WRNS Studio has announced a milestone sustainability achievement for their Janet Durgin Guild & Commons, designed for the Sonoma Academy in Santa Rosa, California. The scheme has become the first project to achieve both Petal and Zero Carbon Certification by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI), as well as being the first project in California to receive Zero Carbon Certification, and the fourth in the State to receive Petal Certification.

The project, previously detailed on Archinect here, takes the form of a Y-shaped mass nestled into the hillside overlooking Santa Rosa. At two stories, the scheme uses the site’s slope to form clear programmatic levels, supported by a landscape of pathways and habitats flowing over and around the terraced learning environment.

Engagement, wellness, inclusivity, and sustainability formed core pillars of WRNS Studio’s approach. The Commons area features generous operable windows that pull in sunlight and fresh air, while sliding doors allow students to interact with the outdoors under the patio’s slatted roofs. The Guild area meanwhile incorporates large garage doors opening on the surrounding environment. In total, over 80% of interior spaces have access to natural light.

Many materials for the scheme, including low-carbon earth blocks for cladding, and reclaimed wood for interior walls and furniture, were provided by local craftspeople in order to reduce material transportation costs. Meanwhile, the flowing connection between indoor and outdoor environments allows the building to host a farm-to-table program for the curriculum and daily life, educating students about the equity and environmental impacts of food production, and providing them with healthy meals.

These considerations have allowed the project to achieve the latest ILFI accolades. Under the ILFI’s Living Building Challenge, which examines buildings through the lens of sustainability, resilience, and health, buildings are measured through seven performance categories or ‘Petals’: Place, Water, Energy, Health & Happiness, Materials, Equity, and Beauty. Petal Certification is awarded to a project that achieves at least three of the seven Petals, one of which must be in Energy, Water, or Materials. In WRNS Studio’s case, the four Petals achieved were Energy, Materials, Equity, and Beauty.

The Zero Carbon Certification, meanwhile, is the world’s first Zero Carbon, third-party certified standard, recognizing energy efficient buildings that are designed and operated to take full account of their carbon emissions. During a one-year performance period, a qualifying building must achieve a targeted energy efficiency level, as well as one hundred percent energy sourcing from on-site or off-site renewable energy. Other standards include the provision of offsetting renewables which have the equivalent of fifteen years of project power, and an account for the total embodied carbon impact from any new construction and materials through a one-time carbon offset from an approved source.

“We were inspired by Sonoma Academy’s request for a design that reflects a just and healthy community approach,” says Pauline Souza, Director of Sustainability, Partner at WRNS Studio. “Sonoma Academy did just that – and by community they meant the global community. Their commitment to an all-electric building, a reclaimed water system for their productive gardens, geoexchange and net positive energy strategy reflects their belief that every act to do better matters and can influence minds, and policies and practices.”

You can learn more about the project from WRNS Studio’s Archinect profile here, or from our recent interview with the firm as part of our Studio Snapshot series here.