by Greg MacSweeney, NURFS

Introduction: The new headquarters tower for the Pittsburgh-based bank features a solar chimney, extensive water reclamation, park space, and natural air ventilation for most of the building.

As Kermit the Frog says, "It's not easy being green." But sometimes it's certainly worth it.

In October 2015, Pittsburgh-based PNC Financial Services Group opened its new headquarters, The Tower at PNC Plaza. The $240 million, 800,000 square-foot tower is LEED Platinum certified and will house 2,200 PNC employees. The building will consume 50 percent less energy and 77 percent less water than a typical office building and PNC calls its new home the "greenest office tower in the world." Bill Demchak, PNC's Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer says the tower "takes PNC's leadership in green building to a whole new level."

The chandelier in the lobby has been named the "beacon." The colors show energy consumption on the different floors of the building.

Gary Saulson, PNC's Director of Corporate Real Estate, says that building "green" is in the company's DNA, as PNC has been focusing on efficient and environmentally friendly buildings since 1998. "We have more newly constructed LEED certified green buildings than any other company in the world," Saulson told Banking Perspective. PNC's green building focus provides "cost savings, energy savings, water savings, and ongoing maintenance savings," he added.

The Towers's Green Tech Includes:
A double-skin facade: a window system in which two panes of glass are separated by a cavity that provides insulation and helps control the building's interior temperature. Fresh air enters the cavity through the exterior facade's windows, which automatically open and close depending on weather conditions, and passes through the interior facade's vents, which provide access to the building's floor plate. "The new tower is probably the most complicated building ever built, and it is the only true double-skin building," Saulson said.

The indoor park in the tower encourages impromptu meetings and collaboration, as well as a place to relax and recharge during the day.

A solar chimney: consists of two vertical shafts located at the core of the tower through which warm air rises. The solar chimney and double-skin facade create a cycle in which fresh air enters the building, naturally warms, rises through the shafts and exits at the roof. PNC expects the double-skin facade and solar chimney to facilitate natural ventilation at least 42 percent of the year. "Most office buildings have thousands of fans to circulate the air," Saulson explained. In the new tower, "most of the air circulates by itself."

Blinds with automated controls: located on the interior facade, they activate depending on the amount of light entering the building. They automatically close when there is glare or a significant amount of sunlight and open when lighting conditions are ideal. Ninety-two percent of the tower's workspaces have access to direct sunlight.

A water recycling and treatment system: PNC says it is the most advanced in the United States, and it recycles and treats rain and wastewater for flushing, cooling and irrigation.

PNC built its new headquarters because it needed more space as the company grows. "We knew we were running out of space in our existing buildings and one of our objectives was to build the greenest building in the world," Saulson said.

The observation walk around The Tower at PNC Plaza allows employees to enjoy fresh air outside without having to go down to street level to leave the building, as most people do in traditional office towers.

The new headquarters isn't the bank's first green building. The Tower at PNC Plaza is PNC's third major LEED Certified project in downtown Pittsburgh and PNC expects the tower to exceed LEED Platinum. PNC Firstside Center, which opened in 2000, was as the largest LEED Certified building in the world at the time (650,000 square feet) and the first certified under LEED 2.0. Three PNC Plaza, which is among the nation's largest mixed-use green buildings, is LEED Gold. And, finally, 500 Smithfield Street in downtown Pittsburgh is the home of the former Mellon Bank headquarters and was renovated to LEED standards by PNC.