n its quest to build the country’s first city hall to achieve the highest-possible achievement for environmental sustainability, Sunnyvale is relying largely on the same giant factor that gave the city its name.
Started in late 2020, Sunnyvale City Hall is shooting for the top “Platinum” level within the U.S. Green Building Association’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design building certification program. Much of that stature will depend on the 143,000-square-foot building’s rooftop solar-panels and battery system, which can produce as much as 1.1 gigawatt-hours of electricity per year. That’s enough to power about 103 typical American homes.
Officials for the city of about 153,000 residents that’s also a key corporate hub for companies like Apple Inc., LinkedIn Corp., Google LLC, Juniper Networks Inc. and others say such production will make Sunnyvale City Hall a so-called Net Zero Energy building. That means that it’ll produce as much energy as it uses, while excess power production will be sent to the grid.
The efficiency gains aren’t purely environmental, however. About 335 workers who are now housed across four buildings, including the current 35,000-square-foot City Hall that was built in 1958 and the 21,000-square-foot Annex Building that was constructed in 1970, will all be under one roof, while there will be room for an additional 50 city workers. The $174.1 million project is scheduled for completion early next year.