ASU's Rob & Melani Walton Center for Planetary Health Opens

Arizona State University’s new interdisciplinary science and technology building in Tempe is sustainable through and through. Not only is it seeking LEED Platinum certification, the work being done within its walls focuses on improving the planet. University faculty and staff, dignitaries and members of the project team, including representatives from Thornton Tomasetti, were on hand for a ribbon cutting ceremony for the five-story building now known as the Rob & Melani Walton Center for Planetary Health. In addition to public and exhibit spaces, it will house classrooms and research space, including the university's Global Institute of Sustainability and Innovation, and a conference center with a 389-seat auditorium. The 281,000-square-foot, high-performing building incorporates such sustainable strategies as using an atrium biome of water and plants to regenerate water and carbon, a BubbleDeck to minimize concrete and building materials that incorporate ASU’s own carbon-capture technology. Thornton Tomasetti provided LEED consulting services, biophilic design and building design analytics to Grimshaw Architects and ARCHITEKTON.