Moscone Aims for Highest LEED Convention Center Status
The convention center was designed for efficiency, from harvesting daylight to capturing millions of gallons of rain water, foundation groundwater and condensation water annually.
SAN FRANCISCO—The Moscone Center expansion, a construction manager/general contractor-led integrated project delivery development, involved reconfiguring the convention center’s North and South Exhibit Halls to increase exhibition space, resulting in a total expansion area of 350,000 square feet, with four levels above grade and one level below grade. The project increased contiguous exhibition space, ballroom, meeting room, retail and support spaces.
The center also offers more than 20,000 square feet of outdoor terraces that allow attendees to host receptions outdoors. The project team prioritized the center’s integration with the community surrounding it, developing numerous features to promote public accessibility, with a wide accessible sidewalk and 12,000 square feet of open public space, including a new play area in the children’s garden.
The sustainable and improved Moscone Convention Center exemplifies what the new climate-conscious buildings of the future must attempt to attain. The new green convention center is going for LEED Platinum, which would make it the highest LEED-certified convention center in the nation.
Indeed, the convention center was designed for efficiency, from harvesting daylight to capturing more than 12 million gallons of rain water, foundation groundwater and condensation water annually for landscape irrigation, on-site toilet flushing and street cleaning. The on-site water treatment system captures and treats rain water (750,000 gallons per year, condensate water (2 million gallons per year) and foundation water (8.9 million gallons per year). The building treats and reuses an average of up to 15 million gallons of non-potable water each year. In addition, Moscone implements a facility-wide recycling and composting program.
“The Moscone Convention Center hosts an onsite water treatment plant that collects water from rain, condensate and stormwater, making the center net-positive with water use and reducing loads on San Francisco’s central water treatment plant,” Jenelle Shapiro, senior sustainability manager at Webcor, tells GlobeSt.com. “It has been designed with a high-performance building envelope system for reduced thermal gain while also optimizing daylight harvesting in all public areas to offset artificial lighting and reduce energy demand. An environmental review and modeling analysis influenced building design to optimize natural lighting reaching the public outdoor spaces during the day.”
Key to San Francisco’s clean energy future is Moscone’s rooftop solar installation, the largest in San Francisco. Moscone now creates less carbon emissions per visitor than any other major convention center in North America.
Featuring 792 new panels, the solar generating facility will generate 20% of the building’s energy needs. The city’s Hetch Hetchy power system, operated by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, will supply the remainder of electricity, ensuring that the Global Climate Action Summit and other conventions are powered by 100% emissions-free clean electricity. Moscone Center is a member of the SF 2030 Eco District.
The type I steel hospitality project was designed by SOM and Mark Cavagnero Associates. Webcor was the Moscone Center expansion project general contractor which self-performed concrete and carpentry. Webcor also built the California Academy of Sciences, which is another facility heralded for its efforts to put sustainability at the forefront.
“Moscone is on track to receive the highest LEED rating score for a convention center, achieving LEED Platinum certification at 88 points,” Shapiro tells GlobeSt.com. “The project was able to max out all 18 possible points for optimized energy performance by incorporating energy efficiency strategies that include a demand-controlled mechanical system and emission-free energy sourced from solar and hydropower.”
These multiple approaches enabled the project to achieve a 45% energy savings against a baseline energy model. Moscone also achieved maximum possible points in the water efficiency category through low-flow fixtures, water-efficient landscaping strategies and innovative waste water management strategies, Shapiro says.
“San Francisco’s commitment to environmental sustainability is demonstrated in the Moscone project,” said Mohammed Nuru, San Francisco public works director, whose department provided project management and construction management services for the center. “From demanding smart building design to strategically reducing energy use and emissions, cities and states can be leaders in the battle against global warming.”
Building upon San Francisco’s track record of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, mayor London Breed is the newest mayoral co-chair of the Sierra Club’s Mayors For 100% Clean Energy program. This is a growing coalition of more than 200 mayors nationwide supporting a goal of 100% renewable energy in each community.
To that end, Breed doubled down on San Francisco’s commitment to 100% renewable energy and became a formal signatory to the Sierra Club’s nationwide clean energy campaign. Breed committed San Francisco to four key policy pledges: reduce waste generation by 15% and landfill disposal by 50% by 2030; net-zero carbon buildings in San Francisco by 2050; issue more green bonds to finance infrastructure and capital projects; and switch all electricity in San Francisco to renewables by 2030.
“San Francisco is an example to the country and to the world that a strong economy and strong environmental policies can go hand-in-hand,” said Debbie Raphael, director of the San Francisco department of the environment. “Our continued progress shows that these goals drive action and deliver results that improve our environment and enhance the quality of life for all of our residents.”
These commitments align with a recently completed analysis by the San Francisco department of environment for achieving deep emissions reductions across key sectors by 2050. To achieve further near-term reductions, the city plans to expand its renewable energy portfolio, complete a citywide roll-out of the CleanPowerSF program by 2019, and update green building standards for both municipal and private sector projects.
Cities account for 70% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions and play a key role in achieving the accelerated emissions reductions set forward by the Paris Climate Accords, GlobeSt.com learns.
“Global climate change starts at home, and now, more than ever, we’re giving San Franciscans the power to choose cleaner, greener electricity that is generated from local sources,” said Harlan Kelly Jr., SFPUC general manager. “Between our 100 year-old greenhouse gas-free Hetch Hetchy power system and our growing CleanPowerSF community choice energy program, we are now supplying electricity to meet approximately 50% of the demand in San Francisco. Publicly owned, carbon-free power is critical to achieving San Francisco’s clean energy vision and will ensure a greener future for generations to come.”