Gold (Energy) Star to the URA

There's an interesting article buried in the back of the City Paper, which I'm surprised hasn't attracted more attention from the more mainstream print media:

Residential construction financed by the Urban Redevelopment Authority must now meet certain federal energy-saving standards...

The URA is asking developers to meet the standards of the Energy Star program, a joint federal effort by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy to establish standards of energy efficiency in products and buildings...

Right now there are 226 Energy Star-qualified homes in Pittsburgh and the surrounding suburbs, according to the EPA's Jon Passe. Of those, 180 were built in 2007.

[URA sustainable-design coordinator Matt] Smuts says that the URA provided funding to the construction of 50 stand-alone houses and between 300 and 600 multi-family units, apartments or attached condos in 2007...

This seems to be a really big deal to me, and I can't decide if the URA is being uncharacteristically progressive in its thinking or if the tide of energy conservation has fully engulfed even the most stalwart of conservative institutions in Pittsburgh. [Or perhaps everyone is just sick of paying $800 gas bills.]

In any case, this may be one of those things that really puts Pittsburgh on the map in terms of Green Design and development. Already there are architects, schools, supporting institutions, foundations, and contractors in the region that are starting to specialize in this type of work. The added weight of the URA, as both a governmental and funding organization, will give a terrific boost to the industry, making energy efficient homes more than just commonplace in Pittsburgh. Could it be possible that the Region is on the verge of developing its own self-sustaining environmental industry cluster?

Moreover, if the URA is helping to producing 650 houses/apartments a year and all of them will have to be Energy Star compliant, that will triple the number of Energy Star Homes in the City within the first year.

More importantly, however, with mortgage prices completely out of whack, it only makes sense for homeowners to reduce the cost of their energy usage in order to minimize their risk of default or foreclosure. This is particularly necessary for areas where there is need for more affordable housing.

So kudos all around, I suppose.