Look to your left and you will see a towering glass skyscraper defined by its sleek rectangular shape and a distinctive dark sloped roofline at the very top. This is the Tower at PNC Plaza, a spectacular structure soaring thirty three stories and five hundred forty five feet into the Pittsburgh skyline. PNC and its predecessors have proudly called this exact intersection of Fifth Avenue and Wood Street home since 1858.
When they announced this four hundred million dollar project in 2011, they set out to build the greenest office tower in the world. You can witness the dramatic rise of the Tower at PNC Plaza, transforming from an early construction site in 2012 into a gleaming, glass-enclosed skyscraper by 2015 right in your app. That construction phase alone created twenty five hundred temporary jobs, and PNC purposely directed twenty percent of the budget to women and minority owned contractors to help build up the community.
The technology inside this building is basically science fiction brought to life. It features the country's only fully automated double-skin facade. That means the building is wrapped in two separate layers of glass with a thirty inch gap in between. Fresh air enters through small, automatically programmed vertical exterior windows playfully called poppers. Inside, automated louvers called floppers open up to let that fresh air circulate naturally. Office workers can literally slide open wood-framed glass doors and step out onto a built-in porch for a breeze.
And remember that sloped roof we looked at? That is not just for style. It is the largest solar chimney in a modern American office building. It acts as a five thousand square foot glass box angled south toward the sun. As the sun heats the air inside, it naturally rises and exits through the roof, pulling fresh air up through the entire building without relying on massive, energy-hogging electric fans. Because of this, the tower's climate control operates in a net zero energy state, meaning it produces as much energy as it consumes, for up to thirty percent of the year!
They even built a water recycling system that treats rain and wastewater, cutting down their clean water use by an astonishing seventy seven percent. Take a look at your screen to step inside the Tower at PNC Plaza's lobby and experience The Beacon, a thirty foot sculptural installation visualizing the building's real-time energy performance. This absolute masterpiece of design achieved LEED Platinum certification, surpassing the absolute strictest environmental requirements for green architecture.
If you need to visit for business, the building is open Monday through Friday from 9 AM to 5 PM, though it is closed on Saturdays and Sundays. Take a moment to really look up and appreciate this marvel of modern sustainability. When you are ready, we can head to the next stop.
