From the Silicon Valley Business Journal: "The Minkoff Group, which developed the 68,500-square-foot building, commissioned a living roof that would serve several functions: Boost its building's green street cred, meet toughening stormwater regulations and attract tenants in the competitive downtown Mountain View marketplace."



For more details, see http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2013/12/23/on-top-of-the-green-roof-revolution.html

The City Council had a second study session, on 2/26/13, on proposed office towers (and parking structures) at 700 E. Middlefield.  There will probably be a third.  Council comments included the following:
"Are we doing piecemeal projects?" (Staff: "Until we have a Precise Plan for the area.")
"What is the implication for our RHNA numbers?"
"What about using the Light Rail, instead of shuttles, to get employees to the downtown station?"
"Shouldn't we be more proactive about improving transportation for people in the North Whisman area, rather than waiting for a crisis? There are a lot of people working there now!"
"This proposal is an old-style office park with much bigger buildings. LEED Platinum has nothing to do with neighborhood structure.  Where are there enticements to take the train, with these overwhelming views of the freeway?  There should be viewable local services, a larger trip reduction requirement tied to a greater absolute increase in trips, and reduced parking."
"These buildings are not accessible by foot; they're fronted by an onramp."
"Even people living nearby will have to drive there.  This is not transit-oriented, just tall buildings visible from a freeway."
"There should be a net benefit for the community.  Need a big trip reduction, ways not to need parking.  Community benefits need not be proportional to the size of the project: in the current environment, it's going to take a lot more from the developer.  The buildings need to be reoriented--the open space planned is visible only to people in the buildings."
"The open space should be visible and available to the public."
"Unfortunately developer financing is tied to the amount of parking."
"Why not reduce the square footage?  Do we really need to have 1.0 FAR?"
"An EIR requiring 'overriding considerations' should lead to mitigation fees due."
"There could be ZIP cars there for employees to use during the day."
"TDM should be designed to produce a 25-30% trip reduction."
"We need to discuss all this, not just have each Councilmember provide comments to Staff."

Thu, Mar 24, 2011      

7:00pm-9:00pm
The Googleplex, 1600 Ampitheatre Way, Mountain View

The Mountain View Coalition for Sustainable Planning, Google, Greenbelt Alliance, the Sierra Club, the US Green Building Council and the American Planning Association present…

Building Green, Today and Tomorrow

You are invited to spend the evening with MVCSP, Google and our co-sponsors as we learn about visionary new trends in green building as well as the practical methods that we can all employ to make our existing homes more energy efficient and comfortable. Our dynamic and distinguished speakers bring both cutting edge professional and academic expertise to the evening’s discussion. Following these exciting presentations we will get a brief update from the City of Mountain View on the local effort to build green and retrofit existing homes.

For more information visit www.mvcsp.org or contact info@mvcsp.org.
Please register by Monday, March 21

Josiah Cain
Coming Trends and Visionary Thinking in the Field of Sustainable Design
Director, Program in Sustainable Design at University Extension
Founding Partner and Design Director, Design Ecology

Josiah is a licensed landscape architect, academic, and sustainable design consultant with over 20 years direct experience in the sustainable design industry. He is known as a visionary ecological integration strategist addressing green infrastructure and urban environmental processes. His technical credentials include net zero water management, urban agriculture, sustainable building materials and landscape applications on structure. Josiah’s research, writing, and lecture topics focus on the relationship between ecology and urban design, including Performance Ecology, Integrated Water Management, Embedded Ecology, Urban Habitat, Green Infrastructure, Urban Agriculture, and Ecological Bionics. He has lectured at major universities and conferences and been featured in Sunset Magazine, Martha Stewart Radio, HGTV, and the New York Times.

David Waldorf
Practical Application of Sustainable Design: What We Can do Today
Project Manager at Ferrari-Moe LLP
Instructor in the Sustainable Design Program at University of California

David Waldorf is a forensic architect with Ferrari-Moe LLP, where he works to make building more efficient from a building envelope standpoint. In particular, David is involved in assessing existing structures for air and moisture leaks, designing solutions for repairing them, and managing the implementation process. He has a broad and specific understand of green building, LEED, energy efficiency, and the retrofit process. He previously worked as a Project Architect with Organic Architect and currently teaches at UC Berkeley Extension in the Sustainable Design Program.