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SF Sustainable Civic Center

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, USA  kmd assisted the City of San Francisco in developing a plan for a “Sustainable Civic Center”. Indeed San Francisco’s civic center presents a tremendous opportunity for the city to embody its citizens’ passion for the environment and lead the way in solving global energy challenges.

This framework came about as a result of kmd’s commission to design a new headquarters for the PUC at 525 Golden Gate Avenue, intended to be one of the greenest civic buildings ever built. The PUC subsequently asked KMD to prepare an energy analysis for the entire civic center district, incorporating energy conservation strategies and renewable resources. The design team recognized that urban open space in general—and the civic center in particular—is itself a precious resource. The civic center presents a historic opportunity to make a powerful civic statement of the city’s progressive values, to rejuvenate a long-neglected neighborhood, and to create a vibrant and beautiful gathering place with a life of its own.

The goals of the sustainable resource district include: 
80% potable water use reduction | 45% wastewater discharge reduction | 35% peak power demand met by renewables | 33% annual energy reduction

The City also seeks a 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.