Sonoma Mountain Village: A ONE PLANET Community
As promised from yesterday’s post, we are sharing with you North America’s first endorsed One Planet Community. Located just north of San Francisco in Rohnert Park, California, Sonoma Mountain Village is a 200 acre Zero Carbon, Zero Waste mixed-use development lead by MBH Architects for developer Codding Enterprises. If all goes according to plan, this ground breaking development will cost $1 billion to complete and be staged over the next 12 years.
Endorsed by One Planet Communities, a sustainable initiative proposed by BioRegional , this project will break ground this summer but is already using existing buildings for an adaptive re-use community that houses 30 businesses, including a 40,000 square foot facility for AT&T. To produce sustainable electricity for the community’s commercial buildings, Codding purchased $7,500,000 (90,000 square feet) worth of solar panels, making it the largest privately owned solar power installation in Northern California.
Centered around an urban Village Square, the proposed plan will incorporate retail, dining and entertainment options, residential units and space for civic uses. Some of the amenities include: over 25 acres of parks, a dog park, an all weather soccer field, wellness and fitness center, miles of trails for walking and biking, and educational centers.
Sonoma Mountain Village is a pioneer in deeply sustainable mixed-use community design. All of the 1,800 proposed homes will seek LEED Platinum certification. Homes will range from 500 square foot condominiums to 3,500 square foot single family residences. The plan focuses on walkability and public transportation rather than a traditional car-oriented design. Key services and public transit stops are planned within one-half mile of residences.
Codding’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Geof Syphers, explains that “it’s time to stop planning for energy efficiency and start planning for zero impact. It’s time to move past ‘green’ and embrace truly sustainable development. BioRegional’s Sustainability Action Plan for a One Planet Community has given us the framework to do just that.” BioRegional challenged the design team to focus on performance goals and develop the 2020 targets listed below.
Although there are dozens of issues surrounding local codes, there has been no political resistance to the idea of sustainable building. Syphers is confident that “they will find a way to have 8 to 10 billion people on this planet and make it work.”
Check out the KRCB radio interview with Geof Sphyers: [Part 1] [Part 2]
Other One Planet Community projects include: One Brighton, Mata de Sesimbra, and BedZED
