Pittsburgh-based corporations PNC Financial Services Group and PPG have played integral roles in the development of sustainable architecture. PNC has more newly constructed LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)-certified green buildings than any company in the world, while its Steel City-based neighbor is the only building products company to offer customers such as PNC single-source access to sustainable glass, coatings and paints.
Given their proximity and history, it’s no surprise that PPG products have figured prominently in many of PNC’s signature architectural projects, including its boldest yet: The Tower at PNC Plaza. Opened in 2015 and planned to be one of the greenest office buildings ever built, the 33-story high-rise appears on the surface to be a conventional glass-and-steel skyscraper, yet the sleekly polished exterior hides a second glass façade that architectural firm Gensler designed, along with a rooftop solar chimney, to create a “breathing” building that uses fresh air and solar energy to naturally cool, heat and ventilate itself for much of the year.