The Center for Sustainable Landscapes (CSL) at the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh, Pa., has recently become the first certified Sustainable SITES Initiative v2 Platinum project in the world. The building originally opened in 2012 and was the first and only project to receive SITES 2009 Pilot Four Star certification.
The CSL was built over a previously documented brownfield with the goal of restoring the site. Since 2012, the project has successfully reintroduced 100 native plant species to the surrounding area. The building is net-zero energy and net-zero water thanks to its PV solar panels, a wind turbine, and a system for capturing and treating all water onsite for reuse.
See Also: First photos inside the nearly completed Jewel Changi Airport addition
The new SITES v2 Rating System builds off the 2009 pilot certification. SITES certified projects are better equipped to withstand catastrophic events like floods, droughts, and wildfires. They reduce water and energy demand, improve air quality, and promote human well-being.
SITES is owned and administered by Green Business Certification Inc. Certification is based on a point system: the number of points a project earns determines the certification level it receives (SItes Certified: 70-84 points, SITES Silver: 85-99 points, SITES Gold: 100-134 points, SITES Platinum: 135+ points).
Related Stories
| Sep 7, 2014
USGBC + American Chemistry Council: Unlikely partners in green building
In this new partnership, LEED will benefit from the materials expertise of ACC and its member companies. We believe this has the potential to be transformational, writes Skanska USA's President and CEO Michael McNally.
Sponsored | | Sep 2, 2014
Judson University’s Harm A. Weber Academic Center resembles copper, but its sustainability efforts are pure gold
The building’s custom-fabricated wall panels look like copper, but are actually flat metal sheets coated with Valspar’s signature Fluropon Copper Penny coating.
| Aug 25, 2014
Glazing plays key role in reinventing stairway design
Within the architectural community, a movement called "active design" seeks to convert barren and unappealing stairwells originally conceived as emergency contingencies into well-designed architectural focal points. SPONSORED CONTENT
| Aug 12, 2014
Vietnam's 'dragonfly in the sky' will be covered in trees, vegetation
Designed by Vietnamese design firm Vo Trong Nghia Architects, the building will be made up of stacked concrete blocks placed slightly askew to create a soft, organic form that the architects say is reminiscent of a dragonfly in the sky.
| Jul 30, 2014
German students design rooftop solar panels that double as housing
Students at the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences designed a solar panel that can double as living space for the Solar Decathlon Europe.
| Jul 24, 2014
MIT researchers explore how to make wood composite-like blocks of bamboo
The concept behind the research is to slice the stalk of bamboo grass into smaller pieces to bond together and form sturdy blocks, much like conventional wood composites.
| Jul 17, 2014
A harmful trade-off many U.S. green buildings make
The Urban Green Council addresses a concern that many "green" buildings in the U.S. have: poor insulation.
| Jul 17, 2014
A high-rise with outdoor, vertical community space? It's possible! [slideshow]
Danish design firm C.F. Møller has developed a novel way to increase community space without compromising privacy or indoor space.
| Jul 16, 2014
Check out this tree-like skyscraper concept for vertical farming
Aprilli Design Studio has stepped forward with a new idea for a vertical farm, which is intended to resemble a giant tree. It uses lightweight decks as outdoor growing space, adding up to about 25 acres of space.
| Jul 14, 2014
Meet the bamboo-tent hotel that can grow
Beijing-based design cooperative Penda designed a bamboo hotel that can easily expand vertically or horizontally.
