KQED is committed to operating in an environmentally responsible manner.
In our Facility Operation and our
Building Design we have attempted, where cost effective, to use materials
and technology that reduce our energy usage and reduce the amount of waste
produced.
KQED has worked with the San Francisco Green Ribbon
Panel, an Environmental Education Program for businesses in The San
Francisco Bay Area.
For more information about KQED's environmental concerns, please contact
Al Malick at 415.553.2121 or email green@kqed.org.
Facility Operation
Recycling
KQED's Recycling Program includes Paper,
(White and Mixed), cans, bottles, newspapers and magazines.
Each month, KQED receives a refund for all Paper that is collected.
This refund in turn is directed towards the disposal cost of our Non-Recyclable
Waste.
Each month we receive a count of how many trees have been saved as a
result of our Paper Recycling Program. Our first year, KQED Staff saved
a total of 73 trees!
Employees are encouraged to use Fax Post-it Notes instead of full
page fax cover sheets. These small post-it notes can be reused for frequently
used fax numbers and significantly reduce the amount of paper waste.
KQED also encourages the use of public transportation by its employees
by offering "Fast Pass" coupons for MUNI riders. Also, Employees who
ride bicycles to work park for free in the KQED Garage.
KQED uses primarily fluorescent lighting throughout the facility,
and where possible, has "de-lamped"- removed unnecessary bulbs from
specific fixtures. In addition to using high efficiency fluorescent
bulbs, electronic ballasts are used.
Motion sensors are located in all Conference rooms. Infra-red beams
sense movement when a person enters the room, therby triggering the
lights to turn on. The lights automatically turn off when movement discontinues.
A Solar Film applied to glass facing the west side of the building
reduces heat gain in the summer and heat loss during the winter.
The Air Handlers which heat and cool the facility run only during
the hours of 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. One of the air handlers is equipped
with a variable frequency drive which adjusts the speed of the motor
to the demand on the unit.
The control on the Main Boiler adjusts the temperature of heated
water according to time of day- lowering during the hours when less
heat is expected to be needed.
The Trees which surround our facility were graciously donated by
"Friends of the Urban Forest" and were planted
by hardworking KQED staff members.
The Green Ribbon Panel was a nonprofit organization working in
conjunction with the City of San Francisco and was organized in response
to requests by business people for precise information about environmental
issues. The Panel worked directly with businesses to help them become
ecologically efficient. The Panel focused upon six main environmental
issues: Energy, Transportation, Recycling, Toxics Reduction, Water, and
Landscaping.
Sustainable City has recently picked up where the Green Ribbon
Panel left off. Sustainable City is a volunteer-based non-profit organization
dedicated to achieving a sustainable future for San Francisco.
Green City Project The Green City Project is
a project of the Planet Drum Foundation, a non-profit ecological education
organization that promotes the concept of bioregions and emphasizes
sustainability, community self-determination and regional self-reliance.
EE-Link, Environmental Education
on the Internet EE-Link develops and organizes Internet resources
to support, enhance and extend effective environmental education in
grades K-12. Consistent with the key principles of environmental education,
our mission is to spread information and ideas that will help educators
explore the environment and investigate current issues with students.
We are building this resource both for teachers and for people who support
K-12 environmental education, such as media specialists, inservice providers,
nature center staff and curriculum developers.
The EnviroLink Network
The EnviroLink Network is a non-profit organization that is known throughout
the world as the on-line source for all environmental information. EnviroLink
is much more than just a computer network, though. It is a grassroots
community that has been growing in numbers for over 5 years. Please
take some time to learn about who we are, what we do and how you can
become a part of our open community.
EcoNet Home Page
EcoNet serves organizations and individuals working for environmental
preservation and sustainability. EcoNet builds coalitions and partnerships
with individuals, activist organizations and non-profit organizations
to develop their use of the electronic communications medium.
Friends of the Urban Forest is a nonprofit organization committed
to the belief that street trees are a critical element in the urban environment.
Our urban forest satisfies a basic desire to live among growing things
that nuture and inspire us. Future generations will benefit from the trees
we plant today.
Friends of the Urban Forest emerged as a group of dedicated tree planters
to fill the gap created in the early 1980's by the curtailment of public
funds. FUF provides a unique community service by working in partnership
with neighbors, community groups, and the business community to improve
and care for the environment by planting street trees. FUF's program includes
providing financial, technical and practical assistance in tree planting
and maintenance, public education, and tree advocacy.
For more information, check out the Friends
of the Urban Forest Web site.
The Green City Volunteer Network The Volunteer Network is a database
which lists over 370 Bay Area groups working on any and every aspect of
urban sustainability. The Network serves as a free over-the-phone volunteer
and information referral service where we "matchmake" over 150 volunteers
a month with groups according to interest and location. We are also glad
to make information referrals- to the media, groups within the Network,
and individuals-just to let people know "who is doing what where." For
your own referral, call Maggie at (415) 285-6556.
Education + Action E + A connects educators from Volunteer Network
groups to Bay Area K-12 classrooms. Teachers who want supplementary hands-on
cirricula on alternative transportation, composting, watersheds, bioregionalism,
native plants, native wildlife & their habitat, renewable energy, and
more can call Simon at (415) 285-6556. He'll arrange for an informative,
entertaining presentation and a hands-on "service learning" project on
or around school grounds.
Green City Calendar The Calendar is the way for Bay Area residents
to find out what workdays and special programs the Volunteer Network groups
are sponsoring. The Newsletter section of the Calendar explores current
urban sustainability vocabulary and lets you know who is putting the words
into action. We are now publishing 5,000 copies of the Calendar every
other month.
Neighborhood Workshop/Workdays Green City co-sponsors monthly
hands-on and educational workdays with a variety of organizations on a
range of topics at project sites throughout the Bay Area. Recent collaborators
have included: San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, SLUG (San Francisco league
of Urban Gardeners), Greenbelt Alliance, and Mission Creek Conservancy.
Green City Project also collaborates annually with the Mission Economic
and Cultural Association (MECA) to put on the Earth Block/Ciudad Verde
component of San Francisco's GIANT two-day multicultural street fair and
parade, Carnival.
For more information, check out the Planet
Drum Web site.
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