The San Francisco Federal Building on Mission Street across from the U. S Court of Appeals and other government buildings is turning heads and turning off electricity consumption.

One of the many energy saving features included in this high-rise is limited lift stops. I encountered elevators designed to stop on just every third floor. Not only are you saving energy and therefore, electricity and greenhouse gas emissions, you are also forcing Americans to walk a bit lending a hand to better health and maybe, just maybe, lower health care costs and insurance.

 Like many buildings in the cool, foggy city, the lack of air conditioning helps to reduce energy as well. Naturally cool outdoor air is funneled up a unique north-facing façade looking much like a gigantic sail made of glass. Cool air flows over the sail and is drawn up to vents to cool the building. IThe many green features are a tribute to enjoying the Bay. 

Local press has had a rather critical tone on the building and its architect, Thom Mayne. Some feel the building does not fit in well with existing urban neighborhood décor nor the surrounding heights of local businesses and restaurants.

The building also prompted some controversy in a squabble with the LEED certification system that left the building short of its original goal, according to Inhabitat.

I don’t think Mayne set out to fit in. He set out to inspire. Who better to inspire than the government workers housed in this high rise? Inspire them to bring about more environmentally-conscious building and restoration. Inspire government workers to tackle big issues like water scarcity and global climate change.

Mayne’s work blends the function of a building with the aesthetics of the Bay. Who wouldn’t want to work iunder those conditions?

Our history books tell us that the quiet ones hardly make history. Mayne’s building may be the outcast now, but let’s hope his building inspires a city of green function where old world concrete and HVAC systems are the outdated outcast. 

Image: Inhabitat.