PNC Financial Tops Off $400M Green Headquarters in Downtown Pittsburgh

By Adriana Pop, Associate Editor

The new home of one of America’s oldest and strongest financial institutions is nearing completion. The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. recently celebrated the topping off of its new global headquarters, The Tower at PNC Plaza in downtown Pittsburgh.

The building is located on the Southeast corner of Fifth Avenue and Wood Street, the same Pittsburgh intersection where PNC has been headquartered for more than 150 years. Upon its opening in the fall of 2015, the new 33-story, 800,000-square foot tower will house approximately 2,200 employees.

Planned as the world’s greenest skyscraper, the project features a double glass facade and a solar chimney, which enhance energy efficiency by reducing cooling costs and allowing natural airflow to the building. Through the use of ground-breaking technology, the structure will ventilate naturally at least 42 percent of the year and consume 50 percent less energy than a typical office building. Moreover, floor-to-ceiling windows and narrow floor plates will allow daylight to illuminate 90 percent of all open workspaces, while a water recycling system will reduce annual water consumption by 77 percent.

The tower’s cutting-edge sustainability is in fact expected to exceed LEED Platinum certification and set the new standard for green building.

“The tower’s construction is a reflection of PNC’s commitment to Pittsburgh and a testament to our tremendous growth over the past decade,” Bill Demchak, PNC chairman, president and CEO, said in a news release. “The new headquarters will serve as a statement about the importance that we place on sustainability and innovation and on providing the best-possible environment for our employees.”

PNC’s partners in the project include local general contractor PJ Dick, Inc.; global design firm Gensler; U.K.-based engineering firm Buro Happold and green building consultant Paladino & Company of Seattle, among others.

PNC opened its first green building in 2000. At that time, the 650,000-square-foot PNC Firstside Center, on Pittsburgh’s First Avenue, was the largest LEED-certified building in the United States.

PNC now owns more newly constructed buildings LEED-certified by the USGBC than any other company in the country. It recently completed its latest green office building in Washington, D.C. LEED Platinum certified PNC Place at 800 17th Street is located just blocks from the White House and serves as PNC’s regional headquarters in the capital.

Photo credits: www1.pnc.com/pnctower