Green Building Profile: California Academy of Sciences

By Greg Richardson

Because of its relatively small impact on the environment, the California Academy of Sciences building is having a big impact on the green building community. Located in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, the building is one of the only museums in the world to earn LEED-Platinum certification and has been the recipient of many sustainable design awards.

From the outside, the building stands out because of its bulbous, 2 1/2-acre green roof. Landscaped with plant species native to California, the roof hosts approximately 1.7 million plants and is the biggest swath of native landscape in the city. Among the many other benefits of green roofs, the soil structure also acts as a superior layer of insulation, which significantly reduces the building’s cooling loads.

Extended from the roof is a glass awning/canopy that wraps around the entire building and contains 60,000 embedded photovoltaic cells. These cells produce almost 213,000 kWh of energy per year, thus preventing 405,000 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions annually.

In total, energy-efficient design has decreased the energy needs of the California Academy of Sciences by 30-35 percent below what is required for a building its size. Daylight flows into over 90 percent of the building’s regularly occupied spaces, and photosensors automatically dim electric lighting to match natural daylight illumination levels, thus saving energy. The skylights in the roof are also set to open and close automatically to release hot air and reduce cooling loads, thus creating a passive cooling system.

The building’s materials are also environmentally friendly. Over 50 percent of the wood is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, and a majority of the insulation in the building is made from recycled blue jeans. Additionally, more than 20 percent of the building’s materials were manufactured within 500 miles of the building site, which reduces the environmental impact of long-distance transportation. The building even uses reclaimed greywater to flush toilets, which reduces the use potable water for wastewater conveyance by 90 percent.

Now that the building is complete, the California Academy of Sciences encourages its occupants to use sustainable methods of transportation when visiting. There is an electric car recharging station at the loading dock, bike racks at the front and back entrances, and the city even compensates staff members for public transportation use. The result is a museum that, even without its exhibits, provides an excellent educational experience for all of its visitors.