As a younger kid, I used to visit the California Academy of Sciences with my aunt and brother quite often, whenever we visited San Francisco. The building was always filled with many things to explore: a butterfly dome, space planetarium, aquarium, and natural history museum. But now, as I look into an example of  green architecture in the United States, I realize that I’ve got one right close to home.

The California Academy of Sciences is the prime example of mastered green architecture - a living roof filled with grasses and flowers, six inches of soil for naturally heating & cooling the building, and 60,000 voltaic cells to convert sunlight to energy. The Academy has been awarded the Platinum LEED rating - a high certification in green building. It is the world’s first double platinum museum, and the largest double platinum building in the world!

The Academy of Sciences fits seamlessly into its surroundings of the Golden Gate Park, the living roof designed to imitate the surrounding rolling green hills. The architect, Renzo Piano, envisioned “lift[ing] up a piece of the park and put a building underneath.”  The building certainly fits that vision, as it provides an environment for 1.7 million plants, and many bird and insect species as well: bees, hummingbirds, butterflies. The plant species are able to capture 100% of excess storm water, protecting pollutants from being carried into the ecosystem, along with being agents to convert the atmospheric carbon dioxide to oxygen.

The Academy is committed to continuing and expanding upon these sustainable practices: with self-charging faucet sensors, floor-to-ceiling windows to maximize natural light use, and automated ventilation system (using the circular skylights on the roof). It’s built on a foundation of sustainability: from recycled materials from demolished buildings, and even recycled insulation from blue jeans.

If you’re ever visiting the San Francisco area in the United States, be sure to check out the California Academy of Sciences’ living roof! I’ll certainly be checking it out soon myself too, now knowing how incredible it has been planned and constructed.

Thanks for reading, hope everyone had a happy Earth Day!

References used:

https://www.calacademy.org/efficient-building-design

https://www.calacademy.org/about-us/sustainability-in-action/green-building-operations

https://www.calacademy.org/exhibits/living-roof