Experience:

California Academy of Sciences
Bill Browning and his team at Rocky Mountain Institute helped craft sustainability strategies for the new California Academy of Sciences, a 450,000 SF high-performance building in San Francisco. Designed by Renzo Piano with a team that included Chong Partners Architecture (now Stantec) and Arup, the building opened in autumn 2008 and earned a LEED Platinum rating from the US Green Building Council.

The California Academy of Sciences is a 150-year old institution dedicated to scientific research and public education. Working with the Academy’s Board of Trustees, major donors, and the design team, Bill’s team pushed for design strategies and solutions that would reinforce the Academy’s mission “to explore, explain, and protect the natural world.” Key strategies for sustainable design included daylighting and natural ventilation of the Academy’s main pavilion, which was conceived of as an integral part of Golden Gate Park, the natural area surrounding the site. Using a holistic approach that ranged from planning decisions to exhibit design, the building was able to achieve excellent energy efficiency despite the diversity of spaces and exhibits.

The building’s sustainable design solutions merge environmental performance with human comfort and a strong sense of place. For example, the building’s extensive green roof not only insulates the building, but also mimics the dune ecosystem that would have occupied the site 150 years ago, at the time of the Academy’s founding. With a form developed using computational fluid dynamics, the green roof is both functional and a defining aesthetic element of the project. Detailed Terrapin Case Studies are available in the Workroom, our private extranet full of detailed information and resources to help you make an informed decision.

Photo by Shelby Doyle

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Biophilic Design wins American Publishers Award

Bill Browning and Bob Fox are among the authors of a new book, Biophilic Design: The Theory, Science, and Practice of Bringing Buildings to Life edited by Yale professor Stephen Kellert and winner of the 2008 American Publishers Award for Professional and Scholarly Excellence in the Architecture and Urban Planning category.

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Terrapin featured in Green Community

Terrapin has contributed an essay on Energy and Communities for the American Planning Association’s upcoming book, Green Community. Based on the National Building Museum's Green Community exhibition (www.nbm.org), these collected essays illuminate connections among personal health, community health, and our planet's health.

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