In early 2010, a South Side-based search engine optimization company called Eyeflow decided to complete an image overhaul.

Their particular method of optimization -- a process that helps companies rank higher on Google search results -- focused on spreading links through sign-up directories or tapping specific keywords.

In other words, Eyeflow specialized in "organic" growth on the Internet.

It'd be an understatement to say the company seized that term in its new image campaign.

Now Eyeflow has a leaf for its logo, and its website features every gradation of green imaginable.

"When they look at our marketing, a lot of people think we're a landscaping company," said founder Phil Laboon.

That a local technology company would opt for a sustainability motif in its marketing campaign underscores how green practices in the technology industry have become not only pervasive, but expected. Long revered for the technology companies that seemed to rise from the ashes of smokestacks, Pittsburgh and its priority of sustainability seem to be second nature thanks to the business models of new companies and the financial priorities of old ones.

Relatively young companies in Pittsburgh already have found ways to capitalize on the sustainability movement, proving you can go green without going in the red.

Of the technology sectors, energy technology saw the biggest percent increase for the number of local companies from 2005 to 2007, reported the 2009 State of the Industry report by the Pittsburgh Technology Council.

When young start-up companies approach major investors such as Pittsburgh-based Innovation Works, sustainability is "a given," said director of community development Terri Glueck. Innovation Works has invested more than $40 million in more than 120 start-up companies since 2000.

Ms. Glueck added, of course, that the technology sector seems to be already well-suited for a sustainable business model: after all, technology offices don't need much besides a cell phone and laptop to operate.

Sensing an ever-growing expansion, Innovation Works last year set aside $10 million to invest in clean energy technology companies.

But Matt Harbaugh, chief investment officer at Innovation Works, said sustainability could not be tacked onto a pitch for cash. It has to fit into an overall mission and coincide with a business model.

"If it's not core to the business plan, it comes off as a gimmick," he said. "I think like any investment, the trend toward 'green and clean' is something that entrepreneurs are trying to incorporate into their pitch more today than they would otherwise."

But whether it's a gimmick or a moral obligation, it can still be a lucrative move.

Bright Innovation LLC, a product and Internet design firm on the South Side, was founded in 2005 and specializes in four separate product fields.

Most are typical for the region -- medical devices, consumer products -- but the company also has dedicated one of its four areas to sustainability products.

"In five years we've seen such an increase in the amount of money that's going into that space, and the fertile ground that will have an impact on the marketplace," said President Tom Kubilius. "It's not just about morals -- people get really serious about it when there's a positive impact on their bottom lines."

The firm's client base of sustainability companies has grown the most of any sector in the past two years.

There's a confluence of factors to credit, he said, such as the oft-cited social responsibility and government support. But the effect of $4-per-gallon gasoline these past few years has helped put sustainable business on the everyman's map, he said.

"Suddenly everyone was saying that energy costs and their instability are going to require that we look for other solutions," he said.

Young companies are in a prime location when seeking seed money or product development, then, because they can start out as sustainable and not have to absorb the costs of a retrofitted business plan.

The enthusiasm may be contagious, too. Mr. Kubilius said his company kept the office cool with ceiling fans and converted a torn-down brick wall into Bright Innovation's reception desk.

As companies go green, a cottage industry of technology catered to sustainable interests has helped some local entrepreneurs weather a fluctuating market.

FASTTAC, a McCandless-based company that develops technology for construction companies, saw business start to pick up despite a "bummer year" in 2009, said president and chief executive Ray Steeb.

FASTTAC's technology displays construction drawings on monitors and eliminates the need for huge paper drafts.

"It replaces racks and racks of drawings and stops the long-term storing of them," he said.

The company started in 2005 and serves as a niche example of technology's move toward a paperless society -- a sort of e-reader for Builder Bob.

But even as sustainable practices start to become an expected part of doing business in the technology world, it seems some are starting to shed some growing pains.

Before going with a green motif, Mr. Laboon said the search engine company Eyeflow had a giant eye as its logo.

"Everyone thought we were optometrists," he said.

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