Frick Environmental Center

Frick Environmental Center – A Living Building

The Frick Environmental Center in Pittsburgh is a certified Living Building.  It serves as a welcome facility for over 70,000 visitors/ year, an education hub, and the gateway to Frick Park.  WPPSEF provided a $100,000 grant to this transformative project.  This cutting-edge facility enhances visitor experience and inspires learners to discover one of Pittsburgh’s largest parks.  Designed to use 35% less energy than a building its size in their region, the Center is completely net zero thanks to electricity produced on-site through a 161 kW solar pv system.  The building uses eighteen geothermal wells to heat and cool the building.  In addition to being net energy positive, the Center is net water positive by engineering an advanced water collection and storage system.  The Center was designed to use approximately 330 gallons/ day and has an onsite water storage capacity of 17,500 gallons.  The Center planted 195 new native trees and over 7,000 native plants after construction to support their educational programming related to topics such as biodiversity, ecosystems, and watersheds.

Impact

70,000+ visitors/ year enjoy free admission

Twenty schools have registered for environmental education programs

Classroom space for 250+ people

On-site solar avoids 109 MT of COe emissions/year