Earlier this year, the County of San Diego opened its first zero net energy building, the Alpine Library in Alpine, Calif. The new, $10.2 million, state-of-the-art facility combines sustainable design and technological innovation and is pursuing both LEED Gold certification and Living Building Challenge’s Net Zero Energy Building Certification from the International Living Future Institute.
Clark Dietrich Building Systems , West Chester, Ohio, supplied the steel framing for the library, which was chosen for its long spans with minimum interior columns. “[Steel framing] also allows for durability, extreme flexibility in form creatively, and responds well to seismic constraints,” Oncina explains. “The standing seam metal roof is also the choice material when it comes to durability, maintenance, aesthetics and thermal accountability.”