One way to clean-up and modernize our energy system is to decrease the amount of electricity we use each day in our homes, businesses and other buildings. The electricity used to heat, cool, light and power our buildings represents 70% of the entire country’s electricity consumption. And because the majority of our electricity is generated at coal-fired power plants, the huge amount of electricity consumed by the country’s buildings has serious environmental impacts—namely smog, soot and global warming pollution.
Thankfully, we have the technology to drastically reduce energy use in Pennsylvania’s buildings by making more of the Commonwealth’s buildings ‘green’ buildings. On average, green buildings use 30% less energy than conventional buildings—a reduction, for a 100,000 square foot office building, worth $44,000 per year in lowered energy bills. Green buildings also save water and create work environments that increase worker productivity.
Cities such as Boston, Chicago and Washington, DC have realized the benefits of green buildings and have implemented aggressive policies to support their construction. Pittsburgh is also known nationwide as a leader in green building development. To build upon these success stories in Pennsylvania, PennEnvironment is working at the city and state level to push for policies which support the development and construction of green buildings, thereby helping to conserve energy and protect Pennsylvania’s environment.