A very cool way to roof a building, and having been on an asphalt roof in the summer, I can’t tell you what a difference this will make in the temperature in the building, as the architectural aspects will in the vision of those above.
August 16, 2007 06:40 PM Eastern Daylight Time
Rain Master Irrigates Largest “Green” Roof in California
SIMI VALLEY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As part of its commitment to a healthier environment and its ongoing efforts to reduce carbon emissions, Rain Master is nearing completion of a Central Irrigation Control system for what has been hailed as the most complicated living roof ever constructed.
The Rain Master Control system will enable the California Sciences Academy in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, the greenest museum ever built, to forgo a traditional tar and asphalt roof in favor of a plant-covered “GREEN” canopy that will not only save energy, but will transform carbon dioxide into oxygen.
The Morrison Planetarium, Kimball Natural History Museum, and Steinhart Aquarium, along with eight scientific research departments and 20 million scientific specimens, will be housed in the single Academy building, expected to be the largest public LEED Platinum Certified structure in the world when it opens in October of 2008.
“We’re certainly very proud to be part of this very important project,” said Rain Master President/CEO Jim Sieminski. “As technological leaders in irrigation control systems, it’s been a pleasure for us to work with industry leaders in architecture, landscape architecture, and irrigation design.”
The new system utilizes Rain Master’s Advanced OASIS™ software to provide the correct amount of water necessary to maintain the 1.7 million native California plants and wildflowers blanketing the seven ‘hills’ spread out over the roof’s 2.5 acres.
Beneath the soil lies a sophisticated, layered drainage system, and below the drainage system are seven concrete domes, as designed by celebrity lead architect Renzo Piano to reflect the city’s undulating topography.
