Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority Awards 2nd Year Funding PITTSBURGH, Oct. 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Green Building Alliance (GBA) received a $750,000 grant from the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority (BFTDA) for Year Two of its Green Building Product Initiative and its role with the Pennsylvania Green Growth Partnership. The announcement came at the BFTDA October meeting yesterday. "The green market represents a significant economic stimulus for Pennsylvania, which ranks 2nd in the country in the number of LEED certified buildings. Through the work of GBA's Green Building Products Initiative and the Pennsylvania Green Growth Partnership, substantial progress is being made as the commonwealth moves towards improved conservation and energy independence measures. It is because of this pro-active effort in a growing industry that we are making this second year allocation," said Dennis Yablonsky, Secretary of the Department of Community and Economic Development and chair of the BFTDA board. The Green Building Products Initiative is a program that engages, educates, and energizes manufacturers, product representatives, and service providers in western Pennsylvania to increase their share of the green building marketing. During the past year dozens of Pennsylvania based product manufacturers have begun to work with the Green Building Alliance to explore and develop green building products. Their motivations for joining in these efforts vary but one of the highlights is that the green building product market is expected to be a $30-$40 billion market by 2010.
