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SHOWCASE:
The David L. Lawrence Convention Center serves as Pittsburgh's cornerstone green building and displays the city's outward dedication to sustainable design.

By John Parkinson

Over the last several years, Pittsburgh has undergone a metamorphosis from a steel and iron town filled with smoke stacks and gray air to an environmentally friendly city with green buildings and cleaner air. Nowhere is this commitment more evident than in the story of the city's new convention center.

Completed in September, the building is the "green" jewel of the city. The David L. Lawrence Convention Center serves as tangible proof that Pittsburgh has moved in an antithetical direction from its gritty, highly industrial roots.

The convention center, located downtown is along the Allegheny River. The center is 1.5 million square feet, and is the largest green building in the world. Officials are attempting to obtain a gold LEED certification for the building as well.

By Committee

Bob Imperata, executive vice president of the Greater Pittsburgh Convention & Visitors Bureau explains that the old convention center on the site was antiquated and "left a lot to be desired."

Early on, the idea of constructing a green convention center was discussed by representatives from three groups that represented philanthropic, sustainable design, and ownership interests. The Heinz Endowments, the Green Building Alliance (GBA), and the Public Auditorium Authority (later known as the Sports and Exhibition Authority SEA) were all involved in these preliminary talks.

"From the green buildings standpoint, everyone early on (once they understood what that was about) [thought] it would be a really strong point both in the marketing of the convention center and then in reducing operating costs long term," states Rebecca Flora, executive director, GBA.

As chair of the design commission, Flora was an influential and leading voice for advocating a green building. Her group is a local nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the economic, social, and environmental performance of the region by bringing about the integration of green building practices into local development projects. Either working together, or in some cases alone, the project principals were able to get the job done with minimum disagreement between the involved parties.

One example of cohesive planning was the procurement of the furniture with input from the architect (Rafael Viñoly), the owner's representatives (AMEC), and the operations company (SMG) at the center.

"We worked closely with AMEC on the procurement of those materials," states Mark Leahy, general manager, SMG. "[In addition] many items [furniture] were spec'd with our input and the architect's input."

London, UK-based AMEC was hired as program manager to represent the interests of SEA during construction. Philadelphia, PA-based SMG oversees daily operations at the center for SEA.

The Roof

While visually appealing, the suspended roof created the greatest challenge according to Bernie Watson of AMEC. Watson served as senior project manager for the construction.

"The obvious thing about the architecture is the cable staid roof. The roof is set up to provide column free exhibit hall space and also to give the architectural features [a similarity] to the bridges on the river," explains Watson.

For those not familiar with the city, the confluence of the Ohio, Allegheny, and Monongahela rivers dissect Pittsburgh's neighborhoods. Bridges play a large role in connecting the downtown with its outlying areas. After studying the convention center's design and going over the sequencing of the erection plan, the contractors were able to construct the unique roof.

Not only does the roof's structure add an eye appealing flavor to the city landscape, but it contains a park as well. This small park is approximately an acre in size.

"It's the whole top end of the building, and you literally hang out right over the top of the Allegheny River," says Leahy.

Visitors to the park can either take a glass elevator inside the convention center to the roof or take a series of escalators on the city side of the building onto the roof. People will be able to eat lunch, play games, or just lounge there.

Green Utilities

The water reclamation system at the center takes used water from the sinks and the drinking fountains and recycles them for the toilets. The used H2O, called gray water, is sent to the convention center's own water treatment plant adjacent to its garage and sent back to the rest rooms for future use.

Traditionally, convention centers use large quantities of water. This system will reduce as much as 90% of the facility's potable water. Because the center was built on a river, and the facility's architecture lends itself to it, natural air ventilation will help to lighten the HVAC load. These two factors allow natural air to work its way through the building in an upward motion. It has been described as being similar to opening the flue on a chimney. Additionally, no fans are needed to facilitate the process.

"It gets fresh air into the building and saves us on heating and cooling costs," relays Watson.

Along with the recycled water and natural air ventilation, daylighting is another feature of the building's energy saving initiatives. Clear story glass in the exhibition hall and the pre-function areas adds natural daylighting to the facility and diminishes the need for artificial lighting.

With lighting sensors in place, the building's artificial lights can be shut off automatically if sunlight hits a certain level. This will not only save energy costs, but will lend itself to a more pleasant environment.

"There are some studies that indicated conventioneers sales are significantly increased by having natural daylight in the facility," tells Watson.

Whether a visitor or a worker, the center's windows offer an added benefit: panoramic views of the city and water.

"We have windows that look on the Allegheny River. We can see the bridges, the ballparks, so you have that element of water right outside your window here," says Leahy.

Lastly, officials are in the preliminary planning stages for deciding on an alternative form of non-fossil energy for the convention center. Turbine power (wind energy) created from off site generators seems to be the leading candidate for the job.

Due to a lack of building history-parts of the building have only been open for a few months-many figures regarding energy usage are incomplete. As time goes on, and more people use the center, officials will be able to develop a comprehensive energy plan.

Carpet

Being a green building, center planners had limited carpet selections. Thoughtful deliberation was given to the subject.

"We were debating on the type of carpet, and we ended up choosing a solution dyed carpet," states Watson. "That's one where the color is part of the process mixed in with the fibers as opposed to having a plain fiber that gets dyed after the fact-yarn dyed."

While securing sustainable carpet was a necessity, equally important was the durability of the carpet. Throughout its life, the building will have thousands of people using it in a variety of capacities.

Even before the center's grand opening, an ongoing juggling act was going on between the operations staff and the project team. As the operations staff would finish using the space for an individual event, a hand off was made to the project team to continue constructing the unfinished convention center. During this time, they shared the same staircases and public areas, and the project team used the inside portion of the building to construct the center. Strong sustainable pathways were needed underfoot.

"If it weren't good material, you can imagine what it [the carpet] would look like... Is it a convention center or a construction site? Frankly, we're both," admits Leahy.

Downtown

The convention center will attempt to serve two masters: the locals and the out-of-towners.

For visitors to the city, this cornerstone building will allow people to experience the convention center's sustainable design initiatives. In a much larger, symbolic capacity, it will serve as "exhibit A" for green, urban renewal.

"The convention center is without a doubt...an icon for Pittsburgh's environmental transformation,"proudly states Flora.

For people that live in town, they will be able to park at the convention center, and enjoy its inside ambiance and outside features. In a city that does not have many downtown residents, the convention center is a way of bringing people to the area.

The hope is that the buildings' structure will appeal to peoples' senses and draw them to the center. Leahy feels people are in deed developing an emotional attachment people towards the convention center.

"To come into a building and have people talk about [it] because of its dramatic architecture and what it means to the community-it's a real nice feeling," states Leahy. "When people ask you what you do, [and I say] I work at the convention center-[they say] oh really, wow! It's not just the events here, it's a striking facility."

If this type of reaction is indicative to peoples' perceptions about the facility, then the convention center's planners are on to something much larger than just another green building. Quite possibly, project officials-in a true combination of pushing green initiatives and savvy urban planning-may have created a significant example for how urban buildings can be both environmentally clean, economically viable.