Salmon Creek Falls Environmental Center, Occidental, CA
The Salmon Creek Falls Environmental Center is the first LEED Platinum certified K-12 public school in California, and it is also the first public building in Sonoma County to achieve LEED Platinum certification.
Early in the process the decision was made that the design would also be net-zero energy and water use.
For 18 months, the design team met weekly and conducted 3 design charrettes in the process with a core design committee. The integrated design team was made up of members from the community, members of several local environmental organizations, members of the school staff, parents as well as students from the school.
Storm water is directed into a bio-swale and then into wetlands on site, allowing the rainwater to soak into the earth preventing unwanted runoff. The water for the building is provided by a well on site. Essentially the water use and recycling is a closed cycle with no water added and no water leaving the site.
The project serves the school district as well as the surrounding community. It includes an auditorium, cafeteria and kitchen, and meeting rooms; and it has many green features, including a vegetated, flower-covered “living roof”.
A 30-kilowatt solar installation not only provides all the energy the building needs, it also significantly reduces the energy use of the other buildings on site.
15000 Inc. is immensely proud to have been the consulting engineers on the very first LEED Platinum certified K-12 public school facility in California.
