University of Pittsburgh, Central Utility Building
This critical infrastructure project is responsible for powering many of the forthcoming projects in the University of Pittsburgh's $1B capital improvement plan.
The project involved construction of a 42,000 square foot
Central Utility Building (CUB), at the top of Pitt’s campus, as well as the
underground distribution system that moved the chilled water to the buildings
being served by the new plant.
Awards:
- ENR MidAtlantic Best Projects, Award of Merit - Energy / Industrial, 2024
- March of Dimes Pittsburgh Transportation, Building & Construction Awards, Infrastructure Project of the Year, 2024
Location:
Pittsburgh, PA
Size:
42,000 SF
Services:
Architecture
Planning + Project Services
Year / Status
2023
Completed
Creating Redundancy
The goal of the project was to create redundancy, so that the
campus was not relying on a single utility plant. Existing infrastructure on
the upper campus was operating at capacity and additional capacity was needed
to be able to support future growth.
Team:
Burns & McDonnell
Mosites Construction and Development
Turner Construction Company
Enabling Growth
The CUB was the first major project undertaken as part of Pitt’s billion-dollar capital plan. It was an enabling project for the earliest components of that capital plan, which included new athletic facilities on what was being called Victory Heights.
Advanced Infrastructure
The new CUB has three chillers with a combined 7,500-ton capacity, which could be doubled for future needs. A 5-Kilo volt electrical substation was built to provide additional power to the upper campus. The plant also includes a 250,000-gallon cistern that captures and re-uses gray water to reduce the usage of fresh water the plant processes.