The Landmark Cyber Park is a monolithic, campus-like building that looks like it wouldn't be out of place in San Francisco's quickly growing Mission Bay. Planned for Gurgaon city, The Cyber Park will be a green haven designed specifically for India's growing techophiles and the 24-7 workers of the IT crowd. Sounds like San Francisco's Hotmail mogul isn't the only one planning for India's techno-future. Designed by Christopher Charles Benninger Architects, the Cyber Park's green features—a rare but growing trend in India—include a heavy focus on using natural light to illuminate offices, terraced gardens to help cool the interior spaces, and a water recycling system. ETA: 3 years.
· The Landmark Cyber Park: India’s Cutting Edge IT Hub [Inhabitat]
· Nano City: Hotmail Mogul Plays Planner [Curbed SF]
Gavin's going ga-ga for tidal power— among all things green, as we all well know— and he's sworn that he's not gonna take no for an answer. In fact, after throwing his weight behind a financially suspect fantasy project to place tidal turbines beneath the Golden Gate Bridge, Gav went a little further yesterday while checking out a device that will measure the tidal energy potential at Ocean Beach. Don't even bother trying to get him to give it up this time: "I don't want to leave office — and I have to at a certain point — without having a pilot demonstration project actually in the water, generating electricity. I'm not leaving this particular office, even if it means running for Contra Costa supervisor, until this is done." Steady there, big guy...
· Newsom pledges city will harvest power from sea [Examiner]
· Enviroheads Cast Doubt on Tidal Turbines [Curbed SF]
· Greenie Gavin Harnesses the Tides [Curbed SF]
Greener Than Thou is our report on San Francisco’s obsession with all things green, giving credit where credit is due and calling bullshit when the need arises. Feeling morally superior on the green front? Testify!
Under pressure from California's environmentalists, Governor Schwarzenegger made a few changes to a new draft state building code intended to help green California. Naturally, it's still not good enough— although the compromise appeases some, the new code still disappoints many treehugging builders and LEED advocates. The problem, it seems, was that the previously proposed state legislation undermined several cities' policies (including, of course, San Francisco's own pending Greener Than Thou legislation). Unfortunately, besides the concession to city codes, the new policy doesn't seem to get much right in the way of green; it doesn't require builders to meet any LEED certification. Residential builders will be compelled to comply, with the state shooting for a 15% reduction in residential energy consumption. Commercial builders, however, should feel free to go crazy with the carbon emissions— Schwarzenegger's policy lets commericial developments off the hook by making enviro-compliance voluntary.
· Schwarzenegger's green building ... lite [LA Times]
· Gavin Swears Greening Won't Send City into Red [Curbed SF]
Building "green" just isn't enough anymore. As the ice caps melt, the ridiculous gas prices rise, and the Al Gore crusades, many California residents and policy makers think it time to plan "green," too. A new state plan made public last week targets America's public enemies, automotive transportation and suburban sprawl; it calls for a 30% reduction of state carbon emissions by 2020, and encourages cities to improve transit infrastructure while increasing the development of established urban areas. Besides the abstract promise of reduced greenhouse emissions, what incentive do cities and developers have to change their long-held policies and practices? More money, and an easier approval process, of course. How else to sway developers' minds?
· Discouraging driving crucial in warming battle [SF Gate]
· New Planning Director for SF: Climate Change [Curbed SF]
Designed by Vincent Callebaut Architectures, The Lilypad is "a floating ecopolis for climate refugees," a sustainable city designed accommodate an anticipated 50,000 people displaced by a (hypothetical) global warming-induced apocalypse. San Francisco's answer to real estate shortages, rent control, and homelessness? Nah— it'll block the views.
· LILYPAD: Floating City for Climate Change Refugees [Inhabitat]
Was that even a contest, anyway? Of course San Francisco's green plan trumps LA's, a mere gesture of environmental concern. Did they forego plastic bags in supermarkets and bottled water in government buildings (or whatever that was about). Did Morphosis design them a Greener Than Thou Federal Building? Does their Mayor jolly around at places like the Sunset Idea House? No. No they didn't ban plastic bags, nab a hot architecture firm, or vote in a mayor who hands out bottled water and makes eyes at wind turbines as a means of gaining political clout. Just in case you don't believe us: of over 400 votes, 67.9 percent of you think that San Francisco will carry it off with aplomb. Thirty-three percent of you think Los Angeles will one-up us. Turncoats.
· Fun with Democracy, Earth Day Edition: In LA vs. SF Face Off, Whose Green Plan Will Actually Work?
Developed by Frasers Broadway and featuring contributions from Architects Norman Foster (think Beijing Airport) and Jean Nouvel (think recent pritzker winner / Dr. Evil look-alike), this 14 acre project in Sydney, Australia will be the most sustainable development on the continent. Green feats: an on-site gas powered, co-generation electrical plant, a waste water recycling plant that will service both the development and the surrounding nabes, green roofs, solar lighting, and every other sustainable trick imaginable. The end goal? Nothing less than carbon neutrality and complete continental domination.
· FRASERS BROADWAY: Australia’s Greenest Development [Inhabitat]
Which city rules the green kingdom, LA or San Francisco? Green, shmeen— At the end of the day, who really cares which city carries more "cred"? A better question remains: which city's environmental plan will actually A) materialize as promised and B) work? In other words, who's gonna walk the walk after talking the talk? Let's cut to the chase and head straight to the polls. First, a re-cap:
LA's Plan:
· Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa says: slash greenhouse gas rates to 35% below the 1990 level by 2030, and make L.A. the "cleanest and greenest city in the country."
· LEED requirements in place for public structures— if they're over 7,500k square feet in size. The city notes its sheer scale of building activity as a plus.
· LEED compliance required for private construction over 50k square feet. Residential buildings with over 50 units must also comply with LEED standards.
SF's Plan:
· Gavity-Gav says: cut greenhouse gases to 20% below the 1990 level by 2012, creating "the greenest large city in the United States of America."
· More stringent regulations in regards to LEED-certified buildings— all must be certified if over 5k square feet; fast-tracking of permits for such projects.
· SF planning 6,500 units of affordable, LEED-certified housing on Treasure Island.
· LEED gold compliance required for privately constructed commercial buildings over 25k square feet in size; silver LEED compliance required for all residential high-rises. All residential and low-rise units must comply with LEED standards.
Let's kick off the a.m. with a very serious warning: today is, in fact, Earth Day. Not unlike the week Burning Man graces the planet with its presence, we can already see that San Francisco bloggers are going green for the day at an alarming rate. So brace, people, as Team Curbed SF has been canonized into green sainthood for the day. You've been warned.
Greener Than Thou is our report on San Francisco’s obsession with all things green, calling bullshit in the poseurs and lavishing praise on those who have secured their place in environmental paradise. Rock the prefab? Send. Pics. Now.
Beating the American Institute of Architects to the punch, SF-based prefab starchitect Michelle Kaufmann has added a new labeling concept to her designs: green "nutrition labels," not unlike those applied to foodstuffs, clue the consumer in on factoids such as CO2 emissions, energy consumption, and thermal conductivity. Kaufmann slapped the first label on her Breezehouse after conducting an energy study on the home and comparing it to the best selling home in the U.S.— seem's that MK's design stood up to the test. Quoth the green goddess: "By quantifying the advantages of a sustainably designed home we can express that information in universal, easy to understand terms using something as simple as a label ... in the same way the advantages and disadvantages of food are expressed through nutrition labels." Carrot sticks or potato chips? Your call.
· Michelle Kaufmann Designs [Blog]
· A Plea to Developers: Build Smarter! [Curbed SF]
· Nutrition Labels For Houses [Treehugger]
Putting the "fronting" in "Storefronting" like never before, a Gucci "Eco Flagship" store— the company's first— is set to open inside the first floor of 240 Stockton Street, facing Union Square. The legend is as follows: The building is an Energy Star rated space, which means that its tenants must become de-facto greenies. Next door nabe Gucci rose to the challenge, deciding to do make what was no doubt the company's first gesture toward eco-consciousness by building a green expansion. No dummies to the marketing power of green— and San Francisco's reputation as a bunch of envirotards a hotbed of eco-consciousness— Gucci's eco effort will also double as its first West Coast flagship store. Expected opening date: June 2008.
· Gucci Eco Flagship Store Opening Soon on Union Square [SF Bay Style]
Greener Than Thou is our report on San Francisco’s obsession with all things green, giving credit where credit is due and calling bullshit when the need arises. Feeling morally superior on the green front? Testify!
In the very near future, San Francisco's building codes might become much, much greener. Ultra-green building standards proposed by the mayor's Green Building Task Force were unanimously approved by the SF Building Inspection Commission and, pending approval by the Board of Supervisors, will be signed into law later this year. As predicted last month, Mayor Gavin Newsom and his arch-nemesis Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin are actually going to play nice on this one — the Peskin-proposed alternative plan will be integrated into the mayor's proposal. The rules will be implemented almost immediately, although requirements will be phased into the current building code over the next 4 years, giving the industry time to adjust to the new costs. So what's going to change? Glad you asked: New residential buildings climbing over 75 feet high, new commercial buildings larger than 5,000 square feet, and building renovations over 25,000 square feet will be required to meet LEED standards, while all new residential construction must include solar-heated water and low-V.O.C. paints. Question: will the hundreds of new pages' worth of new codes be printed on recycled paper?
· S.F. moves to greenest building codes in U.S. [SF Gate]
· Greener Than Thou: City Dukes it Out Over LEED Law [Curbed SF]
In Architecture Watch, Curbed SF expands its worldview to new structures across the globe. Projects of note should be directed accordingly.
A prototype designed by Vincent Callebaut Architecture for a post-industrial area of Paris, the Anti-Smog and Solar Drop buildings are examples of a new type of "de-polluting" architecture. Seems like a perfect fit for the Greener Than Thou Bay Area, no? Of course, the tower has many sustainable features, including all the usual suspects: solar panels, integrated wind turbines, living walls, and— buzzword alert!— "greenergy". One feature in particular caught our eye: the surface of the lower building is covered in titanium dioxide, which reacts with ultraviolet rays to absorb and reduce air pollution. Brilliant— green design that goes one step further to actively clean the city. Would it be too much of a stretch to integrate these extra features into a project here— say, perhaps, the Pelli Clarke Pelli proposal for the Embarcadero? Maybe install an interior network to actually clean the air in the building? Or are these measures too progressive for "progressive" San Francisco?
· Anti-Smog Design with Solar Drop + Wind Tower [Jetson Green]
· Living Walls: Indoor Filtering [Landscape + Urbanism]
· Pelli Clarke Pelli to Green the Embarcadero [Curbed SF]
Forget solar power. Our beloved mayor wants generate power for the city by submerging giant turbines below the Golden Gate Bridge, even though it's in no way financially practical (and about that budget...). We only have one word for the mayor: Awesome. Let's do it. This is a clean— and perhaps more importantly, cool-sounding— power source. Forget the fact that the turbines generate only a small amount of power (3% of initial estimates), cost $15 million each, require $750,000 a year to maintain, and produce a power that will cost 7-10 times as much as PG&E's current commercial power. We can harness the tides! We have the technology! In the sure-to-be immortal words of our mayor, "I don't care about the arguments against it. I care about the arguments for it." Chase the dream Gavs, chase the dream.
· Newsom backs turbine power despite study [SF Gate]
With possible staff cuts looming, The Recreation and Park Department needs some cash and the Mayor says he can deliver. Yesterday, he told his open-space task force (task force? really?) that he will find money for the city's parks if the organization can demonstrate need. (If we were MUNI, we'd hold on to our wallets.) The RPD told the mayor that they've been actively searching the East side of the city for land on which to build new parks. Need land for parks? Curbed would like to suggest local art activists Rebar's solution. Install Park(ing) spaces throughout the city. RPD, it's time to get creative.
· Mayor: Money for parks could be dug up [Examiner]
About Curbed SF
From the Golden Gate to The Mission, in San Francisco, it all comes back to our neighborhoods: where we live, where we work, where we eat, and where we play. Covering real estate sales, rental prices, and news-making deals and much more, it's all on Curbed SF. More about Curbed SF...
Comments
Gavin's going ga-ga for tidal power— among all things green, as we all well know— and he's sworn that he's not gonna take no for an answer. In fact, after throwing his weight behind a financially suspect fantasy project to place tidal turbines beneath the Golden Gate Bridge, Gav went a little further yesterday while checking out a device that will measure the tidal energy potential at Ocean Beach. Don't even bother trying to get him to give it up this time: "I don't want to leave office — and I have to at a certain point — without having a pilot demonstration project actually in the water, generating electricity. I'm not leaving this particular office, even if it means running for Contra Costa supervisor, until this is done." Steady there, big guy...
Under pressure from California's environmentalists, Governor Schwarzenegger made a few changes to a new draft state building code intended to help green California. Naturally, it's still not good enough— although the compromise appeases some, the new code still disappoints many treehugging builders and LEED advocates. The problem, it seems, was that the previously proposed state legislation undermined several cities' policies (including, of course, San Francisco's own pending Greener Than Thou legislation). Unfortunately, besides the concession to city codes, the new policy doesn't seem to get much right in the way of green; it doesn't require builders to meet any LEED certification. Residential builders will be compelled to comply, with the state shooting for a 15% reduction in residential energy consumption. Commercial builders, however, should feel free to go crazy with the carbon emissions— Schwarzenegger's policy lets commericial developments off the hook by making enviro-compliance voluntary. 
Building "green" just isn't enough anymore. As the ice caps melt, the ridiculous gas prices rise, and the Al Gore crusades, many California residents and policy makers think it time to plan "green," too. A new state plan made public last week targets America's public enemies, automotive transportation and suburban sprawl; it calls for a 30% reduction of state carbon emissions by 2020, and encourages cities to improve transit infrastructure while increasing the development of established urban areas. Besides the abstract promise of reduced greenhouse emissions, what incentive do cities and developers have to change their long-held policies and practices? More money, and an easier approval process, of course. How else to sway developers' minds?
Was that even a contest, anyway? Of course San Francisco's green plan trumps LA's, a mere gesture of environmental concern. Did they forego plastic bags in supermarkets and bottled water in government buildings (or whatever that was about). Did Morphosis design them a Greener Than Thou 
Let's kick off the a.m. with a very serious warning: today is, in fact, Earth Day. Not unlike the week Burning Man graces the planet with its presence, we can already see that San Francisco bloggers are going green for the day at an alarming rate. So brace, people, as Team Curbed SF has been canonized into green sainthood for the day. You've been warned. 
Putting the "fronting" in "Storefronting" like never before, a Gucci "Eco Flagship" store— the company's first— is set to open inside the first floor of 240 Stockton Street, facing Union Square. The legend is as follows: The building is an Energy Star rated space, which means that its tenants must become de-facto greenies. Next door nabe Gucci rose to the challenge, deciding to do make what was no doubt the company's first gesture toward eco-consciousness by building a green expansion. No dummies to the marketing power of green— and San Francisco's reputation as 
In the very near future, San Francisco's building codes might become much, much greener. Ultra-green building standards proposed by the mayor's Green Building Task Force were unanimously approved by the SF Building Inspection Commission and, pending approval by the Board of Supervisors, will be signed into law later this year. As predicted last month, Mayor Gavin Newsom and his arch-nemesis Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin are actually going to play nice on this one — the Peskin-proposed alternative plan will be integrated into the mayor's proposal. The rules will be implemented almost immediately, although requirements will be phased into the current building code over the next 4 years, giving the industry time to adjust to the new costs. So what's going to change? Glad you asked: New residential buildings climbing over 75 feet high, new commercial buildings larger than 5,000 square feet, and building renovations over 25,000 square feet will be required to meet LEED standards, while all new residential construction must include solar-heated water and low-V.O.C. paints. Question: will the hundreds of new pages' worth of new codes be printed on recycled paper?
With possible staff cuts looming, The Recreation and Park Department needs some cash and the Mayor says he can deliver. Yesterday, he told his open-space task force (task force? really?) that he will find money for the city's parks if the organization can demonstrate need. (If we were MUNI, we'd hold on to our wallets.) The RPD told the mayor that they've been actively searching the East side of the city for land on which to build new parks. Need land for parks? Curbed would like to suggest local art activists 
