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California Town Gets Green, Earthquake-Safe Town Center

The town center's sustainable design includes energy-efficient mechanical systems, recycled materials, and roof-mounted photovoltaic panels.

Mairi Beautyman -- Interior Design, 1/20/2009 12:00:00 AM

In Portola Valley, California, residents had to daily deal with a major engineering problem: Their town center was built directly on top of the San Andreas Fault. Thanks to architecture firms Siegel & Strain Architects and Goring & Straja Architects, the new town center is now both safe and green--and expected to land LEED Platinum, the highest green rating bestowed by the U.S. Green Building Council.

The new town center consists of three new structures: a library, town hall, and community center with classrooms located on the same 11-acre site. The 1950's school situated on the fault line was torn down and the material recycled for the new buildings. The new structures enclose the stretch of land that formally served the school building: land which is now restored native landscape and athletic fields.

Green features throughout the town center include energy-efficient mechanical systems, reclaimed vertical redwood cladding, paneling and ceilings made of wood recycled from the school, and roof-mounted photovoltaic panels that generate a total of 76 kilowatts of on-site power.

In the future, the town hopes to embrace greywater recycling: An abandoned concrete culvert will be used to collect rainwater run-off, which will be used for landscaping.