Chatham University will host a behind-the-scenes construction site tour: The Eden Hall Campus Impact Tour: A Stronger Pittsburgh, A Healthier World on October 10 prior to its official opening this fall.

Located in the North Hills region of Allegheny County, Eden Hall will be the 
first community in the world built from “below the ground up” for the study of sustainable living, learning, and development.

Self-sustaining in every way, Eden Hall is designed to one-day serve 1,500 students while emitting zero carbon emissions, producing more energy than it consumes and managing all storm and wastewater on-site.

The tour will offer a first look at the initial stage of construction and commentary from industry experts on the various sustainable architectural and engineering initiatives, technologies, approaches and academic plans underway on the campus.

Attendees will learn more about Eden Hall’s impact on sustainable issues critical to the Pittsburgh region and the world including:

-- Improving air quality and reducing a community’s carbon footprint

-- Utilizing comprehensive on-site storm and wastewater management techniques

-- Modeling a diverse mix of energy generation including solar, geothermal and natural gas fuel cells

-- Developing new, green buildings while also preserving and updating older structures

-- Pursuing sustainable agriculture methods to produce food for the region

Eden Hall will model how a community can improve watershed protection and utilize innovative on-site water management techniques with 75 percent potable water use reduction and 100 percent on-site wastewater treatment. 

“Pennsylvania has more impaired waterways than any other U.S. state and even modest rainfall causes serious problems for aging, over-taxed lines,” said Dr. David Hassenzahl, Dean of the School of Sustainability and Environment. “Water and how we manage it is just one of the many ways Eden Hall models green innovation for the region.”

Pittsburgh has become a leader in sustainable design, alternative energy technology, LEED-certified green building, brownfield development, and sustainable regional architecture in recent years. Several headquarters for biofuel, wind turbine, and solar cell companies now call Pittsburgh home.

Eden Hall will speed the city’s emerging leadership in sustainability, energy and green building. It will serve as a living and working laboratory of ways that a small community can be more sustainable.

Located at Eden Hall, Chatham’s School of Sustainability & the Environment integrates academics with campus sustainable infrastructure to offer graduate and undergraduate sustainability programs that prepare students for the career opportunities emerging in this field.

Chatham has also established international partnerships with other universities, including EARTH University in Costa Rica, to connect physically and virtually students, faculty, professionals, and leaders from around the world right here in Pittsburgh in the study of sustainability.

According to Bill Flanagan, Executive Vice President of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, Eden Hall is a new symbol of how far Pittsburgh has come.

“We’ve been on a journey for the past 70-years to get cleaner and greener and now, a new generation of civic leaders are setting their sights on urban farming and green infrastructure,” said Flanagan. “Chatham’s Eden Hall campus promises to propel this commitment to sustainable prosperity to a whole new level, by pushing the edge of what’s possible not just for Pittsburgh but for the nation and the world. “

The tour schedule: 10:00 a.m. – Chatham Bio-Diesel Shuttle Departs Woodland Road, Chatham University Shadyside Campus (100 Woodland Road Pittsburgh, PA 15232); 11:00 a.m. - Eden Hall Campus Tour Begins: (6035 Ridge Road Richland Township, PA 15044); 2:00/2:30 Shuttle returns to Shadyside Campus.

Visit Chatham’s Eden Hall Campus webpage for more information including a 3D virtual walkthrough, the master plan and other information.

9/23/2013