LEED

California Academy Of Sciences: The Mother of Green Musuems

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I’ve always been a fan of Italian architect, Renzo Piano and he didn’t disappoint with his renowned California Academy of Sciences building. Last September I was in San Francisco and made a point of visiting the institution. If you are a fan of green building and museums, this is considered the mother-ship. I’d have to say  for me the most impressive aspect was the 4-story rainforest, you truly felt like you were transported to a real one. As you walk in you are enveloped by the humid, moist air and surrounded by a cacophony of sounds and sights from croaking trees frogs to beautiful, lush tropical plants.

cal adam facaed

The building itself earned it’s second LEED Platinum award back in September 2011. The Academy’s operations and maintenance practices were evaluated again and earned points across six different categories: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, and innovation and design process. The institution has many attributes ranging from their living roof with 6″ of soil for insulation, the 60,000 pv cells to generate 10% of the Academy’s electricity needs or the 70% of staff using alternative transportation to commute to work – this is just to mention a few. Overall, the Academy sets the bar for  cultural institutions and namely natural history museums. It is something of an aspiration for all those interested in this field of sustainability and green museums.

Living roof

They also just unveiled a rare octopus species, a larger striped Pacific octopus. If it is so rare, I’m sort of wondering how they got it? But it comes under the weird and wonderful category because it’s mates pressing their suckers and beaks together, as well as morphing colors and shape shifting! Now, that is something to see and they say her mate is coming soon!

Summit on Sustainability Standards in Museums

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The initiative to green museums has been gaining some ground in the past few years and it continues to grow. This year at the Annual  American Alliance of Museums Conference, the PIC Green Committee will be hosting a 3-part session on “Sustainability Standards for Museums.” (To learn more put in “summit” in the search field.) ” The program will be covering where we are, what we have accomplished and finally deciding the next steps for advancing the field.

The session is divided into 3-parts, the first part will look at LEED, Living Buildings, Sustainable Sites and the EPA’s EnergyStar programs.  The second will examine the experiences of various institutions with the above sustainability measures by highlighting the pros and cons. And lastly, the third part will analyze the present data we have and help to guide us in the right direction to increase sustainability awareness for all cultural institutions. The sessions are held on Tuesday, May 21 from 8:45am – 3:00pm with a break for lunch.

If you are looking for ways to help your cultural institution become more sustainable this is the place to learn more. You’ll be able to hear from professionals in the field with real first-hand experience on what works specific to museums. All museum staff can benefit from learning how to use less energy, create less waste, implement viable sustainability measures and create an all around better environment for visitors, staff and collections.