Resource Library
- Berkeley residents Kristin Leimkuhler and Jeffrey Wilk hired McCutcheon Construction to modernize their 1894 Victorian while preserving the building’s traditional exterior. Raising the house by three feet allowed them to transform a six-foot-high unfinished basement into a contemporary wheelchair-accessible first floor, doubling the home’s size to 2,815 square feet.
News | 07/21/2012A study by researchers at UC Berkeley and UCLA found that homes in California labeled with Energy Star, GreenPoint Rated or LEED sell for a premium of nine percent compared to comparable, non-labeled homes. This is the first rigorous, large-scale independent economic analysis of the value of green home labels in California.
News | 01/27/2014Most of us say that recycling is important, but are we good at it? StopWaste spent the past year taking a look at garbage carts to find out. A report being mailed this week shows that residents and businesses in Alameda County dumped as much as $70 million of recyclable and compostable items in the garbage last year. The report is part of a new Benchmark Service from StopWaste, a public agency responsible for reducing waste in Alameda County.
Success StoriesIn 2009, the City of Emeryville transformed the site of an old warehouse and parking lot into Doyle Hollis Park, a beautiful neighborhood park that has earned the Bay-Friendly Rated Landscape designation.
Success StoriesThis case study showcases Willow Park, a half-acre public park in Union City, California. Thanks to committed City leadership and creative design, this pocket park is packed with community amenities and Bay-Friendly Landscape features.
Success StoriesEmeryville is fast becoming a hot spot for new urban green spaces that have earned the Bay-Friendly Rated Landscape label. One of the latest is a winding pathway tucked behind a shopping area on San Pablo Avenue, between Park Avenue and 45th Street.
Success StoriesAt Cottonwood Place in Fremont, nonprofit housing developer Eden Housing has created a beautiful, healthy community for low income seniors. This innovative development, which includes 98 private apartments, was constructed using green building and Bay-Friendly landscaping methods and incorporates a number of features to ensure its long-term energy efficiency and sustainability.
Success StoriesHarmon Gardens provides 15 studio apartments for one of the Bay Area's most underserved populations, transition-age youth. The community provides a permanent home where residents can develop independent living skills while receiving supportive services.
Success StoriesThe Dona Spring Municipal Animal Shelter, a beautiful new facility at the north end of Berkeley's Aquatic Park, replaces a well-worn shelter built in the 1950s. Named in honor Dona Spring, a former Berkeley Councilmember and longtime advocate for animal welfare, the new shelter is highly visible from the freeway and more accessible to visitors and volunteers.
Success StoriesThe office campus of VF Outdoor in Alameda features a sustainable landscape design that reflects the company's global environmental goals. The landscape includes a water-conserving and climate-responsive plant palette suited to the environmentally sensitive coastal setting, an edible garden that provides healthy food to the campus cafeteria, and a variety of outdoor spaces for meetings, relaxation and recreation.