City of San José | Environmental Innovation Center

San José’s Environmental Services Department transformed a former city storage facility into a clean technology development center focused on developing emerging green technologies. The Environmental Innovation Center (EIC) operates according to the sustainability and energy-efficiency standards that the Environmental Services Department champions. The building leases space to three companies aligned with San José’s Green Vision Goals: the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, Santa Clara County’s Household Hazardous Waste Facility, and Prospect Silicon Valley. This company helps innovators showcase and market alternative fuels for transportation. The Center also includes a large conference room and incubator space for environmentally focused businesses in San Jose. 

Introba (formerly Integral Group) provided mechanical and plumbing design services for the project. The team helped the EIC significantly reduce its water consumption by designing a system that uses filtration and UV disinfection to produce gray water for landscape irrigation. Low-flow faucets and waterless urinals also decrease water consumption in the building. The EIC also installed composting toilets—the first ever in a California office building—which use foam as their flushing agent and thus omit the wastewater treatment process entirely. 

Sustainability

• LEED Platinum certified 

• Zero Net Energy target 

Project Highlights

• Transformed a former city storage facility into a development center focused on developing emerging green technologies 

• Leases space to three companies aligned with San José’s Green Vision Goals: the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, Santa Clara County’s Household Hazardous Waste Facility, and Prospect Silicon Valley 

• Reduced water consumption through a filtration and UV disinfection to produce gray water for landscape irrigation as well as low-flow faucets, waterless urinals, and composting toilets