I'm Nicole Facciutto, and today we're visiting a museum

that's an amazing exhibit in its own right.

The California Academy of Sciences is the largest,

public, LEED-certified building in the world as well

as the world's greenest museum.

So in a real San Francisco treat, we're getting a

behind-the-scenes look at the Academy to get an inside view

on exactly how it's built green.

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NICOLE FACCIUTTO: After completing a $488 million

reconstruction and renovation project, the Academy reopened

in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco in

September of 2008.

Utilizing the latest technologies, the Museum has

developed a guest experience with the central theme of life

and its sustainability.

AARON POPE: We not only try and get people excited about

science and teach them about science, but we also want to

teach them about the importance of the natural

world and the connection between the health of the

natural world and the health of humanity.

So we're trying to establish that connection there, and we

try and operate in a sustainable manner here--

be as green as possible here.

And we also try and use that example that we set to help

inspire and empower other individuals and other

organizations to act in a similar manner.

NICOLE FACCIUTTO: Topped by a two and a half acre living

roof that absorbs about 98% of the rain water, the roof will

prevent up to 3.6 million gallons of runoff from

carrying pollutants into the ecosystem each year.

ARI HARDING: The Academy sits under a living roof, which

contains over 1.7 million plants and provides insulation

and natural cooling for the building.

AARON POPE: This living roof system absorbs 98% of the

water that falls from the sky.

What that does is it prevents it from turning into polluted

runoff, running down into the city picking up all the gunk

that's in the city streets and then flowing out into the bay

or into the water systems.

So what we do here is we capture most of the water that

comes from the sky and prevent it from turning

into polluted runoff.

This is the rainforest dome, and behind us there is the

planetarium dome.

You'll see there's two equal-sized domes on the roof.

These domes are actually a really important part of the

passive cooling system for the building as well.

Cold air sweeps across the roof and, actually, it goes

across these domes on the hills here and channels down

into the piazza, which is right behind us.

And although the piazza looks like it's closed from the

outside elements, there's actually a perimeter gap all

the way around it.

It was designed purposely to be an outdoor space.

So the cold air sinks into the piazza because cold air sinks,

and then we have windows at the base of the piazza, which

we can open up.

That sucks out the cold air into the building's interior

spaces and provides passive air conditioning.

NICOLE FACCIUTTO: Wow.

AARON POPE: And then the hot air rises and is vented out

through these skylights here in the dome.

So we have this circulating cooling effect, which saves us

a ton of energy and a ton of money.

ARI HARDING: The Academy of Sciences was built with water

conservation in mind.

And we have makeup water coming from the beach for our

aquarium systems so that we don't have to

use domestic water.

SHANE JUDD: At Kohler, water conservation

is a critical issue.

And we're really focused on creating education and

awareness to consumers about the benefits of saving water

and how they can do that.

AARON POPE: The most important and effective way that we

minimize potable water use is that we actually have a pipe

that goes three and a half miles underground from this

aquarium here out to the Pacific Ocean.

And so what we do is we draw in salt water from the Pacific

Ocean into the aquarium here, and we treat it so that the

salt water becomes a little more specific for the

different types of tanks in the aquarium.

What I've learned is that when we can connect with people in

a meaningful way and help them understand that there are

things they can do to help, they're really, really

interested and willing to try.

And so I feel like there's a very strong story of hope here

at the Academy.

And my experience has been that people, although not

always easily shifted into change, are really, really

interested in finding out how they can help.

And so we try and make that connection and try and help

them, provide them with solutions they can use in

their own homes.

ROB ZIMMERMAN: What I've seen around the United States, in

particular, is that consumers are now becoming aware of

water efficiency as an opportunity to save water in

their homes.

I think what we've really looked at is giving them a

real understanding of how much they can save.

And once they see that, they get excited about it.

NICOLE FACCIUTTO: Love home and design?

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