The California Academy of Sciences is a renowned scientific and educational institution dedicated to exploring, explaining, and sustaining life on Earth. Based in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, it is among the largest museums of natural history in the world, housing over 26 million specimens. The Academy is the only place in the world to house an aquarium, planetarium, and natural history museum, as well as innovative programs — all under one living roof.
Completely rebuilt in 2008, the building covers 400,000 square feet and is also among the newest natural history museums in the United States. It currently houses the world’s greenest museum and in 2011 was awarded by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) with its second LEED Platinum award, making the California Academy of Sciences the world’s first “Double Platinum” museum and the world’s largest Double Platinum building.
GLASS
- The Problem.
The double platinum, LEED’s rated facility was looking for a way to reduce both the effort and cleaning chemicals typically needed to clean these high-traffic doorways. In addition to reducing maintenance, the Academy of Sciences was also interested in protecting their doorways from everyday scratching and staining.
- The Solution.
Central Coast Diamon-Fusion, a member of DFI’s worldwide network of authorized licensees, was hired to apply Diamon-Fusion protective coating to the glass. Diamon-Fusion’s patented technology chemically bonds to the surface of the glass, creating a high-performing protective barrier that protects against water stains, etching, smudges left from fingerprints and other environmental pollutants.
- The Outcome.
Diamon-Fusion was applied on all the glass doorways for the piazza, as well as the front and back entrances of the building. The client was so impressed with the outcome, additional work was requested on solar panels that were outside the original scope of work.
- The Feedback.
“The Academy’s experience with DFI has been very positive. The end product is everything I was told it would be, resulting in lower labor and material costs. My custodians spend less time wiping sticky fingerprints from the glass using only a microfiber cloth and no chemicals. In fact, the custodial staff commented, ‘I don’t know what you did to the glass, but we like it.’” – Jock Young | California Academy of Sciences Facilities Manager
Protects against stains and corrosion
Diamon-Fusion creates an invisible, high-performing barrier that prevents rainwater, dust and other pollutants from sticking to the exterior glazing, leaving owners with a beautiful, more brilliant surface.
