New Website for the EcoCenter

With the help of CCSF student, Jonelle Gausman, we finally have a website under construction dedicated to the EcoCenter. There is still much more content and media that will be developed for it, but it is a great start. Check it out at www.ecocenterhhp.org.

Port of San Francisco Issues RFP for the EcoCenter

On September 25th, the San Francisco Port Commission issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) seeking a new tenant to lease the EcoCenter at Heron's Head Park.  Recall that LEJ is moving on to focus on the stewardship of other lands in our community.  You can learn more about the Candlestick Point EcoStewards Project by following this link http://lejyouth.org/.

We hope that the current relationship and stewardship of the EcoCenter by CCSF students and faculty will be a continued part of the facility's future.  To obtain further information and to download the RFP follow this link http://sfport.com/index.aspx?page=2323.

Silicon Valley Bank Employees Spend the Day Volunteering at the EcoCenter and Heron's Head Park

Today was a busy day at the Ecocenter and Heron's Head Park.  We had more than 140 volunteers from Silicon Valley Bank come to help out with various outdoor projects!  The tasks included mulching, planting, and watering in the EcoCenter landscape.  Volunteers also did a tremendous job pulling invasive species in the wetland area of the park.  The amount of work accomplished was incredible. In addition to all of the physical labor, Silicon Valley Bank generously provided funding for much needed tools and additional plants for the EcoCenter landscape.  According to one volunteer many of the visitors were from the San Francisco office, but some came from South Bay. Most were visiting for the first time!  The volunteers that took a break to come and visit us in the EcoCenter were incredibly impressed with what the facility has to offer.  

District 10 Supervisor Malia Cohen also stopped by to check out the happenings.  She was also interested to learn about the work City College faculty, staff and students have been engaged at the EcoCenter.

Overall, we had a fantastic day of work and education, with a dash of politics thrown in for good measure!

View photos of the event below:

Fall Semester at City College Begins and Students Return to the EcoCenter

For the fourth semester now, students enrolled in Sustainability 91: Applied Research in Sustainability offered by the Engineering and Technology Department at City College of San Francisco (CCSF) return to the EcoCenter. The course is work experience based with students having backgrounds in environmental, earth and biological sciences, alternative energy and engineering, environmental monitoring, native landscaping, and habitat restoration.  There are 13 students with half a dozen returning from previous semesters. For the first time and with the generous support of the Port of San Francisco's Carol Bach, four of the returning students were hired this summer through December as paid interns - Emily Fryer, Wendy Kwong, Charles Laws and Nikki Mixon. These student interns continue to work with CCSF Faculty and EcoCenter Project Manager Peggy Lopipero-Langmo and Operations Technician Pat Hall to assist with and supervise new students in the operations, maintenance, research, and educational programming at the EcoCenter.  Contact Peggy at peggy.lopipero@mail.ccsf.edu to schedule a free tour and come help us on our volunteer days every Friday from 11 am to 1 pm. Or just stop by to visit and stay awhile to learn more about the facility's sustainable features and the continued work and programming taking place. We return to school session hours this week which are Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm.

More than 200 "Lead America" High School Students Tour the EcoCenter and Heron's Head Park

This month on July 8th and again today on July 22nd, more than 200 students total toured the EcoCenter and Heron's Head Park.  The students ranged from 15 to 18 years of age and came from all walks of life and from all over the US and abroad. For many it was not only their first time in California, but this was their first visit to a facility that can boast so many sustainable features and systems. Lead America is a summer youth leadership program focused on experiential learning. The group's focus and interest was on "Green" business innovation and its applications. In addition to a tour of the sustainable systems at the EcoCenter, the students were introduced to the many local and state policies that help drive the green economy in San Francisco and that make a facility like the EcoCenter possible. A discussion of the formation of Heron's Head Park, environmental justice concerns, and the continuing transformation of the area into a eco-industrial park were also discussed.

The EcoCenter Achieves LEED Platinum Certification!

We received great news today from the US Green Building Council. The final review and decision regarding our application for LEED certification was completed.  We garnered enough points (52 out of 56 attempted) to achieve a Platinum rating! This makes the EcoCenter one of a only handful of buildings with this level of certification in the City, the first Zero Net Energy Building in San Francisco, and the only LEED certified building in the southeast sector of San Francisco.

Though it took years to complete, many thanks to all those involved. The project administrator was Heidi Liebes, a San Francisco based LEED-certified architect and speaker at CCSF's Green Careers Seminar Series. Many thanks go to our project team members that included Laurie Schoeman, Justin Lee, Rick Unvarsky, Matthew Macko, Toby Long and Peggy Lopipero-Langmo.  Rick and Matthew and many of their colleagues also contributed to this effort and performed work pro bono.  We are indebted to them for their generosity.  Thanks also to CCSF students enrolled in the Applied Research In Sustainability work experience class at the EcoCenter for the hours spent pouring through thousands of pages of records. Special thanks to students Lisa Milos and Katrina Tice for their work on the materials and water sections of the LEED application.  Come visit and read our plaque and certificate. Be sure to ask us questions about how a LEED certification is achieved.

To learn more about the EcoCenter's LEED scorecard click here.

To learn more about the USGBC and LEED click here.

Indonesian Students Interested in Sustainable Development Visit the EcoCenter

Twenty students taking part in the Indonesian Leadership Program visited today. San Francisco and the EcoCenter were their first stop in what is to be a three week tour of the United States with a focus on sustainable development and urban ecology.  Though still a little jet lagged this inspiring group of high school students were continually engaged and polite during their tour of the EcoCenter.  With the aid of a translator, the kids learned about the sustainable systems and asked many great questions during the two hour visit.  Their favorite part of the tour was the constructed wetland and its organisms. The students were particularly interested in learning about the organisms' roles in the food web and their particular adaptations.  Definitely many budding biologists were in the group.  Before leaving, we took a group picture.  Several asked for our email addresses and want to keep in touch. We hope they do! A few pictures of the afternoon follow: