The David L. Lawrence Convention Center is one of the least conspicuous structures ever to grace the skyline of a metropolitan area. Overhanging the Allegheny River in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the massive facility sports a curved blue roof that resembles the spoiler of an F-1 race car—only 1,000,000 times to scale.
Occupying 7.9 acres of land, it’s the first thing you’ll notice when you drive into the city on I-279 and the last building to leave your rearview mirror as you drive out.
Yet for all its size and scope, the DLCC is relatively invisible in terms of net carbon output. Owned by the Sports & Exhibition Authority of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, it is a marvel of sustainable engineering and the first convention center to boast a Gold Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating by the U.S. Green Building Council.
But how does a building with 1.5 million square feet operate with such efficiency? Director of Operations Paul O’Connell gave me and a group of attendees at the Greening the Hospitality Industry conference a tour to find out.
The first stop on the back-of-house tour was perhaps the least high-tech. As we entered a long, cinderblock hallway, we stopped in front of three massive blue recycling bins. Labeled for cardboard, paper and bottles and cans, the set-up is duplicated at various spots throughout the DLCC.
Finding enough recycling bins was easy, O’Connell said. Getting employees to buy in and take the time to sort out materials properly, however, was not. It took roughly a year for staff to use the set-up to its full potential. But by 2008, the facility had recycled more than 150 tons of waste.
Once recyclables get sorted, O’Connell said they must be compacted to save on space and to make for easier pickup. The job is done by a US$460,000 bailer that was funded by a state grant. The machine compresses the cardboard and other materials into half-ton bails roughly the size of a small desk.
The half-ton bails and other materials are then stored down the hall in a storage enclave. Separate garage-style holding areas for cardboard, paper and bottles and cans ensure that the recyclables stay sorted until they are picked up by a contracted recycling company.
On scheduled pick-up days, the bails of recyclables are placed outside on the loading dock. The DLCC pays for the pick-up service, and the recycler refunds the center for the materials collected. A few months ago, a bail of cardboard could go for as high as US$90, according to O’Connell.
The DLCC’s main exhibit hall rests below the blue, spoiler-like roof. Glass skylights provide sunlight during the day, while electric lights turn on automatically during night or cloudy days.
The exhibition hall is cooled through a natural ventilation system comprising ducts that can pull air in directly from the outside. The curved shape of the roof draws hot air upward, creating a natural draft in the 236,000-square-foot space.
The DLCC has composted nearly six tons of material thus far in 2009. To avoid contamination, O’Connell has the bin under lock and key. He or one of the facility’s supervisors sorts through compostable materials that are dumped on the concrete slab in front of the bin with a hockey stick.
When you flush a toilet in the DLCC, you’re using 100-percent recycled water. The facility has its own water reclamation system, which can process 10,000 to 20,000 gallons of water per day. The flush water is stored in a 50,000-gallon tank below a parking garage.
