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U.S. Steel Tower

When most Americans think of Pittsburgh, they think of steel. History books detailing the rise of industry in the U.S. often include photographs of massive steel mills belching smoke and ash as they describe a city that as early as the 1860's produced over half the steel and more than one-third the glass used within the country.

Today, however, the mills that brought that still pervasive perception of Pittsburgh are long gone, replaced by an ever-increasing high tech and tourist economy. Over 3.9 million Americans visit Pittsburgh each year to bask in the beauty of the city and marvel at the scenic surroundings that have lured people to its river shores since the mid 1700's.

Home to nine Fortune 500 companies, Pittsburgh remains a center of U.S. industry. While today the steel mills and most other heavy industry reside in foreign lands, the corporate headquarters of American metal and glass corporations still call Pittsburgh home.

Dominating the skyline of Pittsburgh is the 64-storied U. S. Steel Tower. Built in the later part of the 1960's by what was then called U.S. Steel Corporation, later renamed USX and now, once again, U.S. Steel. The staff of Winthrop Management, LLC, the facilities management team of the prestigious property, meticulously maintains the daytime work environment for between 8 and 9 thousand tenants and visitors within the 2,900,000 square foot structure. CB Richard Ellis serves as the leasing agent for the building.

Owned by a Delaware partnership called 600 Grant Street Associates, L.P., the tower is still home to U.S. Steel as well as several other Fortune 500 companies. The structure, with its 3-sided triangle design, provides more than 41,000 square feet of tenant space on each floor, making the property highly attractive to both medium and large size companies. The unique triangle shape of the building, designed by Harrison, Abramovitz & Abbe architects, reflects the major geographical positioning of Pittsburgh at the meeting point of the Monongahela, Allegheny and Ohio rivers.

With over 11,000 windows, the building also provides for breathtaking views of the city and the surrounding area for tenants and visitors alike. Sited on 2.7 acres of land, 60 percent of the building's footprint is devoted to a large plaza that provides a beautiful and serene setting within the heart of Pittsburgh's urban center. Dominated by a large fountain, the plaza is home to outdoor cafés that allow tenants the opportunity to enjoy the warm summer days as they dine outdoors, or enjoy the cool breeze and soothing sounds emanating from the cascading waters within the fountain.

As we arrived at U. S. Steel Tower, we were greeted by Gary L. Sechler, Engineering Manager for Winthrop Management. Gary had graciously consented to meet with us and provide a tour of the property for our readers.

As we were escorted through the building's massive lobby, we took note of the 30 to 60 foot high walls finished in Palladian marble. A form of terrazzo, the walls shone with a richness well suited to the grand stature of the structure. The immaculate lobby was bustling with people moving to or from the six banks of elevators. Gary informed us that 56 elevators and nine escalators service tenants and visitors within the building.

As we talked, Gary informed us that he had been employed in his present position for about five years. "It took me about three years to find my way around," he said. "That will give you an indication of just how large this building is."

Arriving at the Winthop Management offices, Gary escorted us into a conference room where we continued our conversation.

"One of the unique things about this building," Gary said, "is that the building's square footage remains constant from top to bottom. While most tall buildings will taper as they rise, this one goes straight up," he concluded.

Gary explained that this feature of the building was especially attractive to tenants who prefer to have their staff centralized on one floor rather than spread out on multiple floors. With approximately one acre of space available on each floor, medium and large companies find the necessary space available to consolidate staff and provide a perfect environment for networking among employees.

Gary also informed us that the building was equipped with a heliport on the roof. Although not presently used, the heliport had originally been equipped with a state of the art air traffic control system. "Some interest has been expressed in again using the heliport," Gary told us. "But no decisions have yet been made."

According to Gary, U.S. Steel, PNC Bank, Price Waterhouse Coopers and H. J. Heinz are major tenants within the building, as well as numerous large law firms.

As far as maintaining the building, Gary told us that they do almost all of the work necessary to maintain the building using their own in-house staff. "We have 18 full-time Operating Engineers, represented by the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 95," he said, "along with three electricians represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and three carpenters represented by IUOE, Local 95." The 24 member crew work as a team, Gary told us. "We have electronic skills, pneumatic skills, programming skills and all the traditional mechanical, carpentry, HVAC/R and plumbing skills represented right here," he said. "To the extent that we can do the work safely and economically, we do all the work needed for the building and tenants with our own in-house staff."

Heat and domestic hot water are supplied during the winter months by two 1,600 B/hp Cleaver Brooks water-tube boilers. The boilers are combination set to operate on either natural gas or number 2 diesel fuel. One of the main responsibilities Gary has is in deciding what fuel to burn on any given day. This means checking the spot price for natural gas and diesel in order to determine the best value for the boiler's operation. In the summer months, the large boilers are broken down for servicing and the building's domestic hot water needs are provided by two 300 B/hp Vaportube steam generators.

Two 10,000 gallon tanks store fuel oil and the boilers burn about 500 gallons per hour during the winter. "Our utilities cost runs about $5.4 million per year," Gary said. "With fuel prices continuing to increase, the monitoring of fuel cost has become one of my main jobs. When I first came here, natural gas was almost a trash fuel," he said. "Since then the price has quadrupled."

To cool the building, two 3,500 ton Carrier chillers and one 1,500 ton Carrier chiller are maintained in the building's Chiller plant. "In 1998 we put in a water to water heat exchanger so tenants can install their own package units for supplemental cooling needs," he said. "Water prices were high when I first came here and continue to increase," Gary told us. "So we keep a closed system for most of our HVAC processes."

Electricity for the building is obtained from Strategic Energy Limited, a brokerage company. "We are paying about four cents per kilowatt for our electrical energy right now," Gary said. "Currently we are looking for a good broker for our natural gas supply." Gary went on to explain that many natural gas brokers had gone out of business due to the volatility of pricing within the natural gas industry.

Two diesel generators serve as back-up for the buildings power, providing service for elevators and emergency lighting. Each of the generators produces 800 kW, 1,000 Kva. "Their purpose is to get people out of the building in an emergency," Gary said. Besides the emergency power, numerous UPS systems exist throughout the building and many tenants have their own back up power systems.

"One of the unique things we do in this building," Gary said, "is that we test our emergency system twice each year by forcing a complete power outage. We have the local power company come in and shut down all outside power," he said. "We do that just to verify that all the emergency systems will work as they were designed. It also gives us an opportunity to perform maintenance on our 11,500v switchgear and distribution systems."

According to Gary, the city of Pittsburgh recently adopted a code requiring all buildings over seven stories to have two emergency drills each year involving 50% of the building and a full building evacuation every three years. We always did one to two fire drills each year, but did not evacuate. Since 9/11 we have done a full building evacuation, half building evacuation and vertical relocation drills," Gary said. "Everything went very smooth and I was very pleased with our response and our evacuation plan."

The building is presently switching over to a Seimens Direct Digital Control building automation system. "Our original system was a Honeywell pneumatic system," Gary said. "We are converting in phases and anticipate completion in three to five years." The conversion plan calls for maintaining the pneumatic actuators which were completely rebuilt six years ago. Transducers will be installed between the actuators and the digital system. The system will be hardwired and no consideration is being given to wireless at this time.

Approximately 50% of the lighting in the building is still provided predominantly by T-12 fluorescent lighting. Watt-miser 34 watt tubes are being used. The other 50% has been converted to T-8 lamps with electronic ballasts. "We are doing this now as we renovate various spaces in the building," Gary said. "The energy savings is tremendous," he said.

One unique management technique Gary has employed is a switch to 12-hour shifts for the maintenance staff. "It was a grass roots effort by the staff," Gary told us. They researched all the various scheduling methods and we decided on the 12-hour shift." Gary explained that each staff member works three 12-hour shifts one week and four 12-hour shifts the second week. "It has reduced our staffing costs," Gary said. "I have less absenteeism and the staff is much happier with their work." Gary explained that the staff rotates every 16 weeks moving from day shifts to night shifts.

Another of the many interesting aspects of the building is the fact that originally the building was constructed using the maximum amount of steel products. Even the partition walls within the building were constructed of steel. Today, however, drywall has replaced the majority of these walls as many renovations have taken place since the building was first commissioned.

As we began our tour through the building, we were consistently impressed with the professionalism of the staff that maintains the huge structure. As we encountered various staff members, we found they were more than familiar with the various aspects of their responsibilities and very proud to be working in a building they took such obvious pride in being associated with.

The building has a three-level underground parking garage with space for 150 cars, making it very convenient for tenants of the building to avoid inclement weather during the winter months. Ventilation for the building is provided by a thermostatically controlled variable air volume system. When relocating partition walls, no ceiling ventilation work is necessary because of the use of linear two-way blow air outlets. Renovated tenant space is typically updated to modern individual DDC-controlled VAV air boxes.

11,500 volt primary electrical feeders run through eight high voltage risers in the building and three transformers are used for every five floors. With all of this available power, it is little wonder that firms dependent upon high tech office equipment are attracted to the building. In addition to all the available power, nearly 100 percent of the building has cellular flooring which allows for electrical and data power outlets to be placed virtually anywhere a tenant might desire. Electrical power is also fed from four separate, isolated feeder circuits coming from two separate power grid connections. This redundancy means far less chance of service interruptions in the event of power failures. In fact, in the 33 years since the building was opened, there have been no major power interruptions.

As we continued our tour, Gary told us how impressed he was with the training being provided to the engineers within the building by their local union. According to him, the skill levels of his engineering team remain consistently high through the utilization of continued education and training being provided by IUOE Local 95 in Pittsburgh. In his opinion, this training provides U.S. Steel Tower the competitive edge to attract and keep quality tenants.

The engineering spaces within the building were exceptionally well maintained by the staff and we happened to arrive at the boiler room to witness the activity of the staff as they were performing their summer maintenance and overhaul of the large Cleaver Brooks boilers. Everywhere we went, we were impressed at the cleanliness and orderliness in which the staff maintained the critical equipment within the building.

Completing our tour on the heliport deck of the building, we were thrilled at the scenic panorama of the city which lay before our eyes. Just as the city of Pittsburgh has transformed itself from the industrial giant of the past into a Mecca for high tech and financial industry, U.S. Steel Tower has transformed itself into the crown jewel of the city's skyline, making it the center point for a city that means business.

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