The Porter Building
Home of the Department of Environmental Studies
The Porter Building, or the Capsule Building as it is has been dubbed, is the heart and home of the Department of Environmental Studies at the Porter School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at Tel Aviv University.
The building reflects the core values and missions of the school. It is designed to incorporate advanced energy and water saving environmental technologies, and is the first green building on the Tel Aviv University campus. It is Israel's first LEED Platinum certified building, as well as recipient of the Israel government's "Diamond Level" Green Building Standard (5281) and it won international awards such as the Autodesk University AEC Excellence Award 2017.
The building is on the eastern front of campus, just south of the Zoological garden and adjacent to the main entrance to the university from the Ayalon Highway. It houses classrooms, lecture halls, and offices, as well as exhibition space in the atrium, an auditorium, a green roof, and staff kitchenettes. A rooftop garden features biological basins fed by treated and recycled graywater. Its pleasant interior spaces and external grounds are ideal for students and researchers to meet, and creates a potent first impression upon welcoming government officials and representatives of industry and environmental organizations.
In addition to its academic role, the building serves as an accessible educational platform to the public on topics relating to green building and environmental research in general. Visitors are able to explore how its environmental technologies operate, including a solar-thermal based air-conditioning system and advanced bio-climatic planning technologies.
A Science Promenade linking it to the university train station will present environmental exhibits, as a continuation of the building features.
Read about the advanced technologies, creative design and various features on the Building website.
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