Rethinking San Francisco Civic Center
While I don’t mean to join Mayor Newsom’s PR brigade, I just received word of an interesting development in San Francisco’s sustainability efforts that I thought worth mentioning.
From the Sept 25, 2008 Press Release:
Newsom joins Former President Bill Clinton during his Clinton Global
Initiative to announce 3-year commitment to maximize energy and water
efficiency, reduce waste, and increase the use of wastewater
“San Francisco’s Civic Center sits at the core of one of the most visited
cities in the world,” said Mayor Newsom. “What better way to educate the
world on sustainability than by transforming that core to showcase how we
can use water more efficiently, promote food security, and reduce our
dependence on fossil fuels. San Francisco has always been a leader –
willing to think differently and act boldly. And now, our Civic Center
will stand as a global model for how we achieve a more sustainable future.”
The goals of the sustainable resource district are:
- 80% potable water use reduction
- 45% wastewater discharge reduction
- 35% peak power demand met by renewables
- 33% annual energy reduction
- Reduction of the community carbon footprint by 2,225 tons annually; the equivalent of the annual greenhouse gas emissions of 1,286 San Francisco households
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Launch of the project with a formal partnership with the Clinton Climate Initiative is scheduled for Oct 20, 08, though we’ll have to wait until late 2009 to see public installations. Among the first projects, you can expect to see solar and living roofs, free public wifi, water convervation efforts, and more.
