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comment Pittsburgh Preps for Summit with Green in Mind
Pittsburgh’s largest bank, PNC, plans a 2,380-square-foot living wall above the corner of Fifth Avenue and Wood Street at their headquarters in Downtown Pittsburgh (middle). The wall was designed to provide a variety of texture and color and will require just 15 minutes of watering once a week (above).
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The White House recently announced that the G-20 Summit’s welcome reception and dinner will be held at the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, calling it one of the world’s greenest public gardens. On September 24, 2009, President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will greet world leaders representing 85 percent of the world's economy.
After a tour of the grounds, which house the first LEED-certified building in a public garden, the G-20 leaders will have a working dinner at the Conservatory. An ambitious 20,000-square-foot Center for Sustainable Landscapes, designed to function at zero-net energy and water, will not be finished in time for the summit. The Design Alliance, the principle firm on the project, plans for it to compete in the Living Building Challenge.
“Phipps is proud to be the site of this historic event,” says Richard V. Piacentini, the conservatory’s Executive Director. “The G-20 Summit is an opportunity for us to showcase the story of green innovation in Pittsburgh and at Phipps.”
The following day, the group will meet at the first and largest LEED-certified convention center in the world, the David L. Lawrence Reception Center, where they will discuss the global economic situation.
Another project in Pittsburgh, the largest living wall in North America, is scheduled to finish by the September meeting. PNC Financial Services Group is planning a six-story, soil-based wall of native plants to grow as living art on the southeast-facing side of its headquarters building. The city additionally has “beautification” plans for key transportation venues and projects around Pittsburgh.
