viride

Projects, people, and perspectives leading our region’s green building industry

Featured Stories: > Thinking Green at the Community Level > A Look at the Region’s Newest Living Building > The Workplace for the Future

Issue 1

In this Issue:

Come Be Inspired!

5 | Letter from the Editor

Viride is the annual magazine of Green Building Alliance.

Past speakers include:

Jeremy Rifkin Bill Generett Dr. Joylette Portlock Joe Van Belleghem Andrew Butcher Stephen Shelton Majestic Lane Valerie S. Goodwin Julie Butcher Pezzino Joel Glanzberg Christian Hughes Stephen Cooper Mark Dixon Tess Wilson Derrick Lopez Cynthia Mendoza Leah Lizarondo Shawn Taylor Will Allen Arlene Blum Kelsey Weisgerber Toni Griffin

Dr. John Francis Dr. Antwi Akom Mayor Bill Peduto Bob Berkebile Bill Strickland Natalie Jeremijenko Stacy Smedley Mike Schiller Terri Baltimore Bill Reed Richard V. Piacentini David W. Orr Molly Steinwald Christine Mondor Vivian Loftness Alice Julier Chris Hellstern Bill Pricener Patty DeMarco Marijke Hecht Erica Cochran Mark Buehrer George Bandy, Jr.

Stephen Ashkin Jennifer Flanagan Bobby Vagt Jim Hartzfeld Jane Werner David Sobel Amy George Lisa Seel Colonel Mark Mykleby Grant Ervin Lisa Schroeder Dr. Wallace J. Nichols Debra Lam Michael Slaby Celeta Hickman Chris Koch Fred Brown Charles Montgomery Brian Wolovich Mayor John Fetterman Stephen Ritz Majora Carter Paul Hawken

Learn more at inspirespeakersseries.com and follow the conversation with #inspirespeakerspgh

GBA has worked to advance healthy, high performing, and green places in Western Pennsylvania since 1993. An aligned chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, GBA proudly serves 26 counties in Western Pennsylvania. Viride is printed on chlorine-free, FSC Certified, 100% recycled paper with soy-based inks. Mailing address: 33 Terminal Way, Suite 331 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 General Information: [email protected] Advertising: [email protected] Websites: go-gba.org/viride greenandhealthyschoolsacademy.org inspirespeakersseries.org 2030districts.org/pittsburgh makemytripcount.org

© Viride Magazine 2016

6 | Dr. Jared Cohon Leads CMU to Unprecedented Sustainability Success 10 | Mike Gable Fuels Construction, Community, and Collaboration through Reuse 14 | The Tower at PNC Plaza: A Workplace for the Future 20 | Sustainability in Schools Goes Beyond the Building 28 | Ecodistricts: Building-Based Sustainability Expands to Communities



32 | Pamela’s Diner’s Recipe for Greater Efficiency 36 | Illuminating the Way Toward Greener Parking Garages 40 | Driving Innovation: A Sustainable Model for the Trucking Industry 44 | Putting Energy into Efficiency in Erie 48 | The Frick Environmental Center: A Living, Breathing Ecosphere Comes Full Circle

An initiative of Green Building Alliance, the Inspire Speakers Series is a sequence of lectures that brings fresh, innovative thinking on topics of sustainability to Pittsburgh, with the goal of inspiring and motivating our citizens and leaders to think bigger and bolder about what is possible for our region. Viride | 3

Featured Contributors

Letter from the Editor Patricia Culley, AIA, LEED AP BD+C

Associate at Bohlin Cywinski Jackson; As a detail-oriented thinker, Patricia is captivated by the process of building, and seeking innovative ways to express construction through design detailing. She enjoys being hands-on and working collaboratively with construction teams to see projects through completion. She is the Project Architect for the new Living Building Challenge-targeted Frick Environmental Center.

Christine Mondor, AIA, LEED AP

Managing Principal of evolveEA and President of GBA’s Board of Directors; Christine works to advance sustainability through the design of processes, products, and places. She consults corporations and nonprofits on greening practices and places, assists communities and government agencies in the U.S. and Australia, and is a registered architect who teaches architecture, landscape design, and sustainable design at various local universities.

Angelica Ciranni, LEED AP O+M

Sustainability Analyst at PNC; Angelica helps PNC build, operate, and maintain some of the most forward-thinking green buildings, including The Tower at PNC Plaza and more than 250 LEED facilities owned by PNC. She is a former GBA intern and continues to help support PNC’s partnership with the Pittsburgh 2030 District.

Welcome to Viride, the new annual magazine of Green Building Alliance (GBA)! In Latin, “viride” means fresh, green, blooming, and youthful – everything we think buildings and places in Western Pennsylvania are becoming, thanks to great people, projects, and places working to make them more considerate of our environment, communities, and market needs! How do you pronounce “viride?” Vĭrĭdā or VEERuh-day — or, as GBA staff enjoys saying, “Like Faraday” (my younger son’s name). Viride magazine showcases the individuals and stories behind many of the region’s transformative activities. The stories herein are less technically focused than you’re likely used to reading on GBA’s blog and resource sheets, but hopefully better reveal the deep personal and professional efforts that help keep our region on the cutting edge of sustainability. In editing the 10 articles in this inaugural issue, I was constantly reminded how long ago the seeds for some of these stories were planted. Whether it was last year, three years ago, or two decades ago, each of these stories clearly demonstrate that culture change and the creation of sustainable places takes time. For those of us who have worked in the building or infrastructure industries, this isn’t surprising, but it does emphasize that to be fresh and blooming on the outside, there sometimes has to have been a lot of previous root growth! For instance, I was a graduate student in 2003 when Carnegie Mellon University’s Stever House became the first LEED certified dormitory in the nation ­­— and Dr. Jared Cohon lectured in a class I took on failing societies. In September 2016, GBA honored Dr. Cohon with our Legacy Award, acknowledging the very many green practices and sustainable buildings he seeded at CMU (as well as the vast number

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of students whose careers blossomed as a result of CMU’s interdisciplinary tutelage). In addition to reading about Dr. Cohon, on these pages you’ll also learn more about Mike Gable’s 17-year leadership in material reuse at Construction Junction, the newly opened Frick Environmental Center and Tower at PNC Plaza, and a small wave of ecodistricts sweeping Western Pennsylvania. I hope you’ll thoroughly enjoy our stories about pancakes, microgrids, lunch ladies, recycling wars, parking garages, and Benedictine nuns – and end up feeling excited about where this region is headed. I also hope you’ll be inspired to take your own next steps to help advance healthy, high performing, green buildings and places that are environmentally responsible, socially just, and economically viable. Although we’re approaching our silver anniversary as an organization, we remain excited by current green building and sustainable placemaking projects and people, as well as the future potential of our region – and look forward to planting, watering, and harvesting the seeds of sustainability we’ve been planting together for over two decades.

Dr. Aurora Sharrard, GBA Executive Director and Vice President of Innovation

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Dr. Jared Cohon Leads Carnegie Mellon University to Unprecedented Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is an internationally acclaimed and respected education, research, innovation, Sustainability Success

and sustainability institution. The leadership, passion, As CMU’s third-longest President and current Director and vision of CMU’s extremely dedicated administrators, of the Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation, faculty, students, and leaders have elevated the university to Dr. Jared L. Cohon has been a devoted catalyst for the a preeminent environmental position over the past several university’s sustainability policies, practices, and successes. decades through the prioritization and promotion of energy efficiency and green practices, education, and research. 6 | Viride

rom energy efficiency and conservation to renewable energy, green buildings, sustainable product research, and much more, Dr. Cohon emphasized environmental sustainability from the start of his CMU presidency in 1997. He directed the university to reduce dining hall waste by switching to washable dinnerware and banning plastics, unveiled a new central recycling education center, and created a full-time environmental coordinator staff position.

vehicles. Since 2011, 100% of the university’s electricity has come from renewable energy.

In 1996, a grassroots task force of faculty, staff, and students met on their lunch break throughout the summer to compile a report on the campus’ environmental practices to share with the incoming president. Barbara Kviz, CMU’s environmental coordinator in Facilities Management Services, recalls the refreshing inspiration and vision that Dr. Cohon brought from the very beginning. “It could have been just another report on the shelf if it were not for Dr. Cohon,” she recalled. “He came to us with an environmental sensibility and interest in campus practices, as well as environmental education and research.” That grassroots task force, also supported by The Heinz Endowments, became CMU’s Green Practices Committee that, 20 years later, still meets regularly to develop university practices that improve environmental quality.

Dr. David Dzombak, department head of Civil and Environmental Engineering at CMU, chaired both the Green Practices Committee and Steinbrenner Institute. He champions Dr. Cohon for his unhesitant and eager support of the committee’s recommendations to both incorporate environmental education throughout the campus and to open it as a laboratory for green practice studies in various realms of campus life. “The green practice achievements and leadership of Carnegie Mellon are attributable to the interest, support, and leadership of President Jared Cohon,” Dzombak said. “His encouragement and support of the engagement with green practice efforts of campus academic and administrative groups unleashed a tremendous amount of creativity and unique student-staff-faculty collaboration that enabled Carnegie Mellon to achieve its goals.”

Over the last two decades, CMU has advanced its green practices, education, and research by leaps and bounds; environmental innovation has become an integral part of the university’s culture, curriculum, and practices. Under Dr. Cohon’s leadership, it offered its first environmental ethics course, built the first LEED-certified dormitory in the world, and became the first institution in the nation to have the largest fraction of its total energy come from green power. As one of his first orders of business, President Cohon initiated a university-wide strategic planning effort, which included a focus on environmental education and research. Just three years into his tenure (2001), CMU committed to purchasing 5% of its electricity from wind power sources. At the time, this was the largest retail purchase of wind power in the United States. In 2010, CMU received the EPA’s Green Power Leadership Award, recognizing the institution as a leading purchaser of renewable energy in the U.S. Two years later, CMU purchased 116,000 megawatt hours of renewable energy credits to enable 100% of the university’s energy usage to come from renewable energy sources. This remarkable achievement offset nearly 80,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, equal to 10,000 U.S. homes or over 15,000 passenger

Following their early electricity purchasing successes, in 2004 CMU formed the Steinbrenner Institute for Environmental Education and Research to coordinate and advance research, education, and practices around environmental quality and sustainability to change the way the world thinks and acts about the environment.

Creating Standards and Vision

In his 16 years as CMU’s president, Dr. Cohon drove the university’s commitment to pursue LEED Silver certification for all new construction and significant renovations on campus – and LEED for Commercial Interiors where applicable. Today, Carnegie Mellon boasts 14 green buildings, 12 of which are LEED-certified. These spaces incorporate high-quality ventilation, natural daylight, salvaged materials, indoor air quality plans and sensors, solar panels, off-site renewable energy credits, and plenty of accessible green space (including more than 35,500 square feet of green roofs). From Stever House’s 2003 designation as the first LEED-certified residence hall in the world to ensuring external views in all public spaces, CMU continues to provide high-quality learning environments that maximize efficiency, minimize negative environmental impacts, and provide tangible, interactive models of sustainability, mindfulness, innovation, and leadership. CMU also boasts 20 research centers that have come to fruition as a result of Dr. Cohon’s vision, priorities, and guidance. From the Center for Building Performance and Diagnostics (the first center in the nation to focus on investigating the Viride | 7

The Sherman and Joyce Bowie Scott Hall during construction Photo credit: Carnegie Mellon University

Dr. Cohon in an energy research lab at the Scott Institute

CMU’s Gates Center achieved LEED Gold certification in 2011

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impact of advanced technology on the physical, environmental, and social environments) to the Center for Sustainable Engineering, Center for Atmospheric Particle Studies, and Center of Climate and Energy Decision Making, Dr. Cohon’s leadership and foresight continue to reverberate through CMU’s work after his presidency.

technologies, systems, and policies required to achieve that vision. Under Dr. Cohon’s direction, the Scott Institute concentrates on using and delivering energy more efficiently; expanding energy sources in clean, reliable, affordable, and sustainable ways; and creating innovations in energy technologies, regulations, and policies.

A New Legacy Chapter

In recognition of his green building and sustainability achievements, Green Building Alliance was thrilled to present Dr. Jared L. Cohon with our 2016 Legacy Award, both honoring and thanking him for his work, dedication, and passion to interlacing and prioritizing green building, efficiency, sustainability, and education at Carnegie Mellon University, in the Pittsburgh region, and around the world.

Dr. Cohon himself remains very committed to advancing CMU’s goals through the university’s newest research center as Director of the Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation. In his newest role, he is leading a pivotal research and policy-centric effort to help the world transition to a sustainable energy future by focusing on the research, development, and demonstration of

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Mike Gable Fuels Construction, Community, and Collaboration through Reuse Reusing materials is one way to reduce waste and capitalize on efficiency. With plenty of examples and even do-it-yourself resources, material reuse may seem like a no-brainer today, but it was a new and curious concept nearly two decades ago when Construction Junction (CJ) was founded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Back in 1999, CJ was Western Pennsylvania’s first nonprofit organization to collect and sell used and surplus building materials. Conceptually seeded with help from 10 | Viride

Conservation Consultants, Inc. and Green Building Alliance, the organization was created by the Pennsylvania Resources Council. From day one, CJ has been led by Mike Gable, who remains at its helm 17 years later, without any signs of decelerating his efforts to support and promote regional conservation through the reuse of building materials and waste reduction.  CJ has grown from an experimental project to a successful organization that keeps between 800 and 1,000 tons of usable building materials out of landfills annually. “It became clear very quickly that material reuse and reclamation was something people needed and liked in Pittsburgh,” Gable said. As a result, throughout his tenure, he has placed a strong focus on ensuring that CJ supplies materials and furniture to environmentally sustainable building projects, art installations, theater productions, community gardens, social service organizations, and more.  From the organization’s start, Gable has prioritized local communities. By working collaboratively with other nonprofits and organizations, a wide variety of people and businesses have become engaged with reuse principles. “My initial thought was that we would try to reach out and provide as many benefits in terms of what was sensible and what we were trying to do within our mission as we could through community connections,” he stated.

CJ’s receiving process utilizes experienced staff and efficient technology to ensure materials are ready for reuse.

CJ-led programs have given organizations and citizens a hand in achieving their own project goals, as well as regional objectives, for materials reuse. “Creating partnerships increases the value of reuse,” Gable continued. “It motivates people when they can see all the benefits that are triggered by bringing something to CJ instead of throwing it in the dumpster.” For example, CJ ReGives donates building materials and furniture to local environmental, social, and artfocused nonprofits. In 2015, the program distributed Viride | 11

$25,000 worth of materials to 43 area nonprofits. CJ also partners with Goodwill, Trade Institute of Pittsburgh, and Urban Design Build Studio at Carnegie Mellon University to provide job training and employment programs to those with barriers to employment.   “One thing about Mike is that he’s always been an extremely effective collaborator,” said Howard Wein, president of CJ’s board of directors. “He’s developed great relationships with the foundation community and other organizations – and used his creative ability to grow Construction Junction into much more than a retail operation and warehouse.”

Alongside their traditional materials warehouse, CJ also has several reuse initiatives, such as Project RE.

Mike Gable’s unique vision and passion have led him to prioritize materials reuse in ways that can impact the lives of as many different constituencies as possible. “We are a very wasteful society, but almost all institutions remodel at some point and make decisions about whether they are going to reuse stuff or throw it out,” he remarked. “If we can demonstrate the very powerful choice people can make by electing not to throw something away - putting it into the hands of others instead – amazing things can result from that decision shift.” Another CJ collaboration is Project RE, which connects recently incarcerated individuals with the Trade Institute of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University architecture students to “reuse materials, rebuild communities, and restore lives.” Together, these three organizations are prototyping structures for communities in order to address or solve a need. Gable’s passionate role in Project RE enables students to learn construction skills, establish a job history, experience the potential of used materials, and learn how to add value to materials while building together. Project RE’s novel and uncharted use of an architecture program embedded within a material reuse operation is the only one of its kind in the United States. Anyone who has ever met Mike Gable can tell you about his hunger to explore the ways in which materials reuse can impact the lives of as many different people and businesses as possible. Along this journey, Gable continues to be inspired by the many innovative and unique uses he sees for the materials that come through CJ’s doors. Being part of the reuse movement’s growth and personally experiencing how it pushes the boundaries of creativity and possibilities also inspires Gable to remain steadfast and achieve greater successes for CJ, our communities, and our region.  GBA is excited to honor Mike Gable with our 2016 Luminary Award, celebrating his commitment, hard work, and success in supporting a worthy conservation mission that extends far beyond materials and buildings, impacting many unique individuals and whole communities.

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Our heart is in the work

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LEED-certified university residence hall in the U.S.

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ARCHITECTURE CONSULTING INTERIOR DESIGN PLANNING PROGRAMMING

Dr. Jared Cohon Green Building Alliance’s 2016 Legacy Award Honoree

www.perkinseastman.com

EXPERTS IN “GREEN”

CLEAN AIR Viride | 13

The Tower at PNC Plaza: A Workplace for the Future

Over the last decade, The Tower at PNC Plaza has been one of the Pittsburgh region’s most anticipated developments, but its origins stretch back to the late 1990s when The PNC Financial Services started its green building journey. In 2000, PNC opened PNC Firstside Center, then the largest LEED certified building in the world. Later, in 2003, PNC made the industry-leading commitment to certify all new construction and major renovations under the LEED green building rating system. With the Tower, PNC combined more than 15 years of experience and made a bold statement through its new corporate headquarters in Downtown Pittsburgh. Here’s a discussion with PNC’s sustainability analyst, Angelica Ciranni. How did PNC Financial Services decide to make the Tower the greenest office tower in the world? Why was that important? PNC’s goal was to build the greenest office tower in the world while bringing our employees into a more centralized location. We’ve always been committed to the health and productivity of our employees and have had great success in pursuing green buildings, especially in terms of how they’ve positively affected our employees. However, the most important piece was ensuring that The Tower at PNC Plaza incorporated our key learnings over the past 15 years to become the crown jewel of our green buildings. From the beginning, what were The Tower at PNC Plaza’s priorities? Since the very beginning of this project, we kept our eyes on “three pillars.” The first was “energy responder,” as we wanted to use passive strategies as much as possible and ultimately implemented the double-skin façade, as well as a lot of daylighting. There’s also the “community builder” pillar. PNC has always been committed to strengthening the communities it serves. We’ve noticed with developments like The Tower at PNC Plaza, 500 Smithfield, and Three PNC Plaza that our investments tend to have a domino effect – they spur other construction or renovation projects nearby. The final pillar is “workplace innovator.” We wanted the Tower to be a showcase for how we

envision PNC working in the future – and how our workplace will evolve. For example, we have two-story neighborhoods that share amenities and encourage collaboration between different staff functions or lines of business. Also, our workstation walls are low, which not only allows more light to enter employees’ spaces, but also facilitates teamwork and idea sharing. Everyone has a desk but still has the ability to pick up and go to wherever they need. That’s something we’re going to continue to build on in new and renovated spaces, as we’ve seen how successful this approach can be in terms of supporting employee engagement and collaboration. What were some of the project’s constraints? Budget, of course! Every decision and investment has to make sense from a business or financial perspective. How can we ensure that we’re getting a payback period that is within an acceptable range? While we looked at tapping the aquifer Downtown, the geology below our site wasn’t appropriate. We also looked into renewable energy, but for a building this tall and with such a small footprint, it didn’t make financial sense. Fortunately, we realized that we could gain many of the same energy benefits through the use of a solar collector to support our natural ventilation and mechanical systems.

Photos courtesy of PNC Financial Services

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When you opened your doors in October 2015, you already had the LEED Platinum plaque. What did it take to make that happen? Having a LEED plaque on opening day was important to us because we value that thirdparty quality control check of our work. We had been providing LEED documentation to the U.S. Green Building Council for years – and because our sustainability consultant is so experienced with LEED, we have a very strong understanding of what is needed and how we can properly address different LEED requirements. It certainly necessitated many people and a lot of work to make LEED Platinum happen by Day 1, but our project team came together and did just that. What components or systems are you really proud of or excited about? The double-skin façade is incredible. People love seeing the building respond to its environment. It gets people talking about what we are doing and why it was such an important component to our green building strategy. In a lot of ways, what we do is invisible. There are systems behind walls or in mechanical rooms where no one ever goes. The fact that the double-skin façade is front and center for our employees (as well as others in the city) gets people talking. 16 | Viride

Of course, our façade also offers a lot of value in terms of sustainability. Specifically, there are three modes through which it assists with heating and cooling. When we’re in natural ventilation mode, exterior walls and interior vents are open -- and air flows across the floor and out into the solar chimney before escaping at the roof. The system is controlled by our building automation system, which is basically the “brains” of the building, and looks at temperature, humidity, precipitation, and wind speed. In addition, we’re constantly gathering data about pollen and other air quality indicators, such as particulate matter. If we have an air quality action day, we don’t want to bring that air inside. Pittsburgh’s air quality is best in the spring and fall, when we expect to use natural ventilation most.

Everyone gets excited when the green light turns on, as people like to open the doors and allow fresh air into their workspaces.

There are two other ways we use natural ventilation. During the winter, the double-skin façade creates an insulating layer to help keep the workspace warm. In the summer, the interior vents remain closed, while the exterior ones open. That allows for air flow within the cavity, keeping it cool.

How is PNC’s organizational culture changing and acclimating in the Tower? We implemented a Green Ambassador program to make the transition as smooth as possible. We asked for volunteers who were really interested in the building’s sustainability components to help us get the message out about how the building works and how employees can be most productive and happy in their spaces. The number of people who volunteered for this program speaks to their interest – 140 employees are involved!

Also, we have “good day” indicators along the perimeter of each floor. When these turn green, they signal that we are in natural ventilation mode and can open the doors.

Any other cool building systems you’d like to mention? In the winter, we use radiant panels to provide heat in our workspaces. Warm water flows through these panels, giving off heat throughout the building. Because water is about 30 times more efficient at transferring heat than air, we can warm water to a lower temperature, which saves considerable energy. Similarly, for cooling we have a chilled beam system. Water flows through its beams and cools fresh air, using less energy than a typical mechanical system.

While I can’t say that people are really fascinated by the automated blinds and LED lighting, I think they are excited about PNC’s commitment to green building and innovation, and feel a sense of pride in our leadership. They also love the natural light and the fact that you can open the double-skin façade’s doors. And the 28th floor has an incredibly beautiful indoor park with five stories of glass that look out onto Market Square. You can take your laptop up there to do work or simply meet a friend there for lunch. This sense of “desk mobility” has done a lot in terms of increasing engagement and morale and allowing for more cross-functional collaboration. How does the Tower reflect PNC’s larger culture and values? One of the coolest things about the Tower, in my opinion, is its transparency. You can actually see what’s happening in our building, which was intentional. If you look at One PNC Plaza, the windows are dark, so there’s a real contrast between what we did there in the 1970s and what we did here in 2015. Most importantly, this design demonstrates our desire to show that we are a transparent, innovative, and future-thinking company.

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At BNY Mellon, we honor those who make the world a better place, now and in the future. It is our great pleasure to support Green Building Alliance and salute Legacy Award Honoree, Dr. Jared L. Cohon and Luminary

DEVELOPING A GREENER PITTSBURGH

www.hendersonbrothers.com

Henderson Brothers and Oxford Development Company are proud to support Green Building Alliance. Real Estate Development | Project Management Property Management | Leasing & Brokerage Investment Advisory | Energy Management

We congratulate this year’s Legacy Award recipient Dr. Jared L. Cohon, president emeritus of Carnegie Mellon University.

www.oxforddevelopment.com

Award Honoree, Mike Gable.

Invested in inspiration. bnymellon.com ©2016 The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation.

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Proud Member of the Green Building Alliance!

Proudly Supporting the Green Building Alliance Plumbing Mechanical Electrical Fire Protection Technology Telecommunications Security Commissioning LEED/Green Design

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Bring a new identity to your city with connected lighting

Congratulations to the 2016 recipients of the Legacy & Luminary Awards! The Penelec Sustainable Energy Fund of the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies is proud to partner with the Green Building Alliance & others to support renewable energy technologies and programs.

Navy Gateway Inns & Suites, Naval Station Newport, RI Designed to achieve LEED® Silver Certification

Leading the way in sustainability for a changing world

Proud to support green building in Pennsylvania

Read about the impact in cities around the country at philips.com/measuringimpact.

Special thanks to Jared Cohen and CMU for their strong support of the union building trades and commitment to green construction and sustainability.

Architecture • Building Engineering Natural Channel Design • Low Impact Development Land Development • Regulatory Permitting Environmental Impact Studies & Abatement

BUILDERS GUILD OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA Learn more by contacting:

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Sustainability in Schools Goes Beyond the Building Sustainability in K-12 schools can manifest in many inspirational ways that go far deeper than the buildings, the policies, and even the curriculum. School sustainability that is purpose- and valuesdriven is connected to larger, more meaningful short- and long-term impacts. Purpose and values help build our “why” and our will so that our priorities, actions, time, effort, and money all come into alignment with what we care about most. At the heart of the intersection between education and sustainability is fostering people who care about themselves, each other, and the world around them. The Green & Healthy Schools Academy (GHSA) provides the space for schools to illuminate how their purpose and values as an educational institution are closely aligned with sustainability. This builds the will to not only create healthy, happy, and thriving places to learn, but also to foster a community of people who seek to make the world a more livable and beautiful place for all. We are pleased to share with you vignettes of purpose- and values-driven sustainability from three schools – all of which have been part of Green Building Alliance’s GHSA over the past several years.  Pittsburgh Langley students working with Grow Pittsburgh 20 | Viride

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Environmental Charter School at Frick Park

Changing culture requires aligning behavior and relationships with the values of the organization. The Environmental Charter School (ECS) at Frick Park has had a clear understanding of its core values for many years (catalyst, character, collaboration, and commitment), but only recently could it shift its culture to fully embrace them. What helped create ECS’ formula for success? Essentially, it is an integrated approach built on relationships, risk-taking, and inspiration. Long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with students and partners, between staff, and even with vendors, are central to ECS’ culture. Here’s what that actually means in practice. About a year ago, ECS’ operations manager, lunch lady, school nurse, and custodian got together to discuss ways to improve student health across their departments, most specifically related to the effective implementation of green cleaning. Plain as it sounds, it’s actually a rare occurrence in schools. “I actually wept when I saw it,” says Nikole Sheaffer, innovation director for ECS. “This meeting embodied everything we have been striving for. It did not emerge as a directive from administration or as a reaction to a problem. It was done proactively -- and it grew organically out of ECS’ culture.”

Finding extraordinary in the ordinary

ECS students exploring genetic traits

ECS’ new culture encourages stepping out of one’s comfort zone and being ready to take risks when solving a problem. Inspiration has been central to changing hearts and minds of staff, notably through a cohort of educators participating in the GHSA School Sustainability Culture Program. But the turning point was when ECS’ CEO Jon McCann was pushed to ask himself the question that now “This meeting embodied everything we have drives his work: “What will I tell been striving for. It did not emerge as a my kids that I did to address directive from administration or as a reaction the greatest challenges of our time?” This question has to a problem. It was done proactively -- and become a motivating force for it grew organically out of ECS’ culture.” both McCann and ECS, and pushes every staff member to find their own questions and narratives to inspire their work. This is when all of ECS’ sustainability activities start to connect and add up to something greater than their parts. Outdoor learning, school gardens, cafeteria composting, community service projects, indoor air quality improvements, and, of course, green cleaning, work toward a greater vision, which collectively answers Mr. McCann’s guiding question. 22 | Viride

The ECS Upper School café in full swing Viride | 23

Pittsburgh Langley K-8

Katie Spalla is a 4th grade science teacher at Pittsburgh Langley K-8, which serves several of Pittsburgh’s most challenged communities. This past year, her students engaged in experiential learning activities, such as Recycling Wars and seed-to-table lessons about growing and preparing food. The secret to Spalla’s success, however, is not in the lessons or iPads. “It’s all about my relationship with students,” she stated. “If they don’t trust me, they aren’t going to try something new.” Spalla was able to cultivate this student-teacher trust through honesty and open-ended dialogue about what students are feeling and experiencing. Taking time to build trust is what opened the door for Langley’s students to

Aerial perspective of CVSD’s future campus Rendering courtesy of IKM Inc.

Chartiers Valley School District

Chartiers Valley School District (CVSD) recently broke ground on new middle and high school buildings, which could become two of the most influential school buildings the Pittsburgh region has yet seen. “We knew a conventional approach wasn’t going to work for us,” said Dr. Brian White, CVSD’s superintendent. “These schools need to be an expression of who we are and what we hope our students will become as citizens of our region and world. To achieve that, we have to try something new.” The 2015-16 Pittsburgh Langley Recycling Club (top) Katie Spalla and students at the Green Schools Conference & Expo (bottom left) Langley students engaged in energy conservation (bottom right)

become engaged — starting their own Recycling Club, digging in the dirt and harvesting vegetables, and developing a sense of confidence and ownership. How does Spalla know her approach is working? Students voluntarily give up their lunch and recess time to collect recyclables. Some students even bring recyclables in from home, demonstrating that they not only understand what recycling is, but that they care enough to lug materials into school. Spalla is part of a committed Langley staff that strives to provide a safe and loving environment to students. “Kids don’t choose their situation,” explains Dr. Rodney Necciai, Langley’s principal, “but we can empower our students with education and life experiences to choose their own path in life.” 24 | Viride

CVSD’s new building process is innovative due to two different but related approaches. The first was a set of guiding principles the CVSD school community agreed upon, which became the compass for setting priorities and making decisions. The second was the truly integrative design process these buildings went through. To be most effective, the integrative design of buildings requires patience, collaboration, and, above all, inclusion. To ensure broad community involvement, CVSD formed two School Design Advisory Teams comprised of students, teachers, administrators, and community members. Each team discussed what 21st century learning should look like, visited innovative schools around the country, and explored the types of learning spaces that work best. The result? Two beautifully designed buildings that will be at the pinnacle of performance, health, and innovative learning; a community committed to and invested in education; and a prototype of what is possible when inspiring education and values-driven design come together. Students with CVSD’s wind turbine, installed April 2014

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the neighborhood level, where results depend on the exchange of resources “at scale” – and outside the property line. Ecodistricts have much in common with traditional urban design and planning, but differ because they respond to the relationship of resource flows within the urban framework. There are three major shifts in our urban context that distinguish ecodistrict planning from other planning models: 1) the need for infrastructure renewal and integration into urban spaces, 2) the possibility of adaptive response to resource flows and climate change, and 3) the emerging demand for a new way of community participation.

Integrating Infrastructure into Urban Design

Ecodistricts: Building-Based Sustainability Expands to Communities

First, ecodistricts create new ways to integrate infrastructure into our urban places – bridging the gap between large, one-way, source-to-user systems (such as a regional power plant) and the performance or maintenance limitations of parcel-based systems (like building-mounted solar panels). This middle scale of distributed, decentralized infrastructure has the potential to create new urban experiences, essentially places that showcase shared infrastructure such as energy hubs, rainwater parks, or other systems that effectively manage local resources.

Designing the Millvale Ecodistrict at a community meeting (opposite page) Millvale community members select desirable types of projects from a strategies deck (below) Photo credits: evolveEA

by Christine Mondor

For startups, “getting to scale” means translating a small idea into a broader application in order to create increased influence, effectiveness, and growth. Communities around the world are seeing a similar push, with sustainability concepts that have flourished at the building scale for over two decades now finding their way into urban design and planning. One specific concept many have grasped to apply sustainability at the community scale are “ecodistricts,” which have become a way to expand the reach of green building-based solutions to address equity, energy, water, food, and mobility concerns at 28 | Viride

Initiated in 2014, the Uptown EcoInnovation District is Pittsburgh’s newest ecodistrict, with immediate plans to become home to a microgrid and energy generation plant that will provide electricity, heating, and cooling to UPMC’s Mercy Hospital and other nearby buildings and businesses. The project helps meet existing demand with nimble systems suited to local requirements and the district energy building itself will visibly showcase these systems. Viride | 29

Ecodistricts provide the planning frameworks to imagine and implement innovative infrastructure systems, while developing equitable relationships between institutional, commercial, and residential stakeholders. Uptown is in the middle of a year-long community-informed process that examines how infrastructure investments in transportation, stormwater, and energy (including the microgid) can benefit all stakeholders in the community.

Adaptive Response to Climate Change

Ecodistricts also provide a way for communities to measure and respond to climate change as more volatile hyper-local environmental conditions are experienced. Fortunately, new technologies better enable measurement and monitoring of those changes, allowing communities to develop Community meeting in Millvale (top) Photo credit: evolveEA appropriate responses to react and adapt. Rendering from Larimer’s Creating A

Just north of Pittsburgh, the community of Living City ecodistrict plan (middle) Millvale recently completed its second round Image credit: evolveEA of ecodistrict planning, “Pivot 2.0.” While Community members map green Millvale’s 2013 Pivot 1.0 focused on water, infrastructure in a session for the Living food, and energy, Pivot 2.0 additionally Waters of Larimer project (bottom) addressed new topics of mobility, equity, Photo credit: Living Waters of Larimer and air quality. Both plans started with benchmarking efforts to measure current district performance and understand how future models of climate change might affect residents and businesses. Millvale began by identifying resident health as an issue of concern since its rate of cancer and other lung-related diseases are much higher than regional averages. As such, Millvale residents are especially susceptible to excessive heat, moisture, and other conditions associated with climate change. Local leaders are currently measuring air quality throughout the community to better understand how concepts such as air quality zoning and clean air parks might provide new community amenities, while improving the borough’s health statistics. Some of the actions (like improving building envelopes) will be done by homeowners. Other actions (such as air quality buffer zoning) can be done at the municipal scale. Still others will require regional changes, for which the community will be a vocal supporter. Millvale’s ecodistrict plan helps identify actions that residents can take in the short term, while advocating for longer term improvements. “Having felt the negative impacts of past industrial and developmental practices, the community wanted to transform itself in a way that would carry Millvale into the 21st century,” said Zaheen Hussain, Millvale Borough’s sustainability coordinator. “As a planning process, EcoDistricts allowed involved residents and community leaders to rally around a shared vision that they all had a hand in creating.“

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Community Participation Reinvigorated

Ecodistrict planning builds a sense of community and helps define issues of equity by encouraging community ownership in the creation of high performing community places. Successful communities have effective decisionmaking processes, are good at learning and sharing knowledge, have legal ability to take action, and can harness financial resources to turn their vision into reality. Ecodistrict planning is not a one-time transactional effort, but an ongoing, transformational relationship with a community that pays attention to the “software” of social systems as much as the “hardware” of physical systems. Pittsburgh’s Larimer neighborhood undertook the region’s first ecodistrict planning process in 2011 -- and the community has been highly successful at harnessing development pressures to meet their sustainability goals. Larimer’s extremely dedicated residents have a high level of knowledge about stormwater, building performance, energy, and environmental justice. Through partnerships with public agencies, nonprofits, and projects, the residents have continuously advanced their sustainability values over the past five years, managing to secure over $50 million for projects that contribute toward ecodistrict goals. One specific area where Larimer’s active and sustainability-conscious citizen base has had great success is securing investment for green stormwater infrastructure. Both nonprofit and for-profit projects in the neighborhood demonstrate the viability of green infrastructure, with two very visible installations influenced by the community’s commitment to sustainability: the Environment and Energy Community Outreach (EECO) Center gardens and Bakery Square 2.0’s low-impact development. Recently, Living Waters of Larimer, a community-based arts project, helped envision Little Negley Run as the city’s first rainwater park, as well as a neighborhood gathering space, The Well, focused on water. Little Negley Run is currently being engineered and The Well is about to commence work with local artists to create a park installation. Both projects will ensure that Larimer continues to be on the cutting edge of shared rainwater infrastructure. The Pittsburgh-area neighborhoods of Larimer, Millville, and Uptown represent but a few of the local communityscaled sustainability efforts in Western Pennsylvania. All three have been applying ecodistrict planning as a means to create project frameworks that “get to scale,” while helping to share successes and challenges across geographic and neighborhood boundaries. As existing projects are implemented and new communities developed, the next several years will continue to launch Pittsburgh into the national ecodistrict spotlight. Stay tuned for future updates from these places and many others as ecodistrict communities work individually and collaboratively to create more sustainable, equitable places for all! Viride | 31

and dining area lighting. In fact, restaurants have close to the highest energy use per square foot of all building types – certainly not ideal for a small company trying to focus resources on its business or craft. For small businesses of all types, it can be tough to dedicate time toward improving energy efficiency even when the short- or long-term savings are clear. Fortunately, Pamela’s Diner in Oakland was up to the challenge in 2014 when its owners joined the Pittsburgh 2030 District as a Small Commercial Demonstration Partner targeting an audacious goal – a 20% reduction in energy use in one year.

Pamela’s Diner’s Recipe for Greater Effciency A Pittsburgh breakfast institution since 1979, Pamela’s Diner is known and loved by many for its crepe hotcakes, bottomless coffee, Lyonnaise potatoes, and casual but unique atmosphere. Embedded in the city’s culture and exuding character, Pamela’s is among a growing group of businesses whose owners are prioritizing energy and water efficiency. Running a restaurant 12 hours a day is an energy-intensive endeavor requiring grills, burners, refrigerators, freezers, various small appliances, and constant kitchen 32 | Viride

How did this modish restaurant get started with saving? Green Building Alliance’s Pittsburgh 2030 District team was on the ground in Oakland looking for buildings to join an expanding program that had already demonstrated success in Downtown Pittsburgh. Pamela’s was about to undergo a construction project and GBA offered to help. Owners Michele Mazzella and Timothy Blosat knew it was time to upgrade their aging equipment and appliances, but using their investment to improve longer-term energy efficiency had not crossed their minds. Two enormous refrigerators were several decades old, but Mazzella and Blosat hadn’t thought about how those units were impacting their bottom line each and every month. With 2030 goals in mind, they considered energy savings over the lifetime of the appliances they chose -- in conjunction with the upfront purchase cost. According to Mazzella, “After learning about Energy Star products, we knew we couldn’t just pick the cheapest option. We had to pick equipment that would save us money over the long term.” Further, Pamela’s restaurateurs found value in an energy assessment from the University of Pittsburgh’s Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation, which identified a tailored set of recommendations, including high-payoff projects most applicable to their Oakland diner’s space. The most impactful of these were LED lighting upgrades, freezer modifications, and door weatherizations.

To implement the lighting and refrigeration replacements, Pamela’s owners worked with Scott Electric and TriMark SS Kemp – and the effort paid off! Within a year after modifications were completed, Pamela’s Diner had reduced its energy consumption by 13.5%. As part of the project, they received support from Duquesne Light’s Watt Choices program, which helped reduce a portion of their investment cost, resulting in a payback period of less than two years. Mazzella was happy with the process, which required “a minimal amount of effort for the amount of money that has been saved.” And both owners are ecstatic about the results – greater efficiency, financial savings, improved comfort for restaurant customers and backof-house staff, and greater understanding of how they can make better energy decisions moving forward. Their first project has served as an inspiration for even greater savings, with Mazzella and Blosat now considering additional measures to reduce electric and gas usage. Owners Michele Mazzella and Timothy Blosat (left) Inside Pamela’s Diner in Oakland (below)

So, the next time you stop by the Oakland location for hotcakes and find yourself looking at the board games on the wall, shift your glance a bit and check out the cool new lighting, one of several features that is saving the owners money as you enjoy your meal. Viride | 33

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below baseline by the year 2030), 73% were consuming more energy than national baselines in 2014.

Illuminating the Way Toward Greener Parking Garages

In the business of energy efficiency, one type of structure that uses a great deal of energy might not come to mind first – a parking garage. In many cases, parking garage lights are on 24 hours a day, seven days a week – even when the buildings are totally unoccupied. As a result, garages’ electric bills can be shocking at the end of each month. In Downtown Pittsburgh alone, there are 84 parking garages and surface parking lots. Of the garages reporting energy data to Green Building Alliance’s Pittsburgh 2030 District (those which are working to cut energy consumption 50% 36 | Viride

LED lighting upgrades and retrofits are often the first energy improvements that structures of any type undertake. Parking garages are no exception, with an informal alliance dubbed the “Pittsburgh Green Garage Initiative” (PGGI) helping efforts scale up faster. In 2014, PGGI began with GBA and the City of Pittsburgh asking if city parking garages could become efficient, renewable, resilient structures through the installation of solar photovoltaics with battery backups on upgraded, public-owned assets. While the answer at that time was “not yet,” the result was an official PGGI collaboration funded by a 2014 grant from the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority (PEDA). PGGI’s efforts are to create truly green, renewable, and smart parking garages, with collaboration between the City of Pittsburgh, GBA, Public Parking Authority of Pittsburgh (PPAP), Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh (URA), and Sports & Exhibition Authority of Pittsburgh & Allegheny County (SEA) – all Pittsburgh 2030 District Partners. “This is a great example of interagency cooperation and innovation – and Pittsburgh’s leadership in energy efficiency and building performance,” said Pittsburgh Mayor William Peduto. “It is a smart investment in our infrastructure that will save energy, reduce operational costs, and provide for a better customer experience.” A collaboration years in the making, PGGI’s roots began in 2013 when SEA was planning to upgrade lighting in three parking garages. The agency was interested in using very high efficiency lighting, but realized that there was a discrepancy in the building code that would prevent it from maximizing its efforts. In collaboration with GBA, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), the City of Pittsburgh, and Councilman Dan Gilman, the issue was resolved with a unanimous code change. Just one year after completing its resulting retrofits, SEA experienced 64% reductions in annual electricity use. The payback period for the retrofit of 1,356 fixtures with accompanying motion and daylighting sensors is 3.5 years. Duquesne Light rebates helped SEA recoup 18% of its cost. Following in SEA’s footsteps as part of the garage initiative and energy grant, URA retrofitted five local parking structures -- and is extremely pleased with the results. For the first five months of post-retrofit operations, the Authority is averaging a 55% reduction in electricity use. URA’s expected payback period is three to four years, mirroring SEA’s experiences. As prices for LED Viride | 37

Efficiency and sustainability are worthy goals… and even better realities.

lighting continues to drop and energy prices climb, these payback periods are expected to shrink, helping parking garages in the region apply similar retrofits. URA’s complete retrofit portfolio, to date, includes five parking garages with 3,051 total parking spaces lit by 1,436 new fixtures. As a result of these amazing impacts, the Authority is evaluating its entire parking garage portfolio and planning to leverage savings from its initial projects by reinvesting into other facilities via a new sustainability revolving fund. David Thomas, asset manager of the City’s Real Estate Department and president of the Pittsburgh Economic & Industrial Development Corporation at the URA, estimates that 18% of the total annual savings (not including rebates) will come from reduced maintenance. These savings include purchasing replacement equipment and redeploying human resources to other projects in the URA portfolio. Pittsburgh Parking Authority is not far behind, completing a similar First Avenue Garage lighting and controls retrofit in August 2016 that is expected to have comparable jaw-dropping electricity reductions of 50% to 60%. CJL Engineering did the lighting design on all complete SEA, URA, and PPAP parking garages. PPAP is also designing retrofits on nine more facilities. Ever interested in shaping the sustainability landscape in Pittsburgh, PGGI’s impacts continue as SEA pursues a nationally recognized Parksmart certification on its new Lot 1 parking garage on Pittsburgh’s North Shore. PPAP also has plans for a new garage pursuing Parksmart.

Key leaders in the Green Garage Initiative: Brent Lahaie (left), Kryn Hoyer-Winfield (right), and David Thomas (not pictured) of the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh

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All 18 public parking garage projects engaged with PGGI indicate that structures of all types have opportunities to reduce their resource use in ways that may often be overlooked or underestimated. As PGGI partners continue to make energy improvements to more structures, PGGI and GBA are ensuring that efficiency opportunities for parking garages – and other oft-overlooked spaces – are brought into the light.

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Driving Innovation: A Sustainable Model for the Trucking Industry

Spanning 32 acres in Harmar Township, Pennsylvania (just north of Pittsburgh), the United States’ first LEED certified trucking terminal shines as a beacon of innovation in sustainability. PITT OHIO’s 96,000-squarefoot complex comprises a 100-door trucking terminal,  mechanic shop, and office space. Nearly 70% of all three buildings were made from recycled content, incorporating low volatile organic compound (VOC) paints, locally mined bricks, low-flow faucets, and waterless urinals.

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The terminal utilizes a geothermal well system for heating and cooling, which has a nearly 500-foot-deep underground pipe grid that acts as a heat source in the winter and a heat sink in the summer.  Moving outward, the campus’ landscaping is designed to conserve water by using drought-tolerant plants, as well as native species.  Add in fuel-efficient vehicles, natural light, LEDs, and renewable energy from their own microgrid and you’ll understand why PITT OHIO is setting new standards in the trucking industry and beyond. Such green practices can create a competitive advantage, instigate a company culture of sustainability, save money, and integrate advanced technologies to catapult businesses through the 21st century.

Culture of Sustainability and Collaboration

It takes a collaborative team and a focused leader to accomplish all that PITT OHIO has achieved. One may wonder what came first: did the LEED 40 | Viride

certification spur a culture of sustainability within the company or vice versa? While achieving LEED for its Harmar facility was a great leap toward going green, the company’s top leadership and other staff were committed long before the building was. PITT OHIO’s forward-thinking president and owner, Charles L. Hammel III, recognizes that renewable technology, energy efficiency, and sustainability are not only good for business, but that implementing these types of changes is the right thing to do. “Our approach to sustainability is really a common sense approach centered around people, planet, and profit,” he said. “We need to sustain our trained workforce in order to provide customers with exceptional service, so we work diligently on our culture. In addition, we feel a sense of responsibility to help preserve our planet by making better use of our natural resources and reducing our carbon footprint. Lastly, we need to sustain our profits in order to continue to be a viable organization moving forward.” Viride | 41

Clockwise (top left): geothermal well system, Aquion battery bank for wind turbine, dining area, battery-powered fork lifts, Jim Fields showcases plans for more WindStax, building exterior

As a result of this philosophy, PITT OHIO has helped not only itself, but also lessened its environmental impact. The trucking fleet’s carbon emissions are down by 20% due to recent innovations in engine components, the transition of some tractors to compressed natural gas, use of a diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) system, and switching to electronic forklifts. The latter change has not just eliminated waste oil, but greatly increased the machines’ lifecycles and reduced their maintenance costs. At the company’s Harmar facility alone, 180 solar panels and a 20kW WindStax vertical wind turbine generate renewable energy directly 42 | Viride

to a “behind-the-meter” microgrid that has a Pittsburgh-made Aquion battery storage system. Outside, a detention pond prevents site flooding and a bioswale removes silt and pollution from surface runoff water.  Inside, radiant heat keeps the mechanic shop warm in the winter. The terminal’s microgrid is a leading application of its kind in the Pittsburgh area and the company has been working with Dr. Gregory Reed from the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering to capitalize on its multitudinous opportunities. Dr. Reed has an on-site laboratory that students can use to learn about direct current (DC) power, experience a real-life

behind-the-meter microgrid, and test and verify if design considerations are actually yielding results. Throughout its journey, PITT OHIO’s project team overcame challenges and had to prove that the choices they made were also sound financial decisions. Members of design, construction, energy, and consulting crews, along with PITT OHIO staff and others, continually put their heads together to consider possibilities, hash out financial implications, determine practicalities, and create plans to move projects forward.

Photo credit: PITT OHIO

From the building envelope to solar power and fixtures, every decision was made within the lens of the company’s primary trucking business, including what would work best for the facility and very specific requirements. Each step of the way, underlying sustainability principles were shared among all parties involved, enabling PITT OHIO to identify itself as a market leader in both the trucking and green building industries.

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Putting Energy into Efficiency in Erie 

Erie community members celebrate funding for the LED retrofit of the Mt. St. Benedict Monastery Photo credit: Sr. Charlotte Zalot

Well-known regionally for their community activism, the Sisters are rooted in a 1,500-year religious tradition founded by Saint Benedict, who promoted the sharing of goods and caring of the earth. They take these values very seriously and, in 2016, continued Benedict’s tradition by stepping up to tackle climate change – even signing the Paris Pledge for Action and committing to reduce their carbon pollution 50% by 2030 and become carbon-neutral by 2050. To help accomplish these commitments, the Sisters formed the Committee for Alternative Resource Energy (CARE), which includes members of their order, operations staff, community members, and Green Building Alliance’s Northwest branch director, Guy McUmber.  In fall 2015, the CARE team began working to reduce the Benedictines’ carbon footprint, first focusing on the Mount St. Benedict Monastery. The Sisters became an Energy Star partner and used Portfolio Manager software to benchmark the building. Although the monastery was relatively efficient, a comprehensive LED lighting retrofit was possible and would reduce its overall electricity usage by 14% annually. After securing a $25,000 Penelec Sustainable Energy Fund (SEF) grant and factoring in an Act 129 rebate, the project payback was less than three years. And given the monastery’s hundreds of worshippers and visitors each year, the LED upgrade also offers great community educational opportunities. The change-out was completed in April 2016. 

People and organizations are motivated to conserve energy and resources for a variety of reasons. For the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, the journey toward sustainability was rooted in faith and principle. The Sisters represent a growing community of players in Erie (including city government, local businesses, and the Erie School District) that are building momentum in energy efficiency and climate action. 44 | Viride

That retrofit, along with the Sisters’ dedication to increasing efficiency and addressing climate change, has helped open the Erie community’s eyes to the possibilities and practicalities of sustainability. The CARE team continues to work with GBA to educate the community in Northwest Pennsylvania and beyond.  Although the Sisters already have many sustainability accomplishments, more work needs to be done to fulfill the Benedictines’ Paris Pledge. The Sisters are benchmarking several more properties in the Erie area and the CARE team is investigating green and alternative energy options such as on-site solar power. With their eyes and work focused on their 2030 and 2050 goals, the Sisters help both lead and steer the Erie community toward addressing the climate change threat. According to CARE member Sister Annette Marshall, “This is a moral issue.”  

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The Frick Environmental Center: A Living Classroom Reimagined By Patricia Culley

In September 2016, the reimagined and rebuilt Frick Environmental Center opened its doors to welcome people of all ages to Frick Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The world’s first environmental education facility that’s free, open to the public, municipally owned, and pursuing the Living Building Challenge, the Center is an unprecedented collaborative venture focused on the sustainable future of our environment. A dedicated and passionate group of individuals and organizations made the building a reality, bringing life, education, and nature back to 48 | Viride

Photo credit: Nic Lehoux

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“The new Frick Environmental Center embodies the best of Pittsburgh in both its respect for the past and its visionary design.”

this piece of Pittsburgh’s history. The project team included Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, City of Pittsburgh, a design team led by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, a construction team led by P.J. Dick Incorporated, and countless enthusiastic community members. Frick Park: A Pittsburgh Legacy

The story of Pittsburgh’s Frick Park begins in 1919, when industrialist Henry Clay Frick gifted 151 acres to the City of Pittsburgh to be used as parkland. The gift was at the behest of Henry Frick’s daughter Helen, who requested that a park be established where Pittsburgh children of all backgrounds could play and enjoy the outdoors. Frick Park officially opened to the public in 1927. Boasting 644 acres and stretching from the city’s Point Breeze neighborhood to the Monongahela River, the park today is a vast, largely undeveloped woodland reserve that teems with valleys, slopes, woodlands, flowers, and a diversity of wildlife, including joggers, cyclists, and nature enthusiasts from all around Pittsburgh.

Education through Restoration and Aspiration

The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy’s commitment to increase and diversify participation in handson environmental education by engaging the community brought new ideas and enthusiasm for a public environmental education facility. That vision has now become reality in the form of a new three-story, 15,600-square-foot Frick Environmental Center (FEC) building that promotes appreciation and protection of the environment in a functional and welcoming public space nestled off of Beechwood Boulevard. “The new Frick Environmental Center embodies the best of Pittsburgh in both its respect for the past and its visionary design,” said Marijke Hecht, former director of education at Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy. “The practical aspects of the center will creatively serve as a diverse community, while its cutting-edge design is in step with our city’s place at the leading edge of the green building movement.” In 2011, the Conservancy ambitiously identified Living Building Challenge as a performance goal for FEC, alongside LEED Platinum certification. At the time, only three buildings in the world had yet

In 1979, an Environmental Center was built in the park and, for the next two decades, the Parks Conservancy offered environmental education programs there for children from local schools, city residents, and visitors. It gave people a place to connect with and enjoy nature, while also learning how to care for and maintain it. In 2002, the Environmental Center was severely damaged by fire and left abandoned. Without a building in which to host its programs, the Parks Conservancy used temporary trailers to continue providing education. Determined to continue the legacy of the Frick family, the Conservancy turned the loss of the Center into an opportunity to reimagine their vision for environmental education, diversification, and community outreach. Out of this, the idea for a new Frick Environmental Center was born.

Former Frick Park Environmental Center (top) Gate houses prior to renovation (bottom) Photo credit: Alexander Denmarsh

Photo credit: Nic Lehoux

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PROJECT Project siteSITE sustainability features. Image courtesy of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson SUSTAINABILITY FEATURES

Solar Energy

Rain Water Usage

PV Array at Parking Canopy

Historic Fountain

Thermal Energy Geothermal Bore Field

Rainwater Storage

Rain Water Usage Building Non-Potable Water

Rain Water Interaction

Underground Water Harvesting Tank

Human Powered Crank

Rain Water Collection

Rain Water Display

Rain Barrels at PV Array + Barn

Rain Water Infiltration Pervious Pavers + Infiltration Basins

Rain Veil from Roof Run-off

Waste Water Disposal Drip Field Irrigation

Rain Water Usage

Rain Water Filtration

Agricultural Area

Constructed Wetlands

N

Photo credit: Nic Lehoux

achieved full Living Building Challenge certification; today, only eleven buildings have done so. Five years later, FEC is a living, breathing building that uses 40% less energy than a typical building of its size, captures and reuses rainwater, filters and treats all wastewater on-site (before releasing it naturally), and has on-site solar panels that offset 100% of its energy use. FEC is also constructed with regionally sourced materials that are free of harmful chemicals. As a whole, the building is designed and constructed to teach and inspire daily visitors to learn about and explore their environment, while providing an engaging, innovative, and tangible way to do so. 52 | Viride

The new FEC is designed to emphasize and enhance visitors’ interactions with the environment by making many of its sustainable features actual interactive elements. Children and adults alike receive hands-on environmental education, fulfilling the Center’s role as a “living classroom” and helping visitors make the transition from neighborhood to nature. Purposefully nestled in the hillside and tucked among the trees, with a simple sloped roof, the building itself literally and figuratively mirrors the nature that encompasses it. FEC’s south side mimics how trees grow in nature by having circular steel columns that are placed at irregular intervals. Clad in black locust siding, the Center

showcases (back to the forest around it) a dense, robust wood that doesn’t need to be treated, stained, or sealed – and is native to the Eastern United States. Full-height wood windows emanate warmth and allow for expansive views of the park from the elevation of the tree canopy, providing visitors a unique perspective of nature.

Though building design and construction is now complete, FEC’s story is only beginning. As the landscape around it matures, the Center’s bright, new locust siding will weather to a beautiful silvery grey and Parks Conservancy education staff will settle into their new offices and begin acclimating to their Living Building.

The Conservancy’s vision for FEC and the desire to achieve LEED Platinum and Living Building Challenge certifications aligned well with the sustainable design philosophy of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson and PJ Dick. FEC’s Living Building Challenge pursuit reinforced to the entire project team their responsibility to and role in protecting and promoting public health and safety. It is clear that sustainable design is not only the right thing to do ethically, but also an opportunity to make a richer, more powerful, and evocative architecture. Sustainability, resiliency, and functionality are at the heart of truly beautiful buildings.

FEC’s success as a certified Living Building is dependent on the staff’s sustainable behaviors of limiting waste and using energy and water sensibly, so the learning environment will require ongoing education for staff and visitors alike. Building utility and operations data will be tracked and tallied for a full year of occupancy. This effort will both confirm that the building functions as intended and ensure the Center can fully achieve its Living Building Challenge certification – an endeavor and success that will be long-celebrated by its creators, managers, educators, and visitors alike.

Circling Back and Looking Ahead

After a five-year collaborative design and construction process, FEC is once again a living, breathing classroom for Pittsburghers to visit, helping Frick Park remain a living testament to Helen Frick’s deep appreciation of nature and her love of Pittsburgh and its people.

Continuing with the vision Helen Frick inspired many decades ago, Frick Park warmly welcomes its newest residents – staff and visitors to the newly rebuilt and reimagined Frick Environmental Center – who will help ensure Frick Park thrives for many more decades to come.

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