Tower Featuring PPG Products Earns 2016 ARCHITECT R+D AWARD
PITTSBURGH – PPG announced that the Tower at PNC Plaza in Pittsburgh, which features an innovative double-skin façade fabricated with SUNGATE® 400 glass, STARPHIRE ULTRA-CLEAR™ glass and CORAFLON® SUNSTORM® powder coatings by PPG, has earned ARCHITECT magazine’s 2016 R+D Award for High-Performance Building.
The double-skin façade, one of the first of its kind in North America, combines with two vertical thermal shafts and a solar chimney to naturally ventilate the 33-story skyscraper without electricity or fan power for more than 40% of the year. As a result, the Tower at PNC Plaza, which opened Oct. 1, 2015, is expected to consume up to 50% less temperature-control-related energy than comparable buildings of its size.