PNC Unveils Largest Green Wall in North America
Posted on September 22, 2009
PNC Financial Services Group has unveiled the largest green wall in North America. PNC added the six story wall as a way to make its headquarters building more energy-efficient. The wall resembles a green panel on the side of the building, but it is made from dirt and greenery. The 2,380 sq. ft., soil-based wall features a variety of regional plants grown into living art on the south-facing wall of One PNC Plaza at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Wood Street in downtown Pittsburgh. PNC's green wall contains 602 panels, with 24 evergreen plants in each 2x2 sq. ft. space. The vertical garden will also help to cool the 30-story building.
PNC Director of Corporate Real Estate Gary Saulson, says in a statement, "City sidewalks are cooler and quieter thanks to shade and sound absorption by green walls and urban planting. Together with our recently completed PNC Triangle Park just one block away, the wall creates much needed green space and offers a distinctive welcome to PNC's headquarters campus."
Here are some interesting facts about PNC's green wall:
- It will weigh approximately 24 tons when fully saturated via an internally controlled irrigation system. It is estimated that the wall will require just 15 minutes of watering once a week.
- PNC acquired all hardware, plants, materials and installers within a 500-mile radius of downtown Pittsburgh. Of the eight varieties, some plants will change in the winter and some will bloom in the spring.
- The wall is a product of Green Living Technologies (GLT) of Rochester, N.Y. It is designed by Kari Katzander of Mingo Design of New York.