Making the best use of our resources, improving the quality of life for our residents, and spurring economic growth, the Sustainable Development Program explores new options for growth that protects the environment while laying a foundation for prosperity.
Check out our monthly EcoDistrict presentation series!
Program Overview
The Planning Department’s Sustainable Development Program is responsible for balancing San Francisco’s plans for future growth within the context of the State’s requirements to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (AB 32 and SB 375) and the City’s goals to reduce water consumption, reduce waste, and enhance community-scale energy resources. A primary goal of the Sustainable Development Program is to facilitate the implementation of sustainable infrastructure systems by coordinating private development and public improvements through community engagement.
Over the last decade, the Planning Department has planned for significant growth to occur in the city and will continue to do so. State and local environmental goals and requirements mandate that this growth to be more sustainable, particularly in the areas of water and energy conservation and waste reduction. The Sustainable Development Program works to achieve compliance with the existing environmental legislation efficiently and cost effectively, it aims to improve coherence and cost-effectiveness of different policy measures, and it aims to enhance public private partnerships. Eco-Districts have emerged as an important tool of the Sustainable Development Program.
What is an Eco-District?
An Eco-District is defined by its community. Property owners, businesses and residents contribute time, dollars and enthusiasm to identify, prioritize, and implement sustainable development projects in the area. Eco-Districts are neighborhood scale public-private partnerships that can strengthen the economy while creating a stronger sense of place. Creating eco-districts can help achieve the goals of city’s Climate Action Plan, Electricity Resource Plan and Green Building Ordinance.
The Planning Department has identified four types of Eco-Districts in San Francisco:
Type 1: The Blank Slate
The Type 1 Eco-District is characterized by a large amount of undeveloped land typically owned by a single property owner. Type 1 Eco-Districts enable horizontal infrastructure development to be implemented in advance of vertical development to help optimize Eco-District goals. This type of Eco-District maximizes efficiencies in the delivery of goods provided by infrastructure through district-scale systems.
Type 2: The Patchwork Quilt
The Type 2 Eco-District is characterized by its mix of land uses and is comprised of undeveloped, underdeveloped, and developed land owned by different property owners implementing development projects under different timeframes. This type of Eco-District focuses on aligning development timeframes to maximize opportunities to meet environmental goals. It also works closely with the community to build on its existing character and to integrate the physical qualities of the area as part of its character. Our Central Corridor Plan area has been identified as a Type 2 Eco-District.
Type 3: The Strengthened Neighborhood
The Type 3 Eco-District, in coordination with the Office of Economic and Workforce Development’s Invest in Neighborhoods Initiative, focuses on existing residential neighborhoods and their commercial corridors. Type 3 Eco-Districts are located in parts of the city that are not planned to accommodate growth, but through tactical urbanism can bolster distinctive character and support eco-friendly behavior.
Type 4: The Industrial Network
The Type 4 Eco-District focuses on creating stronger connections between the city’s production, distribution, and repair (PDR) uses. PDR has been recognized as an important component of the city’s culture, its economic stability, and the retention of its diverse labor force. Aligning these industries so that their operating and distribution systems can work more efficiently is the primary focus of the Type 4 Eco-District.
EcoDistrict Presentation Series
The Planning Department hosts a monthly presentation series. The series is a popular forum for the discussion of issues relating to EcoDistrict development in the City. Guest speakers from backgrounds related to sustainability, environmental infrastructure systems, and EcoDistricts are invited to present their work to the city’s Inter-Departmental EcoDistrict team and discuss a particular subject relevant to the team’s work. Depending on the speaker, the discussion series deals with very practical issues of how and what is being developed in San Francisco, the Bay Area, other cities in the country, and abroad. Speakers relate their specific area of interest to the Sustainable Development Programs goals and provide valuable context for staff in terms of how and what may be considered in implementing EcoDistricts in the city. As important, the discussion engages the opinions of people from a variety of backgrounds, broadening everyone’s perspective and encouraging in the sharing of ideas.
ECODISTRICT PRESENTATION
Operating Experience at the Service of Sustainable Cities
Speakers: Professor Jean Claude van Duysen, Dr. Jamie Link, Gabriel Meric de Bellefonh ( bios )
Date: Monday, May 20, 2013
Time: 12:00 - 1:00 PM
Where: 3rd Floor, Tuolumne Conference Room
525 Golden Gate Avenue, Public Utilities Commission Building ( map )
Today, urban population represents more than 50% of the world’s population and it is still growing very fast. Even the United Nations forecasting studies estimate this population will reach 70% by 2050.
The challenge that cities face is how to be sustainable. Cities must steadily reduce their impact on the environment, cut their consumption of resources, improve their resilience against various natural and technological adversities, and continuously attract enterprises and talented people in order to maintain or improve their economy in the world competition.
To meet these goals, cities will need to utilize data sets that will help them define a holistic development strategy that includes urban-related domains, such as energy, water, cyber infrastructure, transportation, and the collaboration between them.
This EcoDistrict presentation will feature speakers from EDF, and will provide attendees an overview of the competences and tools cities can use to help them on their way towards sustainability. The presentation will showcase studies from partnerships of EDF with cities worldwide and how they relate to eco-district projects.
About EDF: Based on decades of research and development work and experience as a utility operator and energy service provider, EDF has built simulation tools to develop action plans towards sustainability. These tools include energy efficiency measures, metrics to measure impacts on the environment, local renewable generation, and interactions between infrastructures flows (energy, transportation, waste, and water). These tools empower cities to base all decisions onto quantified and actionable analytics, therefore, ensuring the most efficient city planning decisions.
Professor Jean Claude van Duysen is the Director of EDF Research & Development in the USA. He is an engineer in Materials Science and graduated from the University of Lille in 1978. He has also earned two PhDs, one in Fundamental Physics (1982) and the second in Metallurgy (1987) before starting his professional career with EDF. In 2002, he founded and led the European Institute for Energy Research set up by EDF and Universität Karlsruhe, Germany. In 2006, he was Director of the Centre on Environment Research in Turin, Italy. Aside from his work with EDF, Jean Claude has been a Professor at the Université de Lille, France since 1993 and a Visiting Professor at Imperial College since 2009. In 2007, he founded Global Vision Council, a non-profit organization helping Small and Medium Enterprises to innovate. He continues to hold the Chairman position for this organization. Jean Claude is a published author, with more than 50 scientific articles in international journals. He also wrote a book on "Sustainable Development".
Dr. Jamie Link leads business development for EDF Renewable Energy's Government Energy Solutions team. She joined EDF Renewable Energy after serving as a Senior Technical Advisor and Acting Program Manager at the U.S. Department of Energy. Jamie has extensive experience working with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and served as a staff member on Capitol Hill. She holds degrees in chemistry from Princeton and UC San Diego.
Gabriel Meric de Bellefon is the Technical Director of US cities projects at EDF. He was previously at the Electric Power Research Institute, where he did research on energy efficiency, energy storage, and renewable energy for electric utilities. He started his career as a researcher in Nuclear Materials at UC Berkeley. Gabriel holds an Engineering Degree in Applied Physics from École Polytechnique, France, and an M.S. degree in Nuclear Engineering from UC Berkeley.
PAST PRESENTATIONS
| Date |
Presentation
|
Speaker(s)
|
| Apr. 15, 2013 |
5D Cities: An All Inclusive Approach to Open Data |
Michael Jansen |
| Mar. 18, 2013 |
Treasure Island / Yerba Buena Island Development Project’s Sustainability Plan and District Scale Infrastructure Opportunities |
Michael Tymoff |
| Feb. 4, 2013 |
Building Water Reuse Opportunities in San Francisco |
Paula Kehoe |
| Nov. 7, 2012 |
Transformative Energy and Water Infrastructure for Neighborhoods |
Claire Maxfield, Emma Marchant |
| Oct. 1, 2012 |
Ownership Models for Sustainable Neighborhood Infrastructure |
Trent Berry |
| Sept. 5, 2012 |
Investigating New Business Models to Make Cities Smarter and More Successful |
Tom Osdoba |
| May 24, 2012 |
Optimizing Systems at District Scale |
Alisdair McGregor, Jordan O'Brien, Bry Sarté, Clark Brockman |
| April 5, 2012 |
Central Corridor EcoDistrict: Integrated Water Resource Management |
Zach Gallagher |
Contact
For more information about the Sustainable Development program, please contact:
Kate McGee
Lead Sustainability Planner / Program Manager
San Francisco Planning Department
(415) 558-6367
kate.mcgee@sfgov.org
