What happens when the space race meets the sustainability race? An energy positive space station is born! 🚀
NASA Sustainability Base – an award-winning, 50,000 square-foot office building – can be found in Moffett Field, California, located at the entrance to NASA’s Ames Research Center. The iconic structure of the building was inspired by the wind tunnels of the NASA Ames Campus and NASA satellite images; it provides optimal daylighting and shading and supports workplace flexibility, with an exoskeleton built to protect the building during seismic events.
Sustainability Base has won up to 10 different awards, including a LEED® Platinum Certification 🏆 But how exactly does this building live up to its name?
🚰 Indoor tech produced for the International Space Station recycles sink & shower greywater for toilet flushing. Outside, the Base’s intelligent landscape design incorporates native & drought-resistant species, drip irrigation & water-cleansing systems – allowing Sustainability Base to save 90% of potable water compared to similar-sized facilities.
🏗️ During the design & construction phases, Cradle to Cradle Certified™ products were used when available in a rigorous materials selection process. When such products were unable to be implemented, alternative products were evaluated by MBDC for their Cradle to Cradle Certified™ potential.
⚡ Radiant cooling ceiling panels & hot water radiant wall heating panels, natural ventilation with automated windows, smart LED fixtures around the building & a sophisticated lighting control system that adjusts for ambient conditions & time of day, as well as 432 solar panels designed to generate roughly 30% of building electricity requirements.
Lifting off towards a green future!