For over 125 years, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Outreach in the Community

Gardens has showcased nature’s wonders. Today our history of Sending the message beyond our front doors
excellence provides a platform for exploring the intersection of
• Homegrown, a program dedicated to
the built and natural worlds and how it relates to both human increasing access to healthy, fresh produce,
and environmental wellness. installed over 235 vegetable gardens since
PHIPPS.CONSERVATORY.ORG • 412 / 622-6914
We approach this work by showing that people, plants, health, 2013 in underserved neighborhoods and
planet and beauty are all interconnected and that sustainable expects to install an additional 150 gardens
actions — from constructing the world’s greenest building to by 2022.
planting a home vegetable garden — are the key to ensuring a • Let’s Move Pittsburgh, a collaborative effort
to improve the wellness of children, offers
healthy future for all life on Earth.
free community events, digital resources
and programming to help families make © Phipps Staff
Reducing CO2 Emissions healthy choices.
Setting a new standard • Studio Phipps, which helps commercial clients identify opportunities to integrate their own
natural and built environments, specializes in working with hospitals, businesses and schools.
• Phipps reduced CO2 emissions by 56% per square foot
© Paul g. Wiegman from 2005 to 2016, far exceeding the goals set by the • Biophilia: Pittsburgh, a network of creative minds, meets monthly at Phipps to find ways to
strengthen the bond between people and the natural world.
Welcome Center Paris Agreement for 2025.
• Phipps Sustainable Landcare, an education program and standard for organic, sustainable
The first LEED-certified visitor center in a public garden • All new building projects are energy-efficient and/or
LEED certified or higher since 2005. design and maintenance, certifies lawn and landscape professionals.
• Living Building Challenge (including net-zero energy) has • Make the Switch at Phipps: Green Power Drive offers guests a free one-year membership
• Waste heat used to melt when they switch their home electricity generator to 100% green power during their
snow on pathways been used as Phipps’ standard since 2007.
conservatory visit, reaching over 4,200 families since 2017.
• Parking grid for 150 cars on • 100% of campus electricity is produced on-site with solar
lawn – grass instead of asphalt and wind power or by purchasing renewable energy
• Eliminated irrigation system saving credits. © Paul g. Wiegman

2.1 million gallons of water per year • We purchase offsets for 100% of the carbon produced from heating our buildings.
• Fritted glass dome negates
solar heat gain
• Most of the building is underground
– earth bermed on three sides
• Features a 3-Star Green Restaurant
Certified Café
• Features a green roof
• Drought resistant, organically managed
lawn reduces water consumption

© Cory Doman © Paul g. Wiegman

© Lofty Views

Education for All

Bringing knowledge and inspiration to our region
and beyond
Café Phipps • Presentations, docent-led tours and dynamic
A healthy, sustainable dining experience, named a “Best science education programs reinforce
Museum Restaurant” in the U.S. by Food & Wine Magazine the importance of human-environment
© Paul g. Wiegman
connections, with emphasis on urban green
• No junk food – no soda = over 24,000 glasses of space and gardening, healthy food initiatives
soda not served per year Research and sustainable building practices.
• No bottled water – free filtered water saves Understanding the connection between human and • Programs connect themes of sustainable living
thousands of bottles per year environmental health to positive actions visitors can take.
• Composts all pre- and post-consumer waste, about • Phipps Research Institute for Biophilia and Science • Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program © Paul g. Wiegman
© Annie O’Neill
500,000 pounds per year Engagement conducts collaborative research with combines an array of methods to control
• 3 Star Green Restaurant certified local universities on sustainability and human and pests, minimizing pesticide use and choosing the least toxic pesticides as a last resort.
• 53,588 cups composted and kept from entering environmental health. • Online resources including Easy Steps with Big Impact for Climate Change, Eco-Friendly

GREEN HEALTHY SPACES

waste stream per year • The Botany in Action fellowship program supports Ph.D. Pest Management Guide, Top 10 Sustainable Plants List, Green Building Toolkit Series and
students conducting research internationally. more provide expertise from Phipps staff on how guests can have a positive impact in their
• Showcases food grown locally, organically
• Phipps helps lead the Pittsburgh Biophilic Cities Initiative. daily lives.
and on-site Built for Wellness and Inspiration
• The One Health One PlanetTM symposium unites • 5,000 adults and 40,000 family groups attend Phipps education programs each year.
• Hormone-, antibiotic- and nitrate-free meats
• Vegan and vegetarian options daily scientists, professionals, community members, educators
and students to explore environmental, human and
© Paul g. Wiegman
The Phipps campus encompasses internationally recognized
• The “Dirty Dozen” fruits and vegetables animal health. glasshouses and extraordinary buildings that demonstrate the most
are always organic energy-efficient and healthy built environments in the world.
• Cage-free eggs
© Adam Milliron
© Denmarsh Photography, Inc.

© Lofty Views © Lofty Views

Center for Sustainable Landscapes Exhibit Staging Center Nature Lab at Phipps Production Greenhouse
One of the greenest buildings on Earth, open to visitors year round The greenest building in the most unexpected space A new modular learning facility, expanding The first and only greenhouse in the world to achieve LEED certification (Platinum EBOM), managed by
Phipps’ capacity for children’s programs state-of-the-art computer controls to create 16 different growing climates
• A site for research, education and administration • A former public works building rehabilitated to be a building of groundbreaking efficiency
• Three-floor, 24,350-square foot building • Awarded Living Building Challenge • Open roof system eliminates greenhouse effect
• Designed to achieve Living Building Challenge, LEED® Platinum and WELL™ Platinum certifications
• Produces all of its own renewable energy on-site from the sun and wind Petal Certification for achieving five • Operates 39% more efficiently than similar greenhouses
• Prioritizes the health and well-being of all staff members; features a yoga room, fitness room and
• Captures, treats and reuses all water on-site imperatives: Place, Water, Energy, Equity
meditation room for staff to encourage mental and physical wellness
• Generates enough electricity annually to power 12 homes and Beauty
• Primary occupants are maintenance staff and grounds crew, a group whose well-being is
• Uses 75% less energy than a typical office building (EUI=18) • Net-zero energy – uses sun for power Tropical Forest Conservatory
often overlooked
• Manages 3.25 million gallons of storm water per year, enough to fill five Olympic swimming pools • Rain water collected for classroom use This revolutionary glasshouse with an unconventional design
• Visitors can get a unique behind-the-scenes look at the Conservatory’s flower shows as they
and toilet flush water that eliminated the greenhouse effect was the most energy
• Sanitary water cleaned by constructed wetlands = 79,000 gallons per year watch display props being constructed in real time
• All mechanical, electrical and plumbing efficient conservatory when it opened and has been toured
• Uses 90% less potable water than a typical office building • Uses geothermal wells to efficiently heat and cool the building by harnessing the natural energy
systems exposed, making the classroom by over 4 million guests to date
• Features over 100 native plant species from the earth’s consistent 55-degree internal temperatures
an interactive learning tool
• Provides food sources and shelter for local wildlife, including turtles and fish that • Photovoltaic solar panels on the roof provide energy to power the building • 100% passively cooled – always cooler inside
• Sanitary water cleaned by a
live in the campus’ 4,000-square-foot rainwater-capture lagoon • NanaWalls are used to increase sunlight and air flow on warm days than out in warm weather
constructed wetland
• Houses a dedicated classroom for Phipps’ science education programs for • Conventional buildings convert the direct current (DC) electricity generated by solar panels • 1,800 feet of underground earth tubes provide
• Constructed from non-toxic materials
over 5,000 children per year to alternating current (AC) electricity, and then back to DC again to power LED light bulbs, free air-conditioning
• Atrium and green roof are fully integrated into the visitor experience at Phipps, wasting 10 – 15% of the energy. The ESC breaks this wasteful convention by using direct DC • Massive roof venting releases hot air
which attracts nearly half a million guests a year from the solar panels and batteries to all of the lights in the building • Two stage shading system – maximizes air flow
• Awarded the four highest green building certifications – the only facility to do so: • Building materials are free from Living Building Red List toxic chemicals
- Living Building Challenge™ – Net-Zero Energy certified • Biophilic design elements and art, including a vegetative living wall, celebrate the bonds between © Denmarsh Photography, Inc.
- First WELL™ Platinum Building humans and nature, adding to the healthy impact of the building on occupants and guests
- Highest number of points for LEED® Platinum v2.2
• A green roof over the vestibule helps to manage storm water
- First SITES™ Platinum Certification
• Honored with more than 80 prestigious local, national and international awards

The Green Heart of Pittsburgh

© Denmarsh Photography, Inc.

Connecting Human and Environmental Health
© Paul g. Wiegman

2013
CSL 4 Star
2012 Sustainable SITES
2014
2010 2012
Certified
2015 2017 2019
Production CSL WELL Building

2005 2006 2009 Individual Leadership

Award for an NGO
Greenhouses
LEED Platinum
Center for Sustainable
Platinum Certified
2014 CSL Living Building
Nature Lab at Phipps Exhibit Staging Center
EBOM Certified
TM

Legacy Award Challenge Certified

Welcome Center Production Pittsburgh G20 U.S. Green Building Landscapes (CSL) Opens Living Building Challenge (ESC) Opens
Opens Greenhouses Open Summit Council (USGBC) Green Building Alliance Petal Certified

2012 2014 2014 2014 2016 2019

2014
2012

2006

2006 2013
Global Best Green Top Ten Award
2006 2009 2013
Catalyst Award
2011 Living Building Hero Project Award Innovative Star of Energy Efficiency Award CSL SITES
Net-Zero Carnegie Science The American Institute of Platinum Certified
Tropical Forest Leadership Award Engineering Alliance to Save Energy Architects Committee on the
Energy Certified Awards
Welcome Center LEED Conservatory Opens Café Phipps 3-Star International Living CSL LEED News-Record Environment (AIA COTE)
Zero Waste Pittsburgh
Silver Certified Green Restaurant Certified Platinum Certified Future Institute (ILFI) Platinum Certified