When developer Richard Kacin first viewed a 21-acre wooded plateau not far from Route 22 in Murrysville, he envisioned a development of luxury condominiums conforming to the existing environment and not vice versa.

While other developers would have taken the quicker, easier and cheaper step of bulldozing, clear cutting and hauling away topsoil, Mr. Kacin wanted his planned development, Marquis Place, to be environmentally responsible by not creating erosion and additional stormwater runoff.

"Typically, they would knock down all of the trees and foliage. We didn't do that. We knew the perimeter slopes and large trees were assets," Mr. Kacin said. "We were very sensitive to the site constraints."

Marquis Place was but one of several environmentally innovative developments and practices highlighted Friday by the Westmoreland Conservation District during a daylong bus tour, titled Floods & Fixes. About 50 elected officials, municipal workers and engineers visited sites in Murrysville and Greensburg to view new steps being taken to reduce flooding and pollution.

Jim Pillsbury, the conservation district's hydraulic engineer and the bus tour leader, said he is encouraged by the growing trend toward environmental responsibility.

"In southwestern Pennsylvania we have a large number of counties and municipalities that are environmentally aware and [Westmoreland County] might be a leader in southwestern Pennsylvania," he said during a break in the tour. "But when you look across the country such as at the Chesapeake Bay area and the Pacific Northwest, people there are many steps ahead of us as far as being environmentally aware.

"So, on the one hand we're doing very well, but on the other hand more can be done. More and more people are starting to use best management practices."

Such as, he said, what Mr. Kacin is doing with Marquis Place, where currently only a clubhouse and a pool have been built. The development will have minimal paving, reducing runoff, with vehicle parking underneath the buildings. Already constructed is an 8-foot-deep detention pond in front of the clubhouse that is attractive as well as helpful in reducing runoff.

Engineer Bob Mitall, of R.F. Mitall & Association Inc., the firm that designed the development, said the eco-friendly design resulted because Mr. Kacin "thought outside the box. Early on we realized we had to have something to fit the land. This fits in with Westmoreland County and fits with best practices.

"It costs the client more money up front and you have to fuss with quite a bit to get the elevations just right, but it's worth it. We didn't have to take any dirt off the site."

One of the results of all of that, Mr. Pillsbury said, is reducing the possibility of landslides.

The land is ready for construction of two buildings containing 44 luxury condominiums each. The units will range in price from $275,000 to $580,000. Construction of the first building will commence once 22 clients sign on, about 10 more than they currently have committed, Mr. Kacin said.

Also on the tour was a stop at the sewage treatment plant in Murrysville that services Murrysville, Export, Delmont, Salem and Penn townships and parts of Plum and Monroeville, a population of about 35,000 people. Officially named the Franklin Township Municipal Sewage Treatment Plant, reflecting the community's name before it was changed to the Municipality of Murrysville in 1978, the site at the end of Meadowbrook Road has instituted processes to reduce pollution while increasing efficiency.

And, plant manager Jim Brucker said, that's resulted in one of southwestern Pennsylvania's lowest monthly sewage rates. It's $26, as compared to the average of about $37.

One of the innovations at the $50 million facility is the construction of a sludge digester, resembling a several-stories-tall chocolate egg. The process produces methane, which is burned to produce electricity, accounting for about 40 percent of the electricity used at the plant. Much of the sludge is pasteurized and used as fertilizer and there is less that needs to be put in a landfill, Mr. Brucker said.

The plant has a capacity to treat 22 million gallons of water a day and averages about 3.5 million gallons daily. However, during the Aug. 9 storms that inundated the area, the plant treated about 17 million gallons.

Having such a high volume capacity is important to prevent pollution of Turtle Creek, in which 40 percent of flow comes from the treatment plant, Mr. Brucker said.

Other tour stops included:

The Murrysville Public Works building, which features a sediment-control structure on a detention pond and control measures that prevent road-salt piles from contaminating Haymaker Run.

A new parking lot in Greensburg that uses landscaping, infiltration pavers, and large buried chambers to significantly reduce runoff.

The GreenForge building in Hempfield, a vacant, 25-year-old commercial building that is being rehabbed with conservation innovations such as the first green roof in Westmoreland County.