San Francisco's Moscone Convention Center is LEED-Gold

San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center has been awarded LEED-Gold certification, making it the biggest municipally owned green building in the city and the first convention center on the West Coast to earn the rating.

The recognition is a result of the facility’s $56 million renovation, which focused on practical, measurable green features: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor air quality.

The Moscone Center spans more than 2 million square feet spread across almost an entire city block, and hosts more than 1.1 million convention visitors annually. The renovated building is 33% more efficient than comparable conventional facilities.

Notable features of the green upgrade include a 60,000-square-foot solar array that supplies 5% of the building’s power, low-flow plumbing fixtures that reduce indoor water consumption by 40%, and extensive use of energy efficient lighting technology.

"After an extensive study on building systems, over 250 corrective actions were employed,” says John Noguchi, director of convention facilities for San Francisco. “LEED Gold certification was our goal from the very beginning of the project.”

Here are more specifics of the renovation:

Sustainable Site

• Almost three-quarters of the employees commute using alternative transportation
• The facility is within walking distance of more 30,000 hotel rooms
• The largely below-ground location – with parks and other facilities above – helps with heating and cooling 

Water Efficiency

• Low-flow plumbing fixtures reduce indoor water use more than 40%
• Water bottle refilling stations cut plastic bottle waste

Energy Efficiency and Atmosphere

• A 60,000 square foot solar array – comprised of 5,400 solar PV modules – generates 5% percent of the electricity
• Intelligent wireless lighting controls in the lobbies include occupancy sensors and daylight harvesting features that optimize the use of natural lighting
• CFC-based refrigerants eliminated
• The center purchased Green-e Energy Certified renewable energy certificates (RECs) and Green-e Climate Verified Carbon Offsets equal to 50% of the building’s annual energy consumption
• The facility runs mostly on hydropower, supplemented by solar and biogas

Materials and Resources

• 76% of construction and demolition debris (150 tons) diverted from landfill
• Carpet, ceiling and restroom tiles made from recycled content
• 100% of the furniture purchased meets sustainable purchasing criteria

Indoor Environmental Quality

• An improved green cleaning program documents that 94%t of LEED-compliant cleaning products and chemicals purchased meet green cleaning criteria by dollars spent.
• Paints and sealants are low VOC (volatile organic compounds)

The city of San Francisco worked with project manager Jones Lang LaSalle, architects HOK and general contractor Webcor for the renovation.