UN greenplex to dock at Navy Shipyard after $500 million environmental clean up

The much maligned Hunters Point Shipyard on San Francisco Bay - a site poisoned by toxic waste for most of its 100 year life - is getting a lifeline extended to it by the UN after a $500 million cleanup that has been ongoing since the 1990s is completed.

When it's completed in 2012, the 80 000 square foot complex will be home to the UN Global Compact Sustainability Center. The think tank will address climate change challenges and include a conference center and UN offices.

"We are excited to partner with the City of San Francisco to work towards securing a sustainability center for the UN Global Compact", said Gavin Power, Deputy Director of the UN Global Compact. "California, in general, and San Francisco, in particular, have been at the forefront of environmental sustainability for many years and all the right ingredients are here. This would also have poignant significance given that San Francisco is the birthplace of the United Nations," he added.

The UN greenplex is but one component to the redevelopment of the 500 acre site. A site once so contaminated that it qualified as a Federal Superfund Site. Hunter's Point is now the focus of a $2 billion revitalization project that will see the lands transferred back to the City of San Francisco.

A major aspect of the urban renewal project is affordable housing. One-third of the more than 10 000 housing units to be developed on the site are to be set at or below market values. A key component of the housing initiative is the rebuilding of a nearby public housing development.

Encircled by 300 acres of parkland Hunters Point, as envisioned by planners, will also include an office park and retail shops in addition to the UN greenplex and housing components.

The developer, Lennar Corp., states that Hunters Point, "will be the first neighborhood in San Francisco powered entirely by clean, reliable public power."

Urban EcoMap Lets You Keep Up with The Joneses

How green is your neighborhood? In San Francisco you can compare the environmental efforts of your neighborhood with the efforts of any neighborhood in the city.

San Francisco, the city that proudly boasts of its 72 percent waste diversion rate through recycling also allows you to compare environmental efforts against other areas in the city by checking ZIP codes. Want to know which neighborhoods have the most hybrids, click on the transportation component. Who composts the most? Click on the waste icon.

Surreptitiously peeking out the window has never been more fun. You can spy on your neighbors without having to worry about being caught. As an added benefit you can boast that your neighborhood is better than the average SF neighborhood - yes, there is a median and a goal on the graph - and if your neighborhood is lagging behind you can quietly go about and increase your own environmental efforts in the hope that they will raise your community profile.

You may even be encouraged to rally your community in a joint effort to improve the pounds recycled per household. The San Francisco Urban EcoMap also shows you how to organize a carpool or find the best bicycle route to get to work in a way that benefits both you and the environment.

Launched on Earth Day 2009 , the Urban EcoMap is a collaborative effort between Cisco and San Francisco’s Department of the Environment. The goal of the program is to incite climate change behavior by motivating individual action and creating friendly competition within neighborhoods.

Reduce your carbon footprint by setting your goals, planning your actions and seeing your results. Think beyond your personal actions and encourage your local municipality to incorporate an Urban EcoMap as part of their sustainable development plan.