Our experience of buildings is a constant as we go about our lives, at work and in the community. At Greenbuild 2024 in Philadelphia, 19 green building sites have opened their doors for you to get a closer look and discuss projects with their team members.

Greenbuild tours are an opportunity to explore some of the most exciting spots in the city for sustainability. The tours are available to all pass holders who are registered to attend the conference, and will take place on Monday, Nov. 11, in the morning and afternoon and Friday, Nov. 15, in the afternoon. Pass holders must sign up for individual tours to reserve a spot.

Tours have been approved for GBCI continuing education credits. The total credits vary based on each tour.

Nov. 11 tours

3151 Market at Schuylkill Yards

8–11 a.m.

3151 Market was meticulously designed with sustainability at its core, providing state-of-the-art office and lab space, premier amenities, and a prime location at the epicenter of the region’s flourishing life sciences ecosystem. Targeted for LEED Platinum and WELL Silver, the 12-story building features a dynamic glazing system, multimodal transportation access, a heavy focus on occupant well-being via plentiful access to daylight and outdoors at all levels of the building, and optimized engineering systems. Do not miss the chance to experience this impactful development and project for the city of Philadelphia and the surrounding region.

LEED and SITES Seamlessly Connect Penn Campus and Philadelphia

8 a.m.–12 p.m.

The Vagelos Laboratory for Energy Science and Technology at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) will be a transformational space for energy research. The project is targeting LEED Platinum certification. This tour will guide attendees through the indoor social spaces and outdoor public areas while discussing achievements in energy efficiency, low-carbon and healthy materials, connectivity to Penn’s campus, and sustainable open-space design (including the adjacent Shoemaker Green, a 2012 SITES pilot project).

The site also neighbors two of the university’s most iconic athletic facilities: the Palestra and Franklin Field. Attendees will walk the site to experience the project spaces and learn about the constructability of components and infrastructure systems.

Sustainability at the Philadelphia Navy Yard

8 a.m.–3 p.m.

Explore sustainable development throughout the Navy Yard neighborhood. This tour will begin in the Ensemble/Mosaic Marketing Center, where attendees will learn about the Navy Yard’s transformation and path toward LEED for Neighborhood Development. The walking portion of the tour will cover LEED-certified buildings, eco-conscious infrastructure and innovative public spaces. In addition, participants will get a bird’s-eye view of the mixed-income residential development at Chapel Block. The tour will also include green stormwater infrastructure and public activations in the Navy Yard’s signature parks.

The tour will conclude at Building 543, a redevelopment of a former Navy coppersmith shop that now serves as Urban Outfitters’ corporate campus and home to Shop 543 Café.

Sustainability Driving Change in the Community

8 a.m.–3 p.m.

This multi-stop tour of North Philadelphia will examine the impact of sustainability in the community it serves. We will tour Youthbuild’s new carbon-neutral school, including features designed and installed by students. We will visit Temple University’s 220,000 square-foot Charles Library. Designed by Stantec/Snohetta, the building has become the social and academic heart of the campus for a large and diverse student body and reinterprets the traditional research library into a dynamic learning hub.

Finally, we will join a walking tour along North Berks Street to examine how the LEED Platinum community Paseo Verde catalyzed a wider community transformation, paving the way for the Choice Neighborhood Community of North Central Philadelphia to build a sustainable future with our final stop, NC Five—a resident-driven, Energy Star- and EGC-certified community that demonstrates how the symbiotic relationship between the built and natural environments can positively impact the health and well-being of its members

A Holistic Approach to Student Well-Being at Gutmann College House

1–3:30 p.m.

Tour the LEED Silver Gutmann College House at the University of Pennsylvania. This 250,000 gross square foot living and learning environment provides housing for 450 students and faculty in residence. The tour will bring attendees through the landscapes, collaborative spaces, facilities and amenities that help students find their place on campus, including private and public green spaces and the Quaker Kitchen, a campus dining option that offers high-quality food and hands-on culinary instruction.

Attendees will learn about integrated sustainable design strategies that directly support student well-being, enhance building performance and improve local ecology, as well as a comprehensive stormwater management program that manages runoff for 98% of on-site rainfall.

Drexel Health Science Building

1–3 p.m.

The LEED Gold Drexel Health Sciences Building provides hands-on experiences for students to work in labs and simulations. This tour will highlight stormwater management and reuse, as well as the mechanical systems in the penthouse and occupied floors, which comprise labs, simulations and classrooms. Attendees will learn how the building’s stormwater system and envelope use the environment to achieve sustainability goals.

FCA

1–3 p.m.

Join the FCA design team for a tour of the company’s new headquarters. Attendees will explore the relationship between aesthetically differentiated “neighborhoods” that allow for integration of the quadruple bottom line (people, planet, prosperity and place) and the use of biophilic and neurosensitive design strategies to create a feeling of well-being. The tour will outline steps taken to maximize sustainability, including a reduction of the floor plate and energy profile by 60%. The tour will include a discussion of various challenges that arose on the project. Finally, FCA’s sustainability action plan will be highlighted.

Education, Workforce Development and Green Stormwater Infrastructure

1–4 p.m.

The School District of Philadelphia has more than 60 examples of green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) assets on school properties. This tour will explore the district’s GSI assets with a focus on maintenance and resilience. Participants will see what GSI looks like on two distinct school properties and learn how the science behind engineering design is incorporated into school curriculum. In addition, GSI maintenance representatives will perform hands-on stormwater management maintenance to demonstrate how GSI assets stay operational and provide resilience for schools.

Life Sciences Research in West Philadelphia: Innovative Facilities Commit to the City

1–5 p.m.

Spark Therapeutics, a gene therapy treatment company, enjoys synergy with the vibrant academic research environment in Philadelphia. When the startup outgrew its initial locations, it committed to staying within the city and built research and manufacturing facilities near the research environments of the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University in west Philadelphia. This tour will take attendees to two facilities: the renovated Bulletin Building and the construction site for the Gene Therapy Innovation Center, a research and manufacturing facility. Representatives from the project teams will explain key sustainability strategies undertaken at these facilities.

Historic Preservation and Adaptive Reuse in Higher Education

1–4:30 p.m.

Visit two key projects that highlight sustainability opportunities you can consider when reevaluating your own building. The University of Pennsylvania’s Richards Medical Research Laboratories underwent a four-year renovation during which Penn took the opportunity to restore the building’s historic elements, including exposed concrete, brick and glass structures. For the second project, the West Philadelphia Title and Trust Company Building, Penn overcame spatial and structural limitations to create functional and dynamic interior spaces, as well as engaging exterior facades. Tour attendees will learn how the team’s analysis of the existing structure led to modifications that saved most of the existing building, reducing the project’s embodied carbon, shortening construction time and eliminating much of the planned demolition and disruption.

Resiliency, LEED and Discovery—Philadelphia's Projects Small and Large Add Up

1–5 p.m.

On this tour, attendees will visit several projects with sustainable and resilient design. The first stop is the Discovery Center in Fairmount Park, which houses Audubon Mid-Atlantic, the Philadelphia Outward Bound School and public educational exhibits and programs. Attendees will learn about best practices for bird-friendly design, ecological landscaping, community engagement and more. Next, attendees will travel to the LEED Gold Barry Playground. This full-building renovation exemplifies how a small public project can contribute significantly to its neighborhood. Attendees will learn about project challenges and successes, including the stormwater management and geothermal systems. The final stop will be at the Navy Yard along the riverfront, where attendees will see five LEED Gold buildings.

Saint-Gobain North America and CertainTeed Innovation Malvern

1–5 p.m.

At the Saint-Gobain North America Headquarters Campus, 35 minutes outside of Philadelphia in Malvern, Pennsylvania, tour attendees will experience firsthand Saint-Gobain’s purpose—making the world a better home—through a tour of a high-performance office campus, including both a double LEED Platinum building and a Living Building Challenge Core building. These projects foster productivity, collaboration and well-being. Transparent and sustainable products, systems and solutions will be on the tour.

Nov. 15 tours

Circularity and Composting

1–5 p.m.

On this tour, see two of Philadelphia’s composting facilities.

The Fairmount Park Organic Recycling Center (ORC) has, for over 40 years, served the community by turning leaves, brush, fallen trees and other organic materials into finished products—such as compost, mulch and wood chips—that are then offered free to city residents. This year, additional services were added through the Reforestation Hub, which takes fallen trees from ORC and upcycles them into lumber, while also providing training opportunities for future urban foresters.

Bennett Compost is a small business and public-private partnership with the city. The tour will demonstrate how a compost facility can succeed in a dense urban environment.

Historic Pine Street Passive House

1–3 p.m.

1722 Pine Street is a four-story, all-electric Passive House retrofit of a four-unit apartment building (circa 1845) in Philadelphia’s historic Rittenhouse-Fitler District. The owner/design-build team employed the EnerPHit standard to achieve the hallmarks of Passive House certification: fossil-fuel-free energy, reduced energy bills, superior indoor air quality, superinsulated/air-sealed exterior envelope, sound privacy and reduced health risks related to moisture, mold, dust, pests and drafts.

Presented by the architect/owners, the tour will focus on Passive House performance, Philadelphia Historical Commission approval, project design and history, the art collection, the owner’s bilevel residence and BluPath Design’s office.

Mass Timber in a Digital World

1–3:30 p.m.

The University of Pennsylvania Amy Gutmann Hall is the first mass timber midrise in Philadelphia. The building is a hub for cross-disciplinary collaborations focused on harnessing the power of data. The integrated design process focused on creating an environment that reconnects occupants working in a digital world to the natural environment. The building is pursuing LEED Gold certification, and the design contributes to a biophilic environment while reducing the building’s carbon footprint.

The tour will include insights on the extensive cost-analysis process and solutions developed to address union concerns, as well as a deep dive into the carbon analysis that drove design decisions.

Modern Sustainable and Healthy Office Spaces

1–5 p.m.

University Place 3.0 and the Sheward Partnership Philadelphia Headquarters exemplify the integration of health, wellness and sustainability in modern, post-COVID office spaces. Both locations emphasize increased indoor air quality (IAQ), accessible green spaces and amenities that support occupant health. The LEED Platinum University Place 3.0 is the first LEED and WELL Platinum laboratory in the U.S. and the first WELL Platinum project in the city. It features rainwater harvesting, electrochromic glass, an accessible green roof and more. The LEED Platinum Sheward Partnership Headquarters is pursuing WELL v2 Platinum and Living Building Challenge Petal certifications. It includes IAQ monitors, living green walls and wellness areas, among other features.

Reclaimed End Grain White Oak Flooring in the Tallest Building in Pennsylvania

1–3 p.m.

The LEED Platinum Comcast Technology Center is the tallest building in Philadelphia and the 14th tallest building in the U.S.—and it is furnished with 30,000 square feet of reclaimed end grain white oak flooring. End grain flooring is extremely durable and resilient and is made by continuously crosscutting the wood, exposing the annual growth rings on every piece. See the beauty of this wood and learn about the sustainability of Real American Hardwood products, grown in Pennsylvania.

Sustainability in the Community and Parks

1–4:30 p.m.

This tour highlights how projects with government and community support can effectively reengage the local community.

The Overbrook Environmental Education Center (OEEC), originally a construction storage yard for large vehicles, was turned into an urban green space with a bioretention system with help from community partners, neighbors and government agencies. Pervious asphalt and pavers, flow-through planters and green roof design support an underground stormwater retention system.

Rebuilding Cobbs Creek Recreation was made possible by the Philadelphia Beverage Tax. The Cobbs Creek projects, including an addition to an existing recreation center (now targeting LEED Gold), highlight sustainable building practices.

The Pavilion at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

1–3:30 p.m.

The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania’s LEED Gold Pavilion is a state-of-the-art inpatient facility and an architectural icon for Penn Medicine. Construction conservation initiatives for the Pavilion included recycling materials collected after demolition of the former hospital, including 291 tons of scrap steel and 17,000 tons of concrete. During construction, 25% of materials were prefabricated and manufactured off-site, minimizing on-site waste, reducing traffic impact and site congestion, increasing quality, and lowering costs.

On this tour, you will not only see the amazing final product, but also learn more about the human-centered design and construction process and everything we learned along the way.

Register for Greenbuild

Explore sustainability in Philadelphia with a 2024 Greenbuild tour