San Francisco

California, perhaps the most ambitious state with respect to adopting green building standards, can add another feather to its cap. On April 22, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaragos signed an ordinance establishing green building standards designed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 80,000 tons by 2012. Approved unanimously by the City Council, the Private Sector Green Building Plan makes L.A. the largest city in the nation to adopt such a program.

The new law requires projects 50,000 square feet and larger and residential buildings with over 50,000 square feet of floor space, 50 or more units, or over six stories high to meet the LEED-Certified standard. The law offers expedited permit processing for projects pursuing LEED-Silver. The law also calls for a slate of other environmentally responsible initiatives, including a review of all city codes to ease the use of environmentally sound materials and processes, the creation of a cross-department Sustainability Team to review and revise green building policies and projects, and staff training and certification in green building methods.

This law follows on the heels of an ordinance introduced last month in San Francisco that would require projects involving more than 25,000 square feet to meet the LEED-Gold standard, which the SF City Council is set to vote on shortly. While we can quibble with some of the specifics of these laws, there is no doubt that by passing them, it mainstreams green building techniques, something that is good for everyone.

California, perhaps the most ambitious state with respect to adopting green building standards, can add another feather to its cap. On April 22, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaragos signed an ordinance establishing green building standards designed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 80,000 tons by 2012. Approved unanimously by the City Council, the Private Sector Green Building Plan makes L.A. the largest city in the nation to adopt such a program.

The new law requires projects 50,000 square feet and larger and residential buildings with over 50,000 square feet of floor space, 50 or more units, or over six stories high to meet the LEED-Certified standard. The law offers expedited permit processing for projects pursuing LEED-Silver. The law also calls for a slate of other environmentally responsible initiatives, including a review of all city codes to ease the use of environmentally sound materials and processes, the creation of a cross-department Sustainability Team to review and revise green building policies and projects, and staff training and certification in green building methods.

This law follows on the heels of an ordinance introduced last month in San Francisco that would require projects involving more than 25,000 square feet to meet the LEED-Gold standard, which the SF City Council is set to vote on shortly.

While we can quibble with some of the specifics of these laws, there is no doubt that by passing them, it mainstreams green building techniques, something that is good for everyone.

San Francisco is close to enacting some of the strictest green building codes in the nation. Last week, the city’s Building Inspection Commission voted to pass the revisions to its building code onto the city’s Board of Supervisors. Mayor Gavin Newsom, who established a task force last year to come up with these revisions, has promised to sign the regulations into law.

Unlike many green building standards, which only apply to public buildings or buildings that receive a certain amount of public financing, these will affect private developers and commercial projects. The regulations would be phased in over a number of years and would apply to new residential high-rises over 75 feet, new commercial buildings over 5,000 square feet, and renovations on buildings over 25,000 square feet. Other new residential construction would have to comply with Build It Green’s GreenPoint Rated standard, which is similar to LEED (but more user friendly).

According to city officials, by 2012 the new green building codes could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 60,000 tons and save 220,000 megawatt hours of power and 100 million gallons of drinking water. Pretty impressive. This could be a model for other forward thinking cities who have passed green building laws but have not yet greened their building codes.

If you measure success by the number of attendees, the sixth annual Green Festival in San Francisco http://www.greenfestivals.org/ on November 9-11 was a winner. It sure felt like the anticipated 35,000 attendees did indeed attend. With over 150 speakers and 400 exhibitors plus workshops about sustainable living, the organizers claim it is the world’s largest sustainability conference.

“Green Building: How a Healthier Built Environment Can Benefit All” was one of the panel discussions that I attended. The panelists included: Sean Culman, USGBC http://www.usgbc.org/ certified architect; Kevin Griffith, real estate developer for affordable housing; Sandy Mendler, sustainable building designer; Michael Willis, architect for neighborhood revitalization projects.

The panelists noted that there has been an important shift in green building in the last few years. Sustainable design was once just an overlay to the existing design process. Now the panelists see more integrative system solutions where the engineers, architects and designers are collaborating closely to create sustainable buildings. It has gone much further than just using green materials such as recycled carpets and cabinetry. Rather than reacting to client’s wishes, the panelists are more proactive about sustainability.

Another key shift in sustainable building is the realization of cost benefits. According to the panelists, until recently the cost benefits were realized over time and initial costs of sustainable building were higher. Now, initial costs are generally the same as non-sustainable design costs. This is a pivotal point for the green building industry. The conversation has shifted its focus on two key issues: site selection and water access/usage. Site selection and health issues are now linked as people pose the question: “Do suburbs make you fat?” The lack of community and the dependence on cars in many suburbs are cited as contributors to poor health. Generally, the feeling is that the denser the city, the better for not only for the environment but for personal health.

Efficient, attractive design is at the heart of modern culture. The basis of all Swedish creations is that it has to be both beautiful to look at and useful in a straightforward way. Embracing the advantages of intelligent design is helping to move the green lifestyle even more mainstream than it was in the 1960s.

But where do we go to buy all of these products with smart design and sustainable features combined? One of my personal favorites is the Branch online store, based right here in San Francisco.

As a social activity, shopping gets us out into the various neighborhoods in our city, allowing us to connect with other people along the way. As a cultural excursion, it gives us a chance to discover what’s new and interesting in the world. At the same time, there’s an element to shopping that we find quite troubling. We buy things that appeal to us—we love a product’s styling, for example—though we may have little idea of where a product comes from. Instead of asking people to stop shopping (which is, of course, pretty darn impractical), what if we changed the paradigm of shopping itself?

Everything from larger items; like furniture and lighting; to home and lifestyle accessories; such as pillows, plates, and dog toys; are available in this easy-to-navigate web store. Well-known eco-brands like Amenity, Bambu, Ting and K Studio are featured. Looking for something special? Check out the smaller, local collections such as Perch!, Esque and Dwelling. Ready to outfit your sustainable abode? Then Branch is your one-stop-shop for modern interiors.

Tattoos, non-toxic inks, and tugboats - a uniquely crafty combination for a successful business. In my search to find San Francisco-based small businesses that use traditional letterpress machines, I stumbled upon the Tug Boat Press website. Originally, I was simply seeking out more information about the letterpress process since I wanted to give it a try myself.

With any new hobby that I hope to dive into, I ponder if there is a sustainable, eco-friendly option to embrace. To my surprise, Tug Boat Press has embraced the green aspects of printmaking by using soy inks and handmade, tree-free, and recycled papers. Started in the mid-90s, TBP has been printing custom nature- and alternative-inspired wedding invitations, business cards, and fine artistic prints in the Potrero Hill neighborhood of San Francisco.

Not one to shy away from a chance to learn more about this unique business and creative art, I talked with Tug Boat Press’ founder Jonathan Palmer recently about green business, the lost art of letters, zombie greeting cards, and more - keep reading for all the juicy details!

San Francisco is in the midst of its "Architecture and the City" festival, the fourth annual month-long architectural event showcasing buildings, tours, films, workshops, etc. http://www.aiasf.org/Programs/Public_Programs/Architecture_and_the_City.... And yes, there's plenty of green building activities including tours of commercial green buildings, lectures on solar power for home owners, LEED seminars etc.

I attended a reception by the Green Home Center whose mission is to "help homeowners make green living a healthy and beautiful way of life." http://www.thegreenhomecenter.net/index.php?page=About. What makes this place especially unique is that it is located on a busy commercial street with lots of foot traffic. It opened in April 2007 and sits alongside all the restaurants and the coffee shops, making green home design materials accessible and visible to any pedestrian walking by - from kitchen counter-tops made from recycled glass and concrete to solar energy panels.

San Francisco's Department of the Environment is very much involved with the festival, sponsoring many of the green programs offered. And each year the festival seems to have more and more emphasis on everything green which supports Mayor Newsom's desire to make San Francisco the greenest city in America.

Wired recently published a fantastic sneak peek of the CAS which I've pasted below. Just when you thought Golden Gate Park couldn't get any greener, Renzo Piano gives us this amazingly innovative design. I can't wait for it to open in 2008.
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California Academy of Sciences Aims to Be the Greenest Museum on Earth

Nestled into the fog and forest of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, the California Academy of Sciences aims to be the world's largest eco-friendly public building when it reopens in 2008. (It's bucking for a platinum LEED green-building certification.) Architect Renzo Piano used a textbook's worth of enviro-engineering tricks for the seven-year effort, an almost total teardown and rebuild. At $484 million, it's one of the most expensive museum projects in a century. But if it all works as planned, the city will boast a natural history museum that enhances nature instead of just stockpiling it.

How to grow the most natural history museum ever

1 Recycled materials One external wall and a portion of the African Hall from the original structure remain in place near the new planetarium. The rest of the building — 9,000 tons of concrete, 12,000 tons of steel — was demolished and recycled. The steel used in construction is also recycled, and shredded blue jeans insulate the walls.

2 Passive climate control The undulating roof helps guide fresh, cool air into the central piazza and stale, hot air out through high-point vents. This lessens the need for expensive, energy-wasting air-conditioning and ventilation systems.

3 Living roof More than a lawn overhead, 1.7 million native plants insulate the roof, capture rainwater, and provide a 2.5-acre habitat for butter flies, hummingbirds, and other critters. And that nifty thatch is framed by 60,000 photovoltaic cells along the roof's perimeter.

4 Natural illumination Computer modeling determined optimal locations for windows to maximize illumination of sunlight-hungry coral reef and tropical rain forest installations without overheating the rest of the building. (Most offices get working windows for natural light and temperature control.)

5 Water conservation Ocean water piped in from the Pacific cycles through natural filtration systems for aquarium tanks. Toilets flush with reclaimed water, sparing California's stressed-out water-delivery network.

Building Green's marketing guru, Lisa Walker, turned us on to Good magazine, which is woefully misnamed, as it is more than good... it's excellent. Good's philosophy revolves around "a passion for potential mixed with fierce pragmatism and creative engagement." 

Being San Franciscans, we were charmed by a story about Ross Mirkarimi, the San Francisco County Supervisor behind the city's ground-breaking ban on plastic grocery bags. Who knew, for instance, that the city of San Francisco spends $8 million a year picking plastic bags off of beaches and out of trees?  In the story, Mirkarimi acknowledges that the ban is "just a good first, small start," though an emblematic one. Although San Francisco is the first city to ban plastic grocery bags, others are poised to follow on with similar bans.

If you like Good as much as we do, you can do good by subscribing. 100% of your subscription fee is passed on to the charity of your choice. Yes, 100%.