The Tower at PNC Plaza: A Building that Breathes

The tower at PNC Plaza really moves the needle in terms of building performance and that is the notion of creating a breathable building. We did a lot of research on the climate, the ecology of the site, so that we understood if we created a breathable building, would we be able to capitalize on it given the fact that we are in the northeast and we have concerns about air quality, humidity, all the things that I think have prevented our industry from creating buildings that have the ability to open. The research told us that 45% of the time we're going to be able to open our windows to fresh air and essentially turn off the mechanical systems to condition the building. We had to create a double skin that operated through a building control system that would open during the optimal weather days and that was connected to what we call a solar stack or a solar chimney, which is connected to a heat sink at the top of the building and essentially what that allows us to do is open the windows and through system controls bring air in at the appropriate velocity and have it exit up through the building and out without using any fan power. Essentially we call it a net zero day or a net zero moment for this building.