Insights
Dec 5, 2022 _ insights
Tree Pittsburgh: Modular and Zero Energy on a Non-Profit Budget
Tree Pittsburgh’s mission—to protect and renew the urban forest through conservation, education, and planting—is evident in their new 6,000 sf, LEED Gold headquarters, where they grow tens of thousands of trees. Together with Tree Pittsburgh Executive Director Danielle Crumrine, we spoke at the 2022 Greenbuild International Conference + Expo about how Tree Pittsburgh was able to align their new headquarters with their mission of being stewards of Pittsburgh’s urban forest, all within a small non-profit budget.
Like many non-profits, Tree Pittsburgh faced challenges in building and operating their headquarters sustainably. Limited utility access and brownfield conditions at the site were project drivers. The net-zero energy design helped the team capitalize on donor excitement while also lowering long term maintenance cost.
We elaborated on funding streams and the development of sustainability goals for the project by describing how the solar array, water collection, soil remediation, finishes, and lighting were funded by various grants and donations. Attendees learned how securing a grant for the solar array led the team to establish a maximum energy usage, ultimately guiding the program size, design, and construction. Our presentation also shared how the decision making was balanced with real time cost analysis.
Additionally, we described the building’s helical pier structural support system and modular, off-site construction process as well as the environmental logic of these selections. We looked at how the rainwater collection system limits ground water infiltration at contaminated zones and helps irrigate Tree Pittsburgh’s nursery and landscape. With the building occupied for over a year and energy usage documented, the team compared analytics of Tree Pittsburgh’s construction expense ($270/sf) and energy usage (net positive energy) against a conventional construction cost and energy performance project.
We covered a lot in our presentation, which you can access here.
Read more about Tree Pittsburgh here.
Tiffany Broyles Yost, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, Fitwel Amb. is an associate principal and director of sustainability & resilience at GBBN. Tiffany provides strategic leadership for sustainable design across the firm’s portfolio of projects, manages the research of the firm’s Sustainability Action Network, oversees our Sustainability Action Plan, and spearheads related educational initiatives. Her work includes sustainable design on projects at all scales from international tower mixed-use buildings to single story existing building renovations. Tiffany serves on several non-profit boards and committees including, the Greenbuild Summit Advisory Board, the Fitwel Advisory Council, the Louisville Sustainability Council, and the Green Umbrella/Cincinnati 2030 District Health Strategy Committee.
Matthew Plecity, AIA, ASLA is a principal at GBBN. An architect with a landscape architecture background, he leverages his understanding of site and context to design buildings with strong relationships to their environments. A regular presenter at regional, national, and international design conferences, Matthew’s education and community projects include the Federal House renovation and addition at Penn State Behrend, community libraries like Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh LAMP, academic libraries like University of Pittsburgh’s Hillman Library.
