RiverQuest receives funding from the state and from the Heinz Endowments, the Richard King Mellon Foundation, the Buhl Foundation and the Hillman Foundation.
"It's an incredible sense of satisfaction and real pride in terms of what our organization has been able to accomplish," RiverQuest's executive director Karl Thomas said.
The concept of a green touring boat was first conceived by staff members of Pittsburgh Voyager, the predecessor of RiverQuest, in 2003.
Using a hybrid fuel propulsion system designed by a division of Munich-based Siemens AG, the boat is built to specifications of the nonprofit U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.
The boat was built with such features as environmentally friendly paint and fixtures, a waterless waste system and the ability to be retrofitted with solar energy panels. Explorer was built to teach Pittsburgh residents and school-aged children, about Pittsburgh's rivers and environmental issues.
The nonprofit plans a formal unveiling of the green-built boat in mid-May.
To read more about RiverQuest's Explorer, go
here.