Hoping to leverage Pittsburgh's leadership in green, sustainable design for growth in economic development, the Green Building Alliance is launching a new program to encourage research and development of green building products in Western Pennsylvania.

Backed by $1.25 million in state and foundation grants, the Green Buildings Products Initiative will spur interaction among regional businesses and organizations involved in the development and manufacture of green building products.

"It's finally connecting the dots between green projects and economic development," said Green Building Alliance Director Rebecca Flora.

The initiative's funding comes from two sources: a $1 million state grant from the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority and a $250,000 grant from the Heinz Endowments.

The $1 million grant is provided through the Pennsylvania Green Growth Partnership, a new statewide alliance to help companies develop environmentally friendly building products through research and development, design assistance and community outreach.

"The goal here is to become the product leader in green development in the United States," Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato said at a news conference yesterday morning at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown. "Whoever grabs the industry first might be in a position to be a leader for a long time."

Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said the city's support of the initiative "signals our commitment to building a future of market-driven economic growth while preserving a healthy environment for generations of Pittsburghers to come."

To the city's black and gold colors, he said, should be added a third: green.

Ms. Flora said the program will have three components:

First, it will build a database of products and manufacturers and a Web site linking them to architects and builders.

"We think that by creating a network, we can stimulate more ideas and more demand for these products," she said. "We have 1,800 building product manufacturers in Western Pennsylvania. We will figure out how many already have a green building product line or could if they knew what the opportunity was."

Second, the initiative will use the existing infrastructure of other organizations, like the Pittsburgh Technology Council's Catalyst Connection, to provide business assistance.

Third, the program will supply direct grants for research to help bring new technology and products to market faster.

"It will be very industry-driven, not academic-driven," she said. "It will be industry coming to us with new product ideas and we'll match them up with university researchers."

Carnegie Mellon University, University of Pittsburgh and Penn State University all have programs devoted to green building research. They are collaborating with the Green Building Alliance to form a statewide research and education consortium called INSPIRE, an acronym for Investment in Sustainable Practice and Industry via Research and Education.

State and federal legislation also is in the works to encourage green design and building in Pennsylvania and beyond.

"We're hoping to lead by example. We want to have legislation that will drive the construction industry by having state buildings built green," said state Sen. Wayne Fontana, D-Brookline.

He was speaking on behalf of state Sen. Jim Ferlo, D-Highland Park, who will introduce companion legislation in the Senate to House Bill 3047, which would require all state-funded buildings and renovations to be green.

Another House bill, No. 3048, introduces state tax credits for green buildings.

U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, is sponsoring similar legislation requiring that all federal buildings be certified as green buildings.