Excerpts from Remarks by Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg at LEED Award Ceremony

"Pitt's long-standing commitment to environmental quality and sustainability was memorialized more than fifteen years ago, when we participated with twenty other universities - only four of them American - in an historic meeting in France, becoming one of the creators and original signatories of the Talloires Declaration. That pledge, to incorporate sustainability and environmental literacy in teaching, research, operations and outreach, subsequently has been embraced by more than 300 universities in more than forty countries.

"Over an extended period, we have acted on that belief through academic programs of impact. A key current example is the Mascaro Sustainability Institute in our School of Engineering, which was created in 2003 to initiate and nurture education and research in the areas of green construction and sustainable water use.

"Our own approach to construction, including the 'greening' of the laboratory building that is home to our McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, provides further evidence of our strong institutional commitment to sustainability. We are very proud of the fact that this is the first university building in Pennsylvania and one of very few laboratory buildings in the country, to have earned the Gold Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Award from the U.S. Green Building Council.

"In terms of both public health and economic health, it is hard to imagine a more compelling story - a facility that has won the highest available award for sustainability and environmental soundness, built on an abandoned steel mill site, dedicated to the development of life-saving technologies, and supporting one hundred local jobs. Clearly, there are many good reasons for us to be celebrating today."