The first LEED Gold certified…straw building?
When an industry embraces an initiative the way architecture has embraced LEED green design and building, it only makes sense there will be a lot of “firsts.” FacilitiesNet reported on the first green law school, the first green building on Capitol Hill, the first green residential high-rise and the first green hotel and conference center.
And now…(drum roll)…the first LEED Gold certified building made out of straw bales. It’s true and quite impressive! Designed by St. Louis’ own architecture firm Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum, the $20 million sustainable building in Santa Clarita, California serves as an administrative, maintenance and bus washing facility for the city’s new compressed natural gas bus fleet. In addition to achieving LEED Gold, the facility exceeds California Energy Efficiency Standards by over 40 percent.
