Sustainablilty Review on California Academy of Sciences

The Academy

The outline of this research is to help me with the project that I am currently doing now, which is mostly base on the technological aspect of the building. What I am hoping to achieve is to match the same sustainable criteria as the California academy of science.

Sustainability was a key aspect of the design, as this project is one of the ten pilot green building projects of the San Francisco Department of Environment, aiming to get platinum LEED certification. Actually, the building will consume 30-35% less energy than required by code.

The project conserves two limestone walls from the previous building, and houses a planetarium, a rain forest habitat and an aquarium, and several exhibition spaces to house the several Academy collections.

The planetarium and the bubble that contains the rain forest habitat are the two big spheres that shape the green roof. The roof becomes a landscape with California native species, that won´t need extra maitenance or water, attracting local species to occupy it. Thus, the green roof won´t be fully accesible to visitors, who can only walk through a small path.

Section Cut

Sustainable Strcuture:

Heat and Humidity

• Radiant floor heating will reduce energy needs by 5-10%.
• Heat recovery systems will capture and utilize heat produced by HVAC equipment, reducing heating energy use.
• The planted roof will provide a superior thermal insulating layer for the building, reducing energy needs for air-conditioning.
• High-performance glass will be used throughout the building, reducing standard levels of heat absorption and decreasing the cooling load.
• Reverse osmosis humidification systems will be used to keep the research collections at a constant humidity level, reducing energy consumption for humidification by 95%.

 Natural Light & Ventilation

• At least 90% of regularly occupied spaces will have access to daylight and outside views, reducing energy use and heat gain from electric lighting.
• The undulating roofline will draw cool air into the open piazza at the center of the building, naturally ventilating the surrounding exhibit spaces. Skylights in the roof will automatically open and close to vent hot air out through the tops of the domes.
• The skylights are strategically placed to allow natural sunlight to reach the living rainforest and coral reef.
• Motorized windows will automatically open and shut to allow cool air into the building. Operable windows will also be employed in staff offices.
• Photosensors in the lighting system will automatically dim artificial lights in response to daylight penetration, reducing the energy necessary to illuminate interior spaces.

Water

• By absorbing rainwater, the new Academy’s living roof will prevent up to 3.6 million gallons of runoff from carrying pollutants into the ecosystem each year (about 98% of all storm water).
• Reclaimed water from the City of San Francisco will be used to flush the toilets, reducing the use of potable water for wastewater conveyance by 90%.
• Due to both low-flow fixtures and the use of reclaimed water, overall potable water use will be 30% less than baseline.