“Green” building practices incorporate environmentally sensitive materials and design into the construction or rehabilitation process.

As the Presidio Trust rehabilitates and maintains nearly 800 park structures, it strives to adhere to green building standards wherever practicable. Because more than half the Presidio’s buildings are historic, special care is taken to integrate green practices while protecting the sensitive historic fabric of a structure.

Green Building Guidelines

Presidio Trust staff has developed the draft Presidio Green Building Guidelines as an in-house resource and for use by tenants and contractors that work in the park. The guidelines are based on the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) criteria, but they include consideration for the rehabilitation of historic structures.

The following principles are integral to building “green” at the Presidio:

• conserve energy by specifying energy-efficient systems, fixtures, appliances, and controls, and by maximizing natural daylight within the building
• use environmentally responsible materials that are less toxic, made with recycled materials, manufactured with low embodied energy, and come from renewable, salvaged, and certified sustainable sources
• conserve water by reducing consumption, retrofitting wasteful systems, repairing leaks, and reclaiming and reusing water
• provide a healthy indoor environment by reducing or eliminating the use or release of toxins and pollutants
• reduce or eliminate waste by reducing consumption, reusing materials and recycling, and designing for flexibility to reduce the waste from future remodeling
• respect and respond to the characteristics of each site while recognizing the interdependence of the entire planet

Presidio Tenant Projects

The Presidio is home to numerous organizations that have completed “green” rehabilitations in buildings they occupy, such as the Thoreau Center for Sustainability the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the Letterman Digital Arts Center.