About the Project

The Center for Sustainable Landscapes (CSL) is a 24,350-square-foot education, research and administration facility at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens (Phipps), a public garden attraction in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Designed and built to generate all of its own energy while treating and reusing all water captured on site, the CSL is the first facility in the world to meet four of the world’s highest green construction standards — The Living Building Challenge, WELL Building Platinum, SITES Platinum and LEED® Platinum — and now adds the distinctive BREEAM Outstanding In-Use rating to its resume.

The core function of the CSL is to increase awareness of the interconnection between the natural and built environment, and the efficacy of sustainable systems for Phipps, a 127-year-old institution that receives over 500,000 visitors annually. By employing a design that invites exploration while seamlessly integrating with the guest experience, the CSL is uniquely positioned to showcase renewable energy technologies, conservation strategies, water treatment systems and sustainable landscaping to a broad audience, including many who are engaging with these topics for the first time.

Environmental Challenges

In support of the CSL’s lofty green goals, BREEAM In-Use is helping us overcome the challenges of maintaining performance, specifically with knowledge gaps and institutional knowledge.

Knowledge Gaps and Educational Opportunities
BREEAM In-Use provides opportunities to educate and to bring people to the table. Phipps’ pursuit of certifications, including BREEAM In-Use, provides opportunities for us to knowledgeably speak with a range of professionals to explain not only what we are doing but also why we’re doing it. In doing so, we are shoring up knowledge of and support for these types of projects. It also promotes understanding and fosters a sense of ownership, particularly for the management staff.

Staff Continuity and Institutional Knowledge
In any organization, there is a very real possibility of staff turnover. When that happens, there is the danger that your team may lose specialized knowledge of your building. Indeed, a key team member transitioned from Phipps soon after we completed the certification process. However, as required for documentation, preparing standard operating procedures was well worth the effort and helped us retain years of institutional knowledge about our building’s particulars.

“A management-focused certification like BREEAM In-Use presents opportunities to further your commitment to your lofty green goals and ensure ongoing success in managing building sustainability performance. Maintaining sustainability performance presents its share of challenges, but even these present opportunities for success.”

– Meghan Scanlon, Phipps Wellness and Sustainability Specialist

Benefits of BREEAM

BREEAM In-Use gave us the ability to maintain building management success by confirming design strategies and ongoing values alignment.

BREEAM can Confirm Design Strategies
The CSL’s original green goals, including net-zero water and energy consumption, had never before been accomplished in one project. Our pursuit of BREEAM In-Use allowed us to confirm that our design worked and the project’s original lofty green goals were still being met. The ongoing reporting required by BREEAM In-Use will help us demonstrate that we continue to meet our goals.

Indeed, thanks to an energy use intensity (EUI) of 18, which is 73.8% less than the EUI of a typical office building, the CSL generated 133,301 kWh while using only 129,876 kWh in its last year of operation. On-site solar and wind generation provides the electricity to power the facility. Compared with a conventional office building of the same size, the cost of operating the CSL over the next 30 years will save Phipps $3 million in energy costs alone. Similarly, a typical office building using the CSL’s amount of potable water will cost more than $140,000 over the next 30 years on water usage and treatment. That cost simply does not exist in the CSL.

Additional technologies and strategies employed in the CSL include, but are not limited to, photovoltaic arrays, a vertical axis wind turbine, geothermal wells, a rooftop energy recovery unit, a green roof, a desiccant dehumidification system, a direct digital control building management system with interactive touchscreen user interface, a solar-powered water distillation system, phase-change materials, mechanical windows, a rainwater harvesting system, a lagoon and constructed wetlands, rain gardens and permeable paving – all operating together within a single site. Operational strategies – from a high-performance building envelope to maximized daylight autonomy – that help Phipps meet its net-zero energy and net-zero water goals are also on display.

BREEAM can Confirm Ongoing Values Alignment
Phipps is passionate about doing our part to address climate change. Certification helps us walk the talk, compelling us to think of the future when drafting plans and policies with improvement targets and environmental and operational resilience in mind. It also provides an opportunity for us to confirm that our management strategies and operational practices are, in fact, aligned with our values.

“At Phipps, we believe that public gardens have a role to play in mitigating the challenge of climate change, and we believe the answer lies in regenerative thinking that extends to our buildings, programs and operations. BREEAM In-Use is an essential milestone in this effort, as it demonstrates the results of that transformation, and the value of changing the way we see the world.”

– Richard Piacentini, Phipps President and CEO

Benefits of BREEAM In-Use Certification

For Phipps, BREEAM In-Use certification is an important tool: