Pittsburgh is the second largest City in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the County seat of Allegheny County. The City features 151 high-rise buildings, 446 bridges, two inclined railways, and a pre-revolutionary fortification. Pittsburgh is known colloquially as "the City of Bridges" and "the Steel City," and is often cited as one of America’s most livable Cities. The City is a leader in district heating in North America, fleet electrification transition and 100% renewable electricity as well as commitment to the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals.

The City of Pittsburgh’s partnership with the Better Buildings Challenge and its goal to reduce portfolio-wide energy intensity 20% by 2022 strengthens the City's existing commitment to sustainability.

In 2008, then-Mayor Luke Ravenstahl created the Office of Sustainability & Energy Efficiency. The Green Initiatives Trust Fund has been put to work to retrofit the City-County Building with energy efficient HVAC and electrical equipment, replace 10% of the City's 40,000 streetlights with LEDs, install five solar thermal and one photovoltaic project, and purchase 25% of all electricity needs through green sources.  

In 2014, Mayor William Peduto joined the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, the world’s largest global alliance for city climate leadership. In 2019 he signed an ordinance for net-zero government buildings, requiring all new or renovated City government buildings to be net-zero energy (NZE) ready. The City has been working to rapidly transform the built environment by reducing the city’s carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 so that all people can experience healthy, affordable, comfortable, and high performing places to live, work, learn, and play.

Through the Better Building’s Challenge, the City is continuing the commitment it has made to make Pittsburgh an even more green and sustainable city.