Forget black and gold; the new color of Pittsburgh is green.

Once known for the pollution… Forget black and gold; the new color of Pittsburgh is green.

Once known for the pollution that choked residents and resulted in a near constant state of darkness, the Steel City is finding new and creative ways to become a greener city.

City councilman William Peduto, who represents Oakland, recently introduced legislation designed to give incentives to green building construction.

Peduto’s Sustainable Development Bonus Initiative gives commercially zoned buildings bonuses if they are built to LEED standards. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification has become a top priority for Peduto and others in city government.

“I would like to set forth a green agenda for the city in the next year – not just for city development, but for all development,” he said.

His proposed bill would allow new commercial buildings that are LEED certified to exceed the current zoning limits for building height by 20 percent as a way to reward builders and property owners for going green.

“The bonuses aren’t cash bonuses, they’re bonuses in construction. If you have a 55-foot tall building and it is LEED certified, then it will gain an extra 11 feet in height, which is enough to add another story,” explained Peduto in support of his proposal. “This saves the builder money and it saves the city from paying incentives,” Peduto said.

Pittsburgh is making a strong statement nationally with its surge in the construction of environmentally friendly buildings.

“Pittsburgh is the No. 3 green city in the U.S., behind Seattle and Portland,” said Lynn DeLorenzo, a representative of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, a construction and real estate trade association. “I knew a builder in New York who said ‘If you build a building that isn’t LEED certified, then it will be obsolete the day it opens.'”

DeLorenzo advocates “building for the future” and “responsible development.”

Members from the Pittsburgh Green Building Alliance and private construction firms also voiced support for Peduto’s initiative.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl has also advocated measures that are designed to create new green spaces throughout the city. His “Green Up Pittsburgh” project has been in the works for over a year.

According to Kim Graziani, the director of Neighborhood Initiatives for Ravenstahl’s office, the project began as a collaboration between city government and graduate students at Carnegie Mellon University.

An inventory of vacant lots across the city was taken to determine possible uses for the vacant sites, then community development and volunteer groups worked in cooperation with city officials to turn vacant lots into green sites.

Based on community request, the green sites have provided parks, a memorial garden to commemorate victims of violence and an urban farm, which grows crops that are donated to the Pittsburgh Project, a community outreach organization that provides services for underprivileged or at-risk people.

“There’s a better way to do things,” Graziani said, pointing to Ravenstahl’s program as an example.

“The city purchases the materials and offers training to residents so that they can be stewards of the land. The city’s greatest asset, real estate, can often be a community’s greatest liability,” Graziani said in reference to vacant and blighted properties.

The pilot program’s success in the neighborhoods of Manchester, Beechview and the Hill District have paved the way for the expected expansion of the program into other neighborhoods next year.

Additionally, the budget for the demolition of blighted buildings – an integral part of the “Green Up Pittsburgh” project – is expected to increase from $300,000 to about $600,000. Graziani emphasized community involvement in the project.

“We’re not going into neighborhoods and telling them what they should do,” she said. “This is something they have been very receptive of.”