CEM13/MI7

September 21-23, 2022
Pittsburgh & Carnegie Mellon University
Over the last half-century, the Pittsburgh region has undergone the most extraordinary urban environmental transformation in modern history and now ranks among the top cities in the United States for green certified building space.
And while more work remains, the story of the historic public-private partnerships that transformed the environment of this region is an inspiring tale of an urban renaissance.
Pittsburgh was once the poster child of industrial pollution. In 1927, due to the heavy smoke that loomed over the city, American journalist H. L. Mencken referred to Pittsburgh as, “Hell with the lid taken off.” Those days are, however, long gone. Today, visitors to Pittsburgh will find lush, green hillsides that surround the beautiful skyline.
The iconic three rivers – the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio – and riverfront trails are now top draws for visitors seeking outdoor adventures like kayaking, boating and biking. The city also boasts hosting major fishing tournaments on the beloved rivers.
Western Pennsylvania also has become one of the nation’s best examples of rails-to-trails conversion, with hundreds of miles of rail trails, including the Great Allegheny Passage, which links Pittsburgh with Washington, D.C., and stands out as one of the country’s great trail systems.
Western Pennsylvania also has become one of the nation’s best examples of rails-to-trails conversion, with hundreds of miles of rail trails, including the Great Allegheny Passage, which links Pittsburgh with Washington, D.C., and stands out as one of the country’s great trail systems.
It’s fitting that Pittsburgh, the birthplace of renowned environmentalist Rachel Carson, is today a national leader in the environmental movement and a green model for cities all over the world. Pittsburgh has set an example by renewing, reclaiming and redeveloping its environment through a series of lasting public-private partnerships going back more than 65 years – from the first air quality legislation to robust reclamation of Brownfield sites and river cleanups.
Today, the city is the materials innovator and supplier for a greener global economy, leveraging its world-class manufacturing capabilities to create better-performing green products and building technologies.
More than 370 LEED®-Certified buildings reside in Western Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh is home to the first green college residence hall and Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, which successfully pursued a net-zero energy and water designation as a “Living Building.” In 2021, Phipps also achieved Fitwel® 3 Star Rating, the highest rating in the Fitwel® Standard. The rating was awarded to the Center for Sustainable Landscapes (CSL), making it the first and only building to meet six of the world’s highest green building certifications.
Additionally, Pittsburgh is home to the United States’ highest-rated LEED® Platinum Certified convention center, the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. The 1.5 million square-foot space is a model of sustainability and sustainable practices.Carnegie Mellon University has been a birthplace of innovations since its founding in 1900.
Hosting CEM and MI reinforces the return of the United States leadership and commitment to international collaboration on clean energy deployment and innovation. The meeting will also highlight the gains made in implementing ambitious climate policies, while accelerating the research, design, and deployment of clean energy and carbon negative technologies. Together, the ministerial meetings represent an opportunity to enhance climate commitments through big bets on innovation that empower a net zero energy transition by 2050—aiming to avert the worst effects of climate change and provide new economic opportunities for workers at home and abroad

“The U.S. is proud to host the 2022 Clean Energy Ministerial and ministerial for Mission Innovation in the Steel City of Pittsburgh, PA, a town that exemplifies how a legacy energy and industrial-dependent economy can be transformed into a technology and innovation powerhouse,”
U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm
Carnegie Mellon University has been a birthplace of innovations since its founding in 1900.
Carnegie Mellon University is a global leader in bringing groundbreaking ideas to market and creating successful startup businesses. In the past decade alone, more than 400 startups linked to Carnegie Mellon have raised more than $7 billion in follow-on funding. Those investment numbers are especially high because of the sheer size of Pittsburgh’s growing autonomous vehicles cluster—including Aurora, Argo AI, and Locomation —all of which are here because of their strong ties to Carnegie Mellon University.
Carnegie Mellon University’s award-winning faculty are renowned for working closely with students to solve major scientific, technological, and societal challenges. Carnegie Mellon University puts a strong emphasis on creating things — from art to robots.
With cutting-edge brain science, path-breaking performances, innovative startups, driverless cars, big data, big ambitions, Nobel and Turing prizes, hands-on learning, and a whole lot of robots, Carnegie Mellon University faculty, staff, and students do not imagine the future, they create it.
The university recently was awarded its second consecutive gold ranking by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) for its sustainability performance in five categories: Academics, Engagement, Operations, Planning and Administration, and Innovation and Leadership.
For the past decade, Carnegie Mellon has purchased all of it electricity from renewable sources, such as wind, solar, geothermal, biogas, biomass and low-impact hydro.
The 2MW solar array on the roof of Hazelwood Green’s Mill 19 is the largest single-sloped array in the United States.
This past fall, the university was ranked 11th in the EPA’s list of Top 30 Green Power Universities.
Twenty-four of CMU’s buildings have earned either gold or silver LEED certification for their energy efficiency and environmental design.
CMU’s Voluntary University Review, a first-of-its-kind report released by Provost Jim Garrett at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2020, reviewed the university’s education, research and practices to develop a snapshot of activities related to the 17 Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs).
The Scott Institute for Energy Innovation offers seed grants to faculty for energy research and supports the development of new research in areas such as energy sources, production, efficiency and environmental impacts. In 2020, the institute awarded almost half a million dollars to nine faculty-led projects.
Learn more about Carnegie Mellon University at cmu.edu