San Francisco’s Civic Center is transforming into a beacon of sustainability.
In 2008, the San Francisco Civic Center was designated as a sustainable resource district by Mayor Gavin Newson. This initiative was aimed at creating a historic green district by upgrading the City’s Civic Center buildings into global models that demonstrate energy and water efficiency, renewable electricity generation, and green building retrofitting principles.
As part of the Civic Center Sustainable District Program, the SFPUC recently completed retrofits to Davies Symphony Hall, Asian Art Museum, and the Main Library to improve energy efficiency, occupancy comfort, and air quality in the buildings. As a result, the buildings achieved LEED Gold certification for Existing Building Operations and Maintenance (LEED – EBOM) from the US Green Building Council. The upgrades are part of an ongoing SFPUC initiative to update each building in the Civic Center to obtain LEED certified status.
The SFPUC also provided energy efficiency services at City Hall, which led City Hall becoming the oldest building in the nation to receive LEED – EBOM Platinum certification. In addition, the SFPUC has been installing solar panels on Civic Center building rooftops for renewable electricity generation and has initiated or completed over an acre of solar panels on four buildings: City Hall, Davies Symphony Hall, SFPUC Headquarters, and the San Francisco Opera House.
SFPUC 