New Center Fixes Faults, Quakes With Green Design

Officials with the Portola Valley School District’s probably never thought they’d find a buyer for their one-room schoolhouse. Serving a town of only 4,500, the school rests on 11 picturesque acres and was built with a much-desired mid-century design aesthetic. One problem: The complex straddles the San Andreas Fault. The district nevertheless found a buyer — the town itself. Funding the project on its own, the municipality turned the school into a $21 million town center that combines high-tech seismic safety with sustainable design. The award-winning quake-resistant concept, which used ecologically grown lumber, recycled concrete and salvaged wood, has been certified LEED Platinum. Among the project’s countless green efforts for the center are low-water bathrooms, rainwater cisterns, a rooftop solar panel, recycled denim insulation. Earthquake activity is monitored with a citizen-made seismograph, weather, water and power usage are tracked with a flat-panel “dashboard” and a flexible waterline that can tap a nearby fire hydrant if the main water plumbing is ever severed in a quake. [via inhabitat]