During this LISTEN + LEARN SESSION, you will hear from two of Google employees, an ILFI staff member, and moderated by the projects’ Sustainability consultant. The presentation will be focused on sharing lessons learned with the audience, and then engaging through Q&A at the end of the session.
Megan from Integral will open the presentation with introductions to the speakers and help to close the presentation by interviewing the panelist and moderating the Q&A. Lauren and Andreas from Google REWS Sustainability team will by setting the historic context and describe in more detail recent Google projects which have pursued LBC Petal Certifications. Andrea Cooper from ILFI will share how LBC imperatives have changed due to application on large scale projects.
Google Charleston East - This ~595,000 SF addition to Google’s Mountain View campus features a building that is pursuing LEED v4 NC Platinum and LBC Materials Petal certifications, which includes full Red List vetting, over 99.6% construction waste diversion, and 100% FSC for temp and permanent wood. In addition to the Materials petal, the project chose to incorporate the Beauty + Place petals. The Beauty petal is expressed through five public art installations, including sculptures which are intended to be dynamic, interactive, and to inspire curiosity. The Place petal is articulated through ~12 acres of landscape will be dedicated to pollinator habitat using native plant palettes, 3 bee boxes (apiaries) will be installed and maintained on site, and several movable vegetable demonstration gardens.
Google Bay View - Across Stevens Creek from the Charleston East project site, the Bay View project sits on NASA Ames campus and will host ~1.1M SF of office and event space. This project is pursuing LEED v4 NC Platinum and LBC Water Petal certifications. The project’s Net-Positive Water approach is made possible through a water-saving geothermal pile design, dual-plumbing, rainwater and stormwater capture, retention ponds, and decentralized wastewater treatment.
Google’s development projects speak directly to SCALING. At the Charleston East project, scaling the manufacturer outreach process by applying the common products methodology and creating a systematic approach to product vetting has proven a great success. This process was then replicated at the Bay View project for interiors products, although this project was not pursuing the Materials Petal. Bay View chose to pursue its own challenge through the Water Petal, showing how water reuse systems can be applied at ~1M GSF scale.
These success stories can not be shared without mentioning the huge efforts put forth by the deeply COLLABORATIVE teams behind them. Beyond the collaboration between Google and ILFI, the list extends to the specialists in the fields of sustainability and healthy material consultants, manufacturer outreach teams, design/ project/ interior/ landscape architects, structural/ MEP/ water system engineers - the list goes on! Every team played a specific role, out-performed both individually as well as collectively.
Google continues to evolve it’s design guidelines, sustainability principles, and research initiatives based on market and project feedback. The evolution which many of Google’s partners have experienced in the process of working on these tremendous projects does not go unnoticed. The future of Google directly incorporates concepts of ABUNDANCE through their collaboration with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and key sustainability pillar on Circular Economy.
This session is approved for the following continuing education credits:
- 1.5 LFA credits
- 1.5 AIA LU|HSW credits
