Phipps Conservatory Earns Top Project of the Year Award from Environment + Energy Leader
For Immediate Release: Wed., July 28
Contact: Joe Reed | Director of Marketing and Communications
412-622-6915, ext. 3801 | jreed@phipps.conservatory.org
Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens Earns Top Project of the Year Award from Environment + Energy Leader
Phipps’ Lower Campus Recognized for Excellence in Green Buildings
Pittsburgh, PA – Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens’ lower campus of groundbreaking green buildings has received a Top Project of the Year Award in the Environment + Energy Leader Awards program. This selection recognizes Phipps’ green buildings as a top example of the cutting edge work being done today in the fields of energy and environmental management.
Phipps’ lower campus consists of three of the greenest buildings in the world: the Center for Sustainable Landscapes (CSL), Nature Lab at Phipps and Exhibit Staging Center (ESC). The CSL is Phipps’ education, research and administration facility, and an integral part of the Phipps visitor experience as a “living museum.” It generates all of its own energy and treats all rain and sanitary water captured on-site. It is the first and only building to meet six of the highest green certifications: Living Building Challenge, LEED® Platinum, SITES™ Platinum, WELL Building Platinum, BREEAM Outstanding In-Use and Fitwel 3 Star rating.
The Nature Lab at Phipps is one of the nation’s first sustainable, modular classroom spaces. It features nontoxic materials, generates its own energy and recycles water onsite. Fabricated locally by, it demonstrates how classrooms of the future can be built to maximize student wellness and potential. In May 2017, the Nature Lab achieved Living Building Challenge™ Petal Certification.
The ESC was a former public works building that Phipps transformed into a state-of-the-art space for health and well-being, where facilities staff build the props used in Phipps’ seasonal flower shows and visitors can watch them work. The ESC achieved WELL Platinum in June 2021 and is currently pursuing LEED® Platinum and Living Building Challenge certification. Upon the ESC’s successful completion of the Living Building Challenge’s performance period, Phipps will have three Living and Petal Certified Buildings on its site, each showcasing a different construction type: new (CSL), modular (Nature Lab) and existing (ESC).
The Environment + Energy Leader Awards is a program recognizing excellence in products and services that provide companies with energy and environmental benefits, and in projects implemented by companies that improved environmental or energy management and increased the bottom line.
“With a very experienced and critical judging panel and a strict set of judging criteria, entrants faced an extremely high bar to qualify for an award in 2021,” says Sarah Roberts, Environment + Energy Leader publisher.
To learn more about Phipps’ green buildings and sustainability initiatives, visit phipps.conservatory.org.
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About Phipps: Founded in 1893, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh, PA is a globally recognized green leader with a mission to inspire and educate all with the beauty and importance of plants; to advance sustainability and promote human and environmental well-being through action and research; and to celebrate its historic glasshouse. Encompassing 15 acres including a historic 14-room glasshouse, 23 distinct indoor and outdoor gardens and industry-leading sustainable architecture and operations, Phipps attracts more than half a million visitors annually from around the world. Learn more at phipps.conservatory.org.
About the Environment + Energy Leader Awards: For nearly a decade, the Environment + Energy Leader Awards have celebrated excellence in the world of environmental, sustainability and energy management. Award winners are truly buzz-worthy, and companies that sport a Top Project or Top Product of the Year Award badge are known to be the best of the best. When other companies are seeking a sustainability or energy management solution, they know that E+E Product of the Year Award winners offer a significant group of products, vetted by experts, to peruse for help in making their decisions. Project of the Year Award winners are known to illustrate how sustainability and energy management projects can successfully help other companies improve the bottom line.
Watch TEDx: What We Can Learn From an Old Glasshouse: A look at the evolving way we connect people to nature at Phipps, demonstrate how human and environmental health are inextricably connected, and show that to age gracefully, we must continually reinvent ourselves to evolve with the rest of the world.
