Healthier Environment
Parkmerced enjoys a beautiful, scenic setting near Lake Merced, the Pacific Ocean and neighboring golf courses. However, much of its existing design is ecologically unsound.
Parkmerced’s lack of neighborhood retail forces residents to drive to stores and services, congesting nearby streets and polluting the environment. Inefficient utilities, out-of-date heating, lighting and insulation; heavy irrigation and fertilization; low plant variety; and poor drainage further impact the environment.
Our vision will address these challenges; it will renew and revitalize the environment in and around Parkmerced.
Sustainable Transportation
We will provide new programs and improved access to transportation offering people better options for traveling without using their cars for every trip.
Our plans for sustainable transportation include realigning Muni through the site to better serve all of our residents, a direct shuttle to BART, carpools/vanpools, bike sharing/library, car-share programs, a full-time transportation coordinator and better amenities.
Together, these enhancements to the local transportation system will dramatically reduce car trips per home, increase the use of public transit and further reduce pollution.
Usable Open Space
We will create more usable open spaces that incorporate native plants and grasses to reduce water and fertilizer use, better connect Parkmerced to surrounding green spaces and Lake Merced, and address drainage and runoff issues.
Efficient Water Use
We will implement a number of upgrades to Parkmerced’s water system that will lower utility bills and help the environment.
Our better homes will be outfitted with new “low-flow” fixtures and appliances. We will turn to several water conservation methods for our exteriors, including ways to capture and re-use rainwater, as well as “green” irrigation methods.
Replenishing Lake Merced
Lake Merced has been shrinking in size for the past several decades. Rainwater runoff from roofs and streets could be captured to replenish the lake instead of sending it to our sewer system.
By collecting rainwater through a combination of low impact development (LID) techniques such as green roofs, bioswales, ponds, greenfields and other biofiltration systems, we can help reduce drinking water used to irrigate plants, and return the watershed to a more natural state. These improvements would not only help replenish the lake and its ecosystem, but also virtually eliminate rainwater flow to the wastewater treatment plant, further cutting energy costs and chemical use, and helping to reduce overflows of partially treated wastewater into the ocean.
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Renewable and Alternative Energy
We are considering solar and wind power as renewable sources, and cogeneration as a state-of-the-art alternative energy source to help reduce Parkmerced's "carbon footprint."
We working toward using energy more reliably and efficiently to reduce Parkmerced's strain on the City's power grid.
By reducing energy and water use in each home and reusing wastewater we can lower utility bills for Parkmerced residents while also lessening our impact on the environment and local utilities/infrastructure. We estimate our improvements would cut water use by over 40 percent and electrical and gas consumption by approximately 60 percent, per home.
Regenerate the Landscape, Shield Wind, and Capture Sunlight
Creating a healthy environment at Parkmerced begins with the landscape. By providing connections to the outdoors through jogging paths, parks, and landscaped routes to Lake Merced, our residents and neighbors will be able to commune with nature and lead active lifestyles without leaving the immediate Parkmerced area.
To make Parkmerced a desirable place for outdoor recreation, we will introduce a more diverse habitat for native plants and wildlife. Proposed improvements include adding a greater diversity of native trees and plants that are sustainable within the San Francisco climate. Riparian corridors, fields of native grasses, redwood plantings, and water features will create different habitats where birds and other native wildlife can thrive. We also are proposing a reconfigured street layout that strategically positions hedgerows and trees in a north-south direction to shield Parkmerced from ocean winds and maximize sunlight into the property and new parks.