At times, Jean Rogers felt as if she was herding cats. As sustainability consultant for the 410,000-sq-ft California Academy of Sciences replacement museum in San Francisco, it was her job to not only push the envelope of green building but to get the building team and exhibit designers to think outside the box. “There’s resistance everywhere, and you have to have patience, ask questions about why not and not take no for an answer,” says Rogers, an environmental engineer with the local office of Arup.
Patrick Kociolik, academy director from 1997-2006 and the visionary behind the academy’s green reinvention, understands Rogers’ take. “In 2000, none of us understood what a commitment to being green meant,” he says.