as well as with financial assistance from the West Virginia Division of Culture and History and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the WV Commission on the Arts.