Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, Comcast and WES.net Announce Sustainability Dashboard at the Frick Environmental Center
Custom dashboard supports sustainability efforts and education through real-time data
PITTSBURGH – June 16, 2020 – The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy today announced a partnership with Worldwide Environmental Services (WES) and MachineQ, a Comcast Company, to monitor and measure the Frick Environmental Center’s sustainability efforts with real-time information available to the public through a dashboard.
Developed through WES’s customized deployment of the Foreseer Monitoring System and MachineQ sensors using long-range wide-area networking (LoRaWAN®) technology, this customized dashboard provides data on energy use, carbon offset, solar energy generation, air quality, ambient light, water collection, resource use and other information about the Frick Environmental Center, one of the greenest buildings in the world. The project is also facilitated via ethernet connections delivered by Comcast Business.
With the generous help of Comcast and WES, the Frick Environmental Center will be able to advance its goal of promoting sustainable initiatives to a broader audience, while providing the tools to view the data in new and exciting ways. This dashboard will serve as a hub for sustainable resources with the potential to reach a global audience and can create learning opportunities ranging from school children to industry professionals.
“The importance of having this information in the palm of our hands can’t be underestimated. We’re thrilled to be able to offer this digital platform for children and adults alike to explore and learn about our living facility,” says Camila Rivera-Tinsley, director of education, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy.
The Frick Environmental Center has achieved Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification at the Platinum level, the highest possible designation attainable through the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and is the first and only municipally owned, free and open to the public building to earn “living building” certification through the Living Building Challenge, the world’s most stringent green building certification program.
WES Chief Technology Officer Mark Welsko expressed his excitement for working on this cutting-edge project.
“Working with MachineQ and the Parks Conservancy has been an honor and tremendous educational experience for our organization,” he said. “We are proud that our work will contribute to Frick Environmental Center’s living building performance and will be forever memorialized in a database that students and professionals can use for generations to come.”
Today’s announcement also advances the partnership between Comcast and the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy. Comcast in 2018 provided free public Xfinity WiFi hotspots in areas around the Frick Environmental Center and entered into a multi-year agreement to support digital education and related programming at the center through cash and in-kind contributions.
“We are proud to continue our partnership with the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy and to bring our company’s technology to the Frick Environmental Center in a way that underscores our commitment to innovation and sustainability, while furthering education about this unique building,” said Michael Parker, senior vice president of Comcast’s Keystone Region.
The Frick Environmental Center provides families, students, and learners of all ages with a state-of-the-art space for hands-on, experiential environmental education. The Environmental Center serves as the classroom base for programming that extends into the surrounding park woodlands, streams, meadows, and trails.