Orange County Branch Newsletter

August 2015

Sustainability Committee

Sustainability Tour | Newport Beach Civic Center + Park


By Nathan Chase, PE, ENV SP, LEED AP

On June 26, 2015, the Sustainability Committee for ASCE-OC held a lunchtime site tour on the City of Newport Beach’s Civic Center and Park, which is certified at the LEED Gold level. Nearly 40 attendees gathered at the Community Room to learn about this innovative and award-winning project, whose accolades include the ASCE 2015 Architectural and Sustainable Project of the Year.

We would like to thank the City’s presenter (Dave Webb, PE, Director of Public Works; pictured below) and tour guides for sharing their experience in the planning, design, construction, and use of the facilities that form part of the project, as well as their lessons learned along the way. This six-in-one project included construction of the 88,000 ft2 City Hall offices, the 12,000 ft2 Community Room and Council Chambers, a 450-space tri-level parking structure, a 17,000 ft2 Central Library Expansion, a 14-acre park with 1.2 miles of walking trails and a dog park, and a pedestrian bridge spanning across San Miguel Drive. Constructed in 34 months at a cost of about $140.2M, this the largest construction project in the City’s history and the result of over ten years of community discussions and planning efforts. 

Dave Webb presentation

Additional highlights from the site tour included bioswales and detention basins for stormwater management, transplanting of landscaping from the former City Hall site and selection of plantings palette to reduce irrigation demands, and an onsite weather station integrated with climate and lighting controls that is also linked to an interactive performance tracking display (see photos below).  

Landscaping

Weather panel

A full version of the presentation slides is available below: