Rebecca L. Flora

Executive Director of the Green Building Alliance (GBA)

Rebecca L. Flora, is the executive director of the Green Building Alliance (GBA), a non-profit organization that drives market demand for green building throughout Western Pennsylvania. As the organization’s first executive director, Ms. Flora was responsible for its start-up, strategic direction, and growth over the past 11 years. In 2006, GBA launched the Green Building Product Initiative, a program initiated by Ms. Flora to grow Pennsylvania’s green economy through expansion of the green building products industry. Under her leadership, the organization has won several awards, including the 2001 Three Rivers Environmental Award.

Ms. Flora also serves as Board Chair of the U.S. Green Building Council, which is considered to be the fastest growing NGO in the world with over 12,000 member organizations worldwide. She has served as a USGBC board member since 2002.

Previous positions Ms. Flora has held include executive director of the South Side Local Development Company, project manager for the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) of Pittsburgh, and professional planning associate for a planning and consulting firm. While at GBA, she was the LEED Accredited Professional (AP) for Pittsburgh’s $375 million convention center expansion project that opened in 2003. She has also provided technical expertise to several other LEED-certified projects in the Pittsburgh region.

Ms. Flora holds a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental Science from Plattsburgh State University of New York. She also holds several professional certificates, including The National Development Council’s Economic Development Finance Professional certification. As an adjunct faculty member of Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz School of Public Policy and Management, Ms. Flora instructs graduate students in sustainable community development, a class she developed for the school in 2000.

She has received several recognitions and awards, including being named an "Environmental Hero for 2004" by Interiors & Sources magazine and as one of "The Top 50 Cultural Forces in Pittsburgh" by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.