EcoCampus

Project Leader(s)

When cooperative efforts began in earnest between BAA and the PCCF in 1998 and 1999, with talks leading toward a potential merger, much consideration was given to the Conservation Center itself — the building, that is. The facility had pros and cons:

Pros

The building was owned outright by the PCCF.

Cons

Poor location — The location, near the Baylands and on the other side of US Highway 101 from almost everything, was very poor for attracting volunteers. The walkability score was zero, biking to it was difficult, the parking lot was small and almost always filled by the cars of people who worked in the building, and there was no chance of drop-in discoverability like one would get at a more centrally-located building.
Space was already at a premium — Occupancy by tenants was already full and if BAA and PCCF merged, it was unclear how both staffs would be able to fit in.
The High Schools Group hated it — For students it was harder to drive or bike to. Plus it lacked any sort of comfort or informality like they enjoyed at the BAA Mountain View office; they wouldn’t be able to walk to a coffee shop or dinner before a SG meeting, a ritual enjoyed nearly every week.
No garden space — BAA’s offices had enjoyed adjoining or nearby garden plots for urban agriculture demonstrations for six years, and there would be no space for that at the PCC.

Mark Bult proposed to Team Evolve (the joint BAA and PCCF merger team) that alternative locations be looked at, and several board members of both organizations formed a working group to start making inquiries. Meantime, Mark came up with the name EcoCampus to go along with two other joint programs shared by BAA and the PCCF (the EcoCalendar and EcoGuide being the others), and registered the domain name EcoCampus.org.

Vision

The vision was to create a dynamic place that served “our communities and businesses by uniting nonprofits with social entrepreneurs to promote the Three Es of Sustainability: Environment, Social Equity, and the Bay Area Economy.”

The new EcoCampus would build upon the success of the the longstanding Peninsula Conservation Center, which hosted nine nonprofit organizations at the time and offered incubator services to startup nonprofits. The EcoCampus would offer community classes, regional environmental exhibits, corporate / residential volunteer opportunities, and would continue the PCCF and BAA’s incubation of emerging organizations. The goal was build a new LEED certified green building that would still have enough space for existing tenants and the environmental library, plus more conference and event space, a more robust kitchen (the PCC only had a tiny kitchenette with no oven), outdoor gardens, and possibly a small store and coffee shop which would be open to the public.

The “campus” name came from one of the biggest advantages of the PCC — a shared facility would house the offices, staff, and volunteers of many of the Peninsula’s environmental organizations, and would maximize the inherent synergy of such a cooperative working environment. The concept would at the same time minimize operating costs for nonprofits through sharing facilities, overhead costs, and some shared staff duties (e.g. facilities, reception, etc.).

The team sought 4- to 6-acre sites to house a state-of-the-art green office building featuring a native plant garden, edible landscaping, outdoor exhibits, an organic cafe and many other sustainable amenities.

Locations

Key to the considerations was a better, less remote location than the existing PCC.

Meetings with the City of Mountain View identified a lot on the corner of East Charleston and Shoreline Blvd as a potential site. The land was owned by the city but a hotel was planned there. Early concepts included the hotel as part of the EcoCampus. Today, Google’s Gradient Canopy building now stands on that parcel of land.

An early concept by Arkin Tilt Architects. Credit: Arkin Tilt Architects / Bay Area Action Archives.

There was also exploration of using the land owned by the Foundation for Global Community (FGC) in downtown Palo Alto, with the hope of increasing the footprint through purchase of some adjoining land.

By 2001 Andy Fenselau served as the BAA+PCCF board lead for the project, with other board members Mary Davey, Laurie Mueller, Walt Hays, and Phil Bobel seeking funding from foundations and working with municipalities and other entities. The EcoCampus team submitting requests for seed money to the Peninsula Community Foundation and the Community Foundation of Silicon Valley. The EcoCampus name evolved into the Silicon Valley EcoCampus. The project also sent information to the Kirsch Family Foundation and the Sobrato Family Foundation, both of which expressed interest in the project. Later in 2001 the project was re-dubbed the Sustainability Center.

With the Acterra financial crisis of 2003 and the shutting down of many BAA legacy projects, the EcoCampus project lost steam and was shuttered.