(D12) Ecology O&M Best Practice at Google Bay View

Bay View, along with Charleston East, represents the first time Google led the concept and construction of its own major campuses, and provided an opportunity to take human-centered, sustainable design to a new scale. Bay View is among the largest buildings in the world to pursue LEED-NC v4 Platinum and Living Building Challenge (LBC) Petal Certifications.

Google’s real estate and ecology teams are working to restore critical habitats across the Bay Area campuses. Healthy, diverse ecosystems are essential to creating landscapes that can withstand the stresses of climate change. With the development of Silicon Valley, many of the ecological functions of the region have been lost. That’s why the design for Bay View was centered on regenerating local biodiversity and resilience.

Bay View's landscape creates roughly 17 acres of high-quality native habitat, ranging from marshy wetlands to wildflower meadows and oak woodlands, including 400 native drought-tolerant trees. These plant communities support local and migratory wildlife, like native bees and migrating songbirds.

Bay View is a learning laboratory for developing landscape management practices that create a vibrant, healthy environment for people, wildlife, and natural resources. A team of ecologists and consultants developed a visual guide that supports the operations team by articulating ambitious ecology goals and illustrating the unconventional experience that accompanies an ecologically vibrant landscape. This presentation is intended to educate about Bay View's ecological objectives and to set expectations about the look and feel of the Bay View landscape experience.

Additionally, this presentation will highlight ways Google is working to ensure the Bay View campus is building biodiversity, including coexisting with wildlife, low-impact landscape management, and protecting water resources. Bay View's campus requires a novel approach to maintenance. The team is constantly evolving the landscape management approach to ensure that Google is creating a space where people and wildlife thrive.