SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Today S.F. Mayor Edwin M. Lee and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) officially unveiled its completed headquarters building at 525 Golden Gate Avenue in San Francisco. The 525 Golden Gate Headquarters is one of the few buildings in the world built to LEED Platinum standards and is also one of the greenest buildings in North America.
“We built 525 Golden Gate to save ratepayers hundreds of millions of dollars, create jobs in our construction industry and demonstrate to the world best practices for energy efficiency and water conservation,” said Mayor Lee. “Built ahead-of-schedule and on-budget, using a local workforce, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s new headquarters represents forward-thinking and San Francisco ingenuity at its best.”
With 13 floors, the new skyscraper in Civic Center plaza can comfortably house more than 900 occupants. Employees from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission will gradually move into the new building in July and August.
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission built 525 Golden Gate in San Francisco with local San Franciscans performing 40 percent of the construction work. The building cost $146.5 million to construct. Total project costs including design, permitting, planning and moving was $201.6 million. The Department of Public Works served as project managers, with construction provided by Webcor Builders and design provided by KMD and Stevens & Associates.
The 525 Golden Gate Headquarters achieves the City’s commitment to fiscal responsibility for ratepayers and the commitment to responsible environmental stewardship.
The SFPUC currently leases office space for 900 employees at 1145 and 1155 Market Street. The SFPUC estimates that building and owning 525 Golden Gate, will allow the department to save ratepayers approximately $3.7 billion over the anticipated 100-year life of the building ($500 million in 2011 dollars).
The 525 Golden Gate Headquarters will also allow the SFPUC and the City of San Francisco to share best practices for water conservation and energy efficiency. 525 Golden Gate is on-track to achieve LEED certification 6-12 months after the building becomes operational.
525 Golden Gate consumes 32% less energy than similarly-sized office buildings.
•Clean, greenhouse gas-free Hetch Hetchy power is the building’s main source of energy.
•An integrated, hybrid solar array and wind turbine installation can generate up to 227,000 kWh/year or 7% of the building’s energy needs.
•A state-of-the-art raised flooring system incorporates the building’s data and ventilation infrastructure and reduces heating, cooling and ventilation energy costs by 51%.
•Maximizing daylight harvesting and minimizing artificial lighting saves electricity.
•Lighting and work station equipment shutoff automatically after-hours.
525 Golden Gate consumes 60% less water than similarly sized buildings.
•One of the first buildings in the nation with treatment of gray and black water.
•An onsite “Living Machine” reclaims and treats all of the building’s wastewater to satisfy 100% of the demand for the building’s low-flow toilets and urinals.
•The Living Machine(r), technology by Living Machine Systems, L3C, treats 5,000 gallons of wastewater per day, and helps reduce per person water consumption from 12 gallons (norm) to 5 gallons.
•The building’s rainwater harvesting system can store up to 250,000 gallons of water per year for use by the exterior irrigations systems.
525 Golden Gate’s carbon footprint is 50% less than similarly-sized buildings.
•Features a green concrete mixture using environmentally-friendly materials.
•Parking is limited to four spaces to promote alternative transportation and lower greenhouse gas emissions as part of SF’s Transit First policy.
“The unique hybrid wind-solar installation combined with the use of onsite, recycled wastewater makes 525 Golden Gate one of the most self-sustaining buildings anywhere in the world,” said SFPUC General Manager Ed Harrington. “We did not spare any detail to demonstrate the water-saving and energy efficiency revolution that all of us must start to embrace.”
For more information, please visit: www.sfwater.org/HQ.
