PNC banks on being greener

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

You've heard of greenbacks and Green Stamps, and if you've been in Pittsburgh long enough, the Green Weenie. Now get ready for green bank branches.

PNC Financial Services Group, which in the last few years has built a handful of environmentally friendly "green" branches, now hopes to become a Green Giant of sorts by building at least 90 more green offices over the next three years.

The bank's latest design uses a host of planet-saving materials and techniques, such as recycled cardboard for counter tops and purified rain water collected on the roof for filling toilets and mopping floors. The offices also employ energy-saving measures that slash energy costs by 40 percent or more.

The first of the new-generation branches, which are more energy efficient and can be built faster than the bank's first generation, is set to open next month in East Bradford, near Philadelphia.

Locally, the first is scheduled to open this summer in the new 200-acre Pittsburgh Mills shopping development along Route 28 in Frazer. A second is planned for an undetermined location in the North Hills.

PNC is in the forefront of a growing green movement by companies committed to saving money and the environment. Big names include Ford Motor Co., Target, Starbucks and Pittsburgh-based Giant Eagle, which opened the nation's first green supermarket in Ohio this year.

Pittsburgh has been a hotbed for the green building trend with 29 buildings certified or in the pipeline for certification by the U.S. Green Building Council in Washington, D.C., including the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, the largest certified green building in the world.

The region ranks sixth for green buildings, behind Portland, Ore.; Chicago; Seattle; Los Angeles; and Grand Rapids, Mich. Nationwide, 188 buildings have been certified, with 1,800 pending.

PNC has 10 buildings nationwide either certified or in the pipeline, second only to Ford's 12. The bank expects to zoom past the automaker shortly when the new green branches start popping up.

For now, PNC's tally includes eight branches (six in New Jersey, one in suburban Harrisburg and one in Cincinnati); its PFPC Inc. headquarters building in Wilmington, Del., which opened in 2003; and its Downtown processing center, Firstside Center, which opened in 2000, the year the building council began the certification program.

PNC says it is the only bank in the country building green branches, although banking giants Bank of America and Wachovia are among those preparing to take the plunge.

When PNC began its search for a new branch design, it didn't set out to paint the town green. Its first goal was to come up with a distinctive building that people could identify with PNC, according to Gary Saulson, PNC's senior vice president and director of real estate.

The company also wanted a pleasant environment for employees and customers that promoted "productivity and happiness," Saulson said.

"Being green was kind of secondary," he said.

The winning design, by worldwide architectural firm Gensler, looks far different than the "dirt floors and straw walls" some people visualize when hearing the word green, Saulson said.

The exterior walls of the brick and glass structures are delivered in prefabricated panels that "go up like a barn raising," helping to shave construction time by four to five weeks compared with a traditional branch, PNC spokesman Patrick McMahon said. Eliminating the need for brick layers also gives PNC the flexibility to erect branches during the coldest winter months.

Huge panels of super energy-efficient glass that line the front of the building and wrap around the tops of sidewalls bathe the main lobby in natural light and insulate it from extreme outside temperatures. Photovoltaic panels on the roof capture sunlight to help power the lights. Overall, energy costs have been cut by about 40 percent.

Inside, instead of plywood, cabinets are made of wheat board, a by-product of wheat processing. The lobby floor is a mixture of cement and ground, recycled glass, a durable, shiny surface that requires little maintenance. Carpeting, woven from 70 percent recycled materials, is installed in small squares allowing small sections to be replaced as needed.

Sometimes, however, savings don't come from the latest eco-friendly products but simply involve rethinking the old way of doing things.

For example, PNC traditionally installed 40-gallon residential water heaters at its branches. But because employees really need hot water for only washing their hands, the company decided that smaller, more efficient eight-gallon tanks would do.

Overall, the green branches, which range from about 3,200 to 3,600 square feet, will cost around $1.4 million, or roughly $100,000 less than competitors are paying for similar-sized traditional branches, Saulson said.

"Years ago, you paid a premium for green products. That premium is going away," he said.

PNC also is leading an effort to cut green certification costs, which run about $2,200 to $2,800 for the typical bank branch.

Instead of submitting an application for each new building, PNC is pushing the idea of "bulk" certification for its branch design.

The building council expects to work out a procedure for what it calls "volume builds" for retailers by the end of the year, according to Brendan Owens, lead program manager for technical support.

If those plans fail, however, PNC might not apply for any more official green designations, Saulson said.

Although certification is important for upholding green standards and validating companies' efforts, "It's also important for us to do this economically," he said.

In any case, PNC will keep building green branches, he said.

"We've done everything we can that makes economic sense and to build a building that's sustainable, efficient to operate and a good place to work," Saulson said.

Newcomers to Pittsburgh might wonder about the Green Weenie. The term was coined by the late Pirates announcer Bob Prince to hex the competition. Fans followed his lead by waving rubber, and later plastic, green hot dogs during baseball games for good luck.

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