The Janet Durgin Guild and Commons at Sonoma Academy in Santa Rosa, Calif., has received LEED Platinum certification for its sustainable design and construction.
Completed in 2018, the two-story, 19,500-square-foot nature-inspired building houses the private high school’s student and education center — a hybrid maker space, student dining with an all-electric commercial kitchen, and indoor/outdoor learning facility.
Sited on a 34-acre campus at the base of Taylor Mountain, the Y-shaped, steel-glass-and-wood structure employed several creative design and engineering solutions to reduce its carbon footprint and establish a safe, healthful environment for students to learn.
The building integrates active and passive systems that enable a zero-net-energy approach that decreases high-energy-component demand by more than 75%. To reduce operational energy consumption, 80% of the building is illuminated with natural light, wrapped with operable windows and coiling doors for natural ventilation, and has high-performing, low-e glazing.
Deep overhangs provide shade and shelter from the elements. Adjustable exterior sun shades and moveablescreens tune for user-comfort and curb heat gain.
In more extreme months, heating and cooling is provided through geo-exchange and radiant systems.These efficient methods drive down energy use and reduce water demand compared to traditional HVAC systems.
Other energy saving strategies:
•A photovoltaic rooftop array
•A living roof that helps insulate and keeps the undersides of the solar panels cool
•Naturally heat-regulating earth block
•An all-electric kitchen with induction cooktops, which reduces energy consumption while idling
•A waste water management system that accounts for 88% of the the building’s total non-potable water demand.
To ensure a space that promotes well-being, a reductive, low-VOC material palette was the foundation for the project.
The architect is WRNS Studio.
