PPG Glass Helps Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens Center Win Green Award

Pittsburgh-based PPG Industries Monday announced its glass products helped the Center for Sustainable Landscapes at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh win a 2013 Green Design Award from USGlass magazine.

PPG supplied Solarban 60, Sungate 500 and Starphire glasses for the project.

The 24,000-square-foot building, which is LEED Platinum certified, features the PPG glasses as part of an integrated energy management system that helps the center produce as much energy as it consumes.

Chris Minnerly, AIA, LEED AP and principal of The Design Alliance Architects, Pittsburgh, specified two triple-pane insulating glass unit configurations featuring PPG glass for different parts of the building facade.

IGUs with Sungate 500 passive, low-emissivity (low-e) glass; clear glass; and Starphire ultra-clear glass were installed above the building’s sunshades and light shelves. IGUs with Solarban 60 solar control, low-e glass and Starphire glass were used below them.

“One of the key aspects of glass selection [was] to balance the solar heat gain coefficient against the visible light transmittance to get the best overall performance,” Minnerly explained. “The glass assemblies had to have the best UV (ultraviolet) transmission in certain light spectrums to facilitate the growth of plants.”

Minnerly designed the center as a long, window-lined rectangle to enable light to penetrate into the deepest parts of the building. Glass-related features such as louvers, Brise-soleil screens and overhangs minimize summer cooling loads, reduce glare and contain heat in the winter.

The triple-pane IGUs with Sungate 500, clear and Starphire glasses have VLT of 63 percent and a SHGC of 0.51, which produces a light-to-solar gain ratio of 1.24. The IGUs with Solarban 60 and Starphire glass generate an LSG ratio of 1.90 based on VLT of 61 percent and a SHGC of 0.32. Both configurations have winter nighttime U-values of less than 0.20.

The Center for Sustainable Landscapes at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens was selected for a 2013 Green Design Award by judges focused on high-performance, energy-efficient and “green” design practices

“USGlass magazine’s green design awards recognize projects that truly embrace high-performance, sustainable design practices,” said Ellen Rogers, editor. “The Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, Center for Sustainable Landscapes project is more than deserving of this award, and we applaud PPG and all those involved with it for their work in creating a truly green structure.”

PPG is the first U.S. float glass manufacturer to have its products recognized by the Cradle To Cradle Certified program, and it offers more C2C-certified architectural glasses than any other float glass manufacturer.

To learn more, visit PPG’s  high-performance PPG glasses webpage or call 1-888-PPG-IDEA (774-4332).

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