Allen - Blog 14

The California Academy of Sciences is not a home for hobbits, although it might look like one.
Another work of Renzo Piano that serves to be more of a living "green" museum with its several exhibits, and the planetarium and rainforest habitat with aquarium (denoted by the domed sections in the roofline).

Designed to be extremely energy efficient the building employs quite a bit of technology to do so from heated floors, to solar panels, to self dimming lights based on ambient natural lighting, and to self opening/closing windows for ventilation, and much more.

The construction called for responsibly recycling the materials recovered from the removal of the previous structure while still preserving two limestone walls from 1934; The re-use of these walls is the beginning of the recycling for the new construction which called for recycled steel and the use of byproducts from coal power plants and metal smelting in the concrete for 50% recycled rating.

The most notable "green" feature of the California Academy of Sciences is of course, the roof.  Made of local species of plants the roof is 2.5 acres of living green space that insulates the building, attracts local wildlife, and prevents wastewater runoff as the water is absorbed for the plants and reuse in the buildings plumbing systems to reduce waste.  This might be Rezno Piano's best work for integrating a structure into its environment.

Cite: "California Academy of Sciences / Renzo Piano" 28 Sep 2008. ArchDaily. Accesed 27 Jun 2015.