This New North Bay Child Care Center Is Adapting to Climate Change

Wildfire smoke, extreme heat and contagious viruses — unhealthy for anyone — are especially dangerous for young bodies, so schools and child care are often forced to close when disasters hit.

Since 2017, the staff at North Bay Children’s Center has seen the rippling consequences of these emergencies: parents had to drop what they were doing to pick up their children.

“During the fires, because of poor air quality, and during the pandemic, the natural reaction to our school districts and many of our colleagues in child care was to close,” said Susan Gilmore, CEO of the nonprofit, which operates 14 child development centers in Sonoma and Marin counties.

“And our parents can’t afford that,” she said. “Most of them are essential employees; they live paycheck to paycheck and cannot miss work.”

This week, the NBCC opened its biggest center in Novato, serving 176 infants, toddlers and preschoolers, and it’s designed to stay open amidst wildfire smoke, extreme heat and other climate-related events, and provide not just for kids but their families as well.

Inside, each classroom has its own climate control and filtration system to ensure the air stays cool and clean — and to minimize germs spreading from one room to another.

Outside, trees and shade structures protect the play yard from the heat. The ground is mostly covered in mulch and astroturf instead of asphalt, which can radiate dangerously high temperatures, cutting outdoor playtime short.

To extend that time, playground builders studied the sun.

Babies, toddlers and kids under 5 are more vulnerable to heat exhaustion because their bodies heat up faster, and they have a harder time cooling down.

“We live in an area where those extreme heat days are hotter and they last longer, so we have to make sure that our environments can support what children need,” Gilmore said.

Crews carefully positioned fabric panels above the sandbox to provide shade as sunlight shifts, said Brian St. Peter, head of facilities for the NBCC.

“We really had to look at exactly where it’s coming during the summer months, just to be able to accommodate the most shade for kids where they’re actually going to be playing,” he said.

The $12.5 million campus is on former military land that the NBCC purchased from the federal government for $1 years ago.

Gilmore already had blueprints for the building in 2015, but when the 2017 North Bay wildfires devastated the region and upended the lives of many families — including teachers and other members of the staff — Gilmore said it became crucial to add design features that address climate change.

To prepare for future emergencies, the new building will serve as a “resiliency hub” where families can go and be safe instead of an evacuation shelter.

“If they’re in a place where they can’t get to their home, it’s important that we do have enough food, we do have enough water, and that we do have space outside of the classrooms where families can gather,” she said.