Phipps Awards Massaro CM Services

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December 2007 – Massaro Construction Management Services has been hired by Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden to provide preconstruction services for the design phase of their new research, education and administration building. This new building, the Center for Sustainable Living, will be one of the world’s first “Living Buildings” meeting both LEED platinum rating and the Cascadia Living Building Challenge (www.cascadiagbc.org/lbc). During the design phase Massaro will be working with The Design Alliance Architects, The Green Building Alliance and representatives from the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University

The Living Building Challenge, developed by the Cascadia Region Green Building Council, urges all owners and design personnel to build in a way that will provide a sustainable future. The building’s design will be focused on the region’s ecological characteristics in order to meet sixteen simple and profound prerequisites. Some of these prerequisites include:

  • 100 percent of the building’s energy needs will be supplied by an on-site renewable energy source.
  • 100 percent of occupants’ water use must come from captured precipitation or reused water that is appropriately purified with out the use of chemicals.
  • 100 percent of storm water and building water discharge must be handled on-site.
  • For each acre of development, an equal amount of land must be set aside as part of a habitat exchange.

The Center for Sustainable Living will be located adjacent to the tropical rainforest facing Schenley Park’s Panther Hollow. This facility will provide educational space to expand and enhance the Conservatory’s instructional programs geared to elementary, middle and high school students. These spaces are planned to be adjacent to extensive outdoor gardens and constructed wetlands to provide students with both hands-on and classroom learning experiences. The research facilities will be strategically located to provide experts with a wide array of indoor and outdoor environments.

This expansion is a shining example of Phipps’s continued commitment to provide the Pittsburgh metropolitan area with state of the art sustainable facility.