The EcoCenter at Heron's Head Park:
Where Learning Comes Alive

Now in the final phases of construction, the EcoCenter at Heron's Head Park will be the first environmental education facility in southeast San Francisco. It will turn Hunters Point into a citywide magnet, a green beacon on the southern shoreline.

THANK YOU Rebuilding Together SF and salesforce.com!!!

The EcoCenter at Heron’s Head Park got 1000 hours closer to completion on November 17 when Rebuilding Together San Francisco and salesforce.com marshaled more than 300 volunteers to help tile, paint, install cabinetry, plant, and build pathways (see photo, lower right).

The volunteers joined together with truly impressive dedication and teamwork to accomplish months of work in a single day, and helped push home a project that has been in the works for 11 years.

"The EcoCenter is a source of great pride in our community, and we welcome the contribution of Rebuilding Together and all those who want to build a more sustainable future for our youth,” said Malik Looper, LEJ’s executive director.

This workday is the largest that Rebuilding Together San Francisco has hosted in its 20-year history. “This is the perfect project, and salesforce.com and LEJ are the perfect partners,” added Karen Nemsick, RTSF’s executive director.

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The EcoCenter will be San Francisco’s first 100% “off-grid” building, modeling solar power and alternative wastewater technologies. Nearly every feature of this 1,500-square-foot facility will be innovative and used to educate the public about renewable energy, pollution and greenhouse gas reduction, wastewater treatment, “green” building materials, and the green economy. Technologies will include:

• Eco Machine wastewater treatment. This series of wetland cells and ultraviolet sterilization lamps will treat wastewater and recycle treated water for landscape irrigation.
• A Green Living Roof to reduce building needs for heating and cooling, provide retention of stormwater on site for reuse, reduce heat island effect of building on site, and encourage wildlife habitat.
• Solar panels and wind turbine to meet all electricity demands of the building.
• Structurally Insulated Panels (SIPs) that provide high energy efficiency and strength in the walls and roof as well as seismic support and fire resistance.
• Native landscaping to help promote water conservation, the elimination of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, and encourage education around native plant propagation.

More than 400 high school students provided input throughout the design and siting of the EcoCenter. Over the course of the coming year, community workdays will be used to install the native landscape, living roof, and community-created art, with every phase and feature intended to engage or teach the public.

When it opens, the EcoCenter will offer a full menu of hands-on programs focusing on Ecology, Society, and Well Being: clean air and water, safe energy, healthy food, non-toxic homes and schools, open space restoration, and equitable education and employment. LEJ Youth Interns will serve as resident naturalists and docents.

For more information about the EcoCenter at Heron's Head Park, contact Project Manager Laurie Schoeman

Designed by Toby Long Design, the EcoCenter is a collaborative project between Literacy for Environmental Justice, the Port of San Francisco, San Francisco Environment, and the California Coastal Conservancy.

Project Partners:
Port of San Francisco
San Francisco Department of the Environment
San Francisco Department of Public Health
Toby Long Design/Clever Homes
Rana Creek
Occidental Power
Lorax Development

Eckman Environmental Corp.
Ocean Arks International/John Todd Ecological Design
H20 Envirotech

Industry Partners:
Bode Concrete

Ryan Engineering
Waste Solutions
Urban Ore, Berkeley
Sylvania Lights

Funding Partners:
San Francisco Department of the Environment
State Coastal Conservancy
Pacific Forest and Watershed Lands Stewardship Council
Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund
The Live Oak Fund of Horizons Foundation

Mitchell Kapor Foundation
Walter & Elise Haas Fund
S. H. Cowell Foundation
Flora Family Foundation
Morris Stulsaft Foundation
San Francisco Community Challenge Grant Program

State Water Resources Control Board

Adobe Foundation Fund of Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Bothin Foundation
Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment

Eco Center Steering Committee:
(affiliation for identification purposes only)
Kevin Bayuk, Recurve, Inc.
Chris Buck, Bayview Hunters Point Project Area Committee
Suzanne Gavin, Friends of the Urban Forest
Ruth Gravanis, San Francisco Commission on the Environment
Simon Hurd, Educator

Lori Lambertson, Exploratorium
Diane Lovingno, SPUR Green Roof Committee
Katherine Melcher, Urban Ecology
Pauline Peele, Educator and Community Activist

Michael Pitler, Architect