PPG Industries Pittsburgh, and glass fabricator J.E. Berkowitz, LP, Pedricktown, N.J., announced that they have shipped about 50 percent of an order they received in 2013 to supply more than 400,000 square feet of fabricated vision glass panels for the Tower at PNC Plaza in Pittsburgh.

The new 33-story building, designed to be the world’s “greenest” office tower, is being erected with an innovative double-skin façade featuring STARPHIRE ultra-clear and SUNGATE 400 passive low-emissivity (low-e) glasses by PPG. Permasteelisa North America Corp., Windsor, Conn., is the glazing contractor.

The façade, which is expected to help the structure achieve net-zero energy status for more than 40 percent of the year, features laminated glass and dual insulating glass units fabricated by J.E. Berkowitz, a member of the PPG CFP Certified Fabricator Program using PPG Skyline Quality Standards.

Arthur Berkowitz, president, said that due to the double-wall design, total glass shipments, which will be completed later this year, could total more than 1 million square feet.

Designed by Gensler and sustainability consultants Paladino & Co., Seattle, the Tower at PNC Plaza will be wrapped in a two-layer façade with a motorized outer layer and a manually operable inner layer of louvers that will draw fresh air across the building floors, where it will be heated and then drawn through the “chimney” shaft to be exhausted through the roof.

Narrow floor plates and highly transparent Starphire and Sungate 400 glasses will enable light to penetrate work spaces throughout the building, reducing the need for artificial lighting.

Starphire glass is made with a proprietary low-iron formulation that produces the industry’s clearest, most transparent float glass.

Sungate 400 glass, introduced in 2010, is an exceptionally clear, passive low-e glass with a magnetron sputtered vacuum deposition “soft coat” that helps commercial buildings in heating-dominated climates reduce winter heating costs by retaining heat from the sun.

When coated on conventional clear glass in a standard 1-inch IGU, Sungate 400 glass has visible light transmittance of 76 percent. On Starphire ultra-clear glass, VLT is 80 percent.

The Tower at PNC Plaza, which is being designed to surpass standards for LEED(R) certification at the Platinum level, is expected to open in 2015.

For more information about Starphire ultra-clear glass, Sungate 400 glass or any other PPG architectural glass certified through the CRADLE TO CRADLE CERTIFIED program, visit the PPG Glass website or call 1-888-PPG-IDEA (774-4332).

3/17/2014