WPXI's New Building Looks Green

WPXI-TV, Channel 11 News, will officially move into their new building in September 2007. Here are some of the steps the company took to make the move environmentally-friendly.

Check Out The New Building Construction Camera!

•WPXI reclaimed and revitalized a site that was a dump for construction debris decades earlier.

•80 percent of the site is considered open space.

•A new wetland area was created that saw the replanting and relocation of sensitive vegetation. A new water flow system and filter ponds were added.

•The majority of the landscaped property uses what's known as a "no mow" fescue -- grass that looks nice but does not require mowing thus cutting down on lawn mower emissions. Other low maintenance ground cover was also used.

•Only natural irrigation will be employed. In other words there are no sprinklers on the property.

•A sidewalk, hundreds of feet long, connects the street entrance of the facility to the main building with the idea of encouraging employees to use public transportation which will drop them off close to the entrance point of the property.

•An environmentally-friendly heating and air conditioning system that uses absolutely no CFC based refrigerants has been installed.

•The HVAC system is built under the floor and is designed to heat and cool the bottom six feet of a room. Traditional systems blow hot or cold air in the upper spaces of rooms and waste energy. The under floor system is 20% - 30% more energy efficient than traditional systems.

•Approximately 20 percent of the building materials came from recycled content.

•The hard wood floors are made of bamboo -- a fast growing and replenishable wood.

•Carpets are "green seal" and environmentally friendly.

•Employees will be encouraged to recycle. Separate disposal cans are in place for paper, aluminum and trash.

•It is a non-smoking work environment.