The Greening of PNC

Now it is into its second-generation of green building branch designs. They are more energy efficient and go up faster than previous ones. Two are already in operation, eight are underway and plans call for a minimum of 100.

Gary Saulson, SVP and director of real estate, didn't set out to become a mentor in a green building movement. He set out to create branches that were customer-friendly and places where employees were happy and productive.

"Green had a bad image," he says. "It was seen as a place with straw walls, dirt floors and people walking around in Birkenstocks." Nevertheless, he penciled in a half hour to meet with Pittsburgh's Green Building Alliance. The meeting lasted two hours and Saulson says he came out thinking, "if you can make a place physically attractive and also green, why not do it?"

Four years late, he says proudly, "people come into the branches that have external views and fresh air, and say, `What's green about this?' It's just a nice building to be in."

PNC worked with the Gensler architectural firm to design its newest green building branches from scratch. "We challenged everything we had been doing, not just materials and furnishings," Saulson says. For example, previous branches were automatically fitted with 40-gallon residential water heaters, which had much more capacity than is required for people who are just washing their hands. "No more residential water heaters." An eight-gallon capacity is more than adequate.

Window walls are chief among the units' energy savers and esthetic advantages. They consist of two sheets of glass that sandwich two sheets of film. Layers isolate extreme exterior temperatures to keep the building cool when it's hot outside and warm when the weather is cool. They are four times more efficient than code.

Walls are of a pre-cast polymer material that allows them to go up quickly, "like a barn-raising," Saulson says. Countertops are made of recycled paper and sustainable wood; and cabinets, previously made of plywood, are of wheat board, which is a byproduct of wheat processing. Other materials include rubber flooring and steel, which are sustainable, and recycled fabric content in carpeting, wall covering and upholstery.

The typical branch is about 3,400 sf, and the cost of building it is approximately $1.4 million, "no more, and in some cases less than traditional branches," Saulson says, especially considering these branches shave between four and five weeks from the traditional construction time frame.

Energy usage is decreased by 30%, because of the high-efficiency mechanical systems, and the presence of daylight. Construction waste is reduced 75%, including a contract to store and recycle materials that would normally go to landfill.

"In some cases," Saulson concedes, "materials and systems have a higher initial cost, but produce an early payback because of their efficiencies. And, like anything else," he says, "items are more expensive when they're not sold in volume. As demand for these materials and systems increases, the cost is coming down."

One added cost Saulson would like to eliminate is the cost of LEED certification according to US Green Building Council standards, which Saulson says runs between $2,200 and $2,800 a unit. Because PNC is building to a standard prototype, Saulson is seeking "bulk" certification for the branches. "Certification is not that important to us, but the process is the only independent entity that quantifies the materials and systems, like a UL rating on appliances. We want the LEED rating," he says and adds that negotiations with USGBC are "going well."

Other savings, ones that have always been a priority of Saulson's, are also coming to light. "Employee absenteeism is lower in the new green branches," he says. And the green branches give PNC recruiting differentiation. "They help make us an employer of choice," he says.