Yesterday we visited the new California Academy of Sciences Museum in Golden Gate Park designed by Renzo Piano. It's great to see such a nice example of a green building - The Academy is now the largest public Platinum-rated (highest LEED rating) building in the world, and also the world’s greenest museum. Inside the museum houses a planetarium, aquarium, natural history museum and a 4-story rainforest.
The coolest part of the museum is the 197,000 square foot "living roof", growing native California plant species. The plants are kept from sliding off the undulating slopes by using 50,000 porous, biodegradable trays made from tree sap and coconut husks as containers for the vegetation. These trays line the rooftop like tile, yet enable the roots to grow and interlock, binding the trays together like patchwork.
The more typical black tar-and-asphalt building rooftop leads to a phenomenon called the “Urban Heat Island” effect. The endless swath of black rooftops and pavement trap heat, causing cities to be 6 to 10 degrees warmer than outlying greenbelt areas. One-sixth of all electricity consumed in the U.S. goes to cool buildings. The Academy's green rooftop keeps the building's interior an average of 10 degrees cooler than a standard roof would. The plants also transform carbon dioxide into oxygen, capture rainwater, and reduce energy needs for heating and cooling.
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