According to the LPA Design Firm, "The Environmental Nature Center (ENC) is the first LEED Platinum Certified building in Orange County. This 9,000-sq.-ft., interpretive center is located on a one-acre site for the Environmental Nature Center, a leader in education providing opportunities for increasing the communities' knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the natural world.
Beginning with the North/South orientation of the building, the Center responds effectively to harvest natural daylight as well as the cool ocean breezes. The use of natural ventilation helps eliminate the need for air conditioning of the building. The sustainable features include a photovoltaic roof, drought tolerant landscape with 15 native plant communities, efficient storm water management, as well as the use of composite wood products, and water efficient fixtures." Source: (
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Designer - LPA, Inc., Roseville, California, USA
Location - Newport Beach, California, USA
Date - to 06/01/08
Building Type - School and Academic
Builder - Gentosi Builders, Inc., Santa Ana, California, USA
Green Certification - LEED Platinum Certified
Green Certification Score - 55
Data Source: Archiplanet (
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Excerpt from the ENC website: (
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"The Environmental Nature Center’s highly anticipated, state-of-the-art learning facility is the first of its kind in Orange County. The building offers a comprehensive indoor-outdoor educational “habitat,” where students and visitors can increase their understanding and deepen their appreciation of California’s natural resources and wild places.
The new 8,500-square-foot facility was designed to achieve the highest level of “green” building certification by the U.S. Green Building Council — LEED Platinum Certification. Visitors will see examples of natural ventilation, renewable and recycled materials, reduced water usage, and on-site energy production in the form of solar and wind energy production. Other sustainable features include light pollution reduction, water and energy use reduction, recycling, composting, and even green housekeeping methods! Guests learn how to implement sustainable features in their own homes and businesses.
Educational exhibits in the new museum revolve around the theme of
California’s biodiversity — the diversity of living things in our state. In the center of the room, guests are treated to a life-size replica of a Coast Live Oak tree, surrounded by examples of our native animals. A display wall describes the native plant communities within the Center. Guests experience life as it was long ago in Orange County when they enter a life-size Tongva dwelling. A kid’s nook, complete with a “rock” table and cactus-shaped bookshelves, provides families with a comfy reading and coloring corner. Even the entry desk is educational, modeling the geologic layers of Orange County — including a seismic fault and embedded fossils!"
Environmental Nature Center
1601 Sixteenth Street, Newport Beach, California 92663
(949) 645-8489 www.encenter.org
Hours: Monday-Friday, 8-5 and Saturday, 8-4