Innovative Sustainability embodied in new California Academy of Science building

A flying carpet of green grass floating in the sky. This is just one description of the 2 1/2 acre roof of the California Academy of Science's new building in Golden Gate park, just across the bay from San Francisco.

The many cutting edge environmental technologies that went into this 410,000 square foot demonstrates just what is possible in public building design, not to mention what is possible for retail and residential buildings.

The LA Times has a very good article on the new building.

Academy officials and Arup, the engineering firm that worked with Piano and a local firm, Stantec, to realize the building, have called the roof one of the museum's primary exhibits. Containing nine species of native plants, it will filter storm runoff and keep the building cool in summer and warm in winter. It is also ringed by photovoltaic panels that will produce somewhere between 5% and 10% of the building's energy needs. Although that's not a particularly impressive number, most green roofs have no energy-generating power.