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Pittsburgh Foundation to receive heavy dose of 'green' philosophy
Wednesday, October 24, 2001 By Ervin Dyer, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
William McDonough is an internationally renowned designer. He's been recognized by Time magazine as a "Hero for the Planet" and he's a former dean at the University of Virginia School of Architecture.
His sphere of influence is enough to make you green -- but not with envy. Green, as in environmentally sensitive.
McDonough is a proponent and shaper of what he calls the "next industrial revolution."
It's a concept he developed with his business partner, German chemist Michael Braungart, to make industries less of a brute force on the environment.
Global warming, air and river pollution and metal intoxications are the tragedies of the old industrial systems, he said on the phone from San Francisco. "It's time for a fundamental shift, to design according to nature's laws," he said.
To do that, he said, requires using solar energy and finding ways to recycle industrial waste.
McDonough said companies are starting to go green.
He has multimillion-dollar contracts with BP Oil, Nike and the Ford River Rouge plant in Detroit to make their operations more Earth-friendly.
Today he brings his ideas before the Pittsburgh Foundation, which is holding its annual meeting at 5:30 p.m. in the Omni William Penn Hotel, Downtown.
Philanthropies like the Pittsburgh Foundation have a role in creating a green society, he said.
Often independent of government and commercial resources, foundations can bring the two groups to the table.
"They can get them to focus on the legacy, the big picture," said McDonough. "They can afford to look at where the need is."
At the annual meeting, the foundation also will present two awards. The Isabel P. Kennedy Award for volunteer leadership will go to children's advocate Judith T. Horgan, who conceived the Child Watch project. The collaborative program advocates for needy youths in the Pittsburgh community.
Horgan chairs the Child Watch Advisory Board, where she initiated improvements in the juvenile court facility. She established a daily snack program for children attending juvenile court hearings, and she helped children in foster care achieve permanent living arrangements. She will be awarded $1,000 and receive $10,000 for the charity or charities of her choice.
The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank receives the first ever Alfred Wishart Jr. Award for Excellence in Nonprofit Management for a human service or community development organization. The food bank is being recognized for its outstanding mission, performance, leadership and accountability. It will receive a cash grant of $5,000 to be used for management support purposes.
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