Green Building Highlights

The Community Environmental Council’s (CEC) Environmental Hub boasts 10,000 square feet of innovative and collaborative space at 1219 State Street in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara’s ARTS District. With a proven reputation for building collective power to test, incubate, and scale community-led solutions to complex problems, CEC designed this space with the ultimate renewable resource—human ingenuity and creativity—in mind. 

Designed by Joe Andrualitis of Andrualitis + Mixon, CEC’s Environmental Hub focuses on the user, with special attention to air quality, natural light, and acoustics. In addition to Andrualitis + Mixon, key partners included; Natalie Greenside and Melissa Mohr Brown of MN Studio—a woman-owned interior design firm, and the team at Specialty Construction. Together they provided creative direction to ensure the space showcases energy-saving technologies, recycled building materials, and other sustainable building features.

Indoor Air Quality

We’ve designed a building that prioritizes clean air using mechanical and natural processes reflecting the latest pandemic-era guidance from EPA and ASHRAE, with air turnover 2-5 times an hour in the atrium, conference rooms and office spaces. Our system has two components: a traditional HVAC system, and a ductless split system that provides local control over air flow and temperature in each room. We have incorporated whole-building UV light air purifiers, bi-polar ionizers and MERV-13 filters, as well as individual mobile HEPA room filtration units. A living indoor, two-story-tall ficus tree filters dust and pollutants such as ozone, carbon monoxide, and sulfur dioxide.

Energy Systems

Our all-electric building will soon be powered by an 15.84 KW solar system made possible through a partnership with Asteri Solar. Our building was designed to meet or exceed California’s stringent Title 24 energy efficiency standards, utilizing high efficiency electric appliances and skylights to harness natural daylight. 

Water Efficiency

The plumbing fixtures and fittings were selected to meet or exceed water conservation standards, including low-flow toilets and faucets. We also have implemented intelligent water management systems that monitor and control water usage, detecting leaks or excessive consumption to address any issues promptly. 

Green Transportation

The building’s location in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara’s ARTS District provides ample opportunity for eco-friendly commuting. For cyclists, we provide limited secure indoor bike parking within the Hub, and we are located two blocks from the City of Santa Barbara Bike Spot (adjoining the Granada Garage), which offers secure overnight bicycle parking. We are also within one block of several BCycle electric bike docking stations that provide convenient bike share rentals. For electric vehicle drivers, EV charging stations are available at the nearby Granada Garage. The Hub is also located within three blocks of the MTD Transit Center.

Interior Products

  • Reception desk, stair treads, and donor wall: Repurposed salvaged local urban timber,including from trees damaged in the Tea Fire, crafted by local artisan Guner Tautrim.

  • Lush Walls: Using items collected in and to reflect the region and created by the locally-based Lush Elements.

  • Cork Flooring: Amorim Cork WISE which is biodegradable, renewable, and recyclable.

  • Carpet: Interface's Nature's Course and Net Effects collections, made from repurposed discarded fishing nets. The carpets also feature a carbon-sequestering backing.

  • Linoleum: Marmoleum, which is crafted using natural renewable materials and boasts a high recycled content. 

  • Door/Drawer Fronts: Anthology Woods Grandstand Pine, which is crafted from reclaimed pine bleachers sourced from high schools and colleges across the U.S. 

  • Countertops: Paperstone, composed of recycled paper and phenolic resin, and Concrete Collaborative Terrazzo (at the coffee bar). These products use 40% pre-consumer industrial recycled content and a manufacturing process that incorporates a closed-loop system to capture waste. They are also low in VOCs, and free from resin or epoxy constituents.

  • Wall/Ceiling Panels: Armstrong's Tectum pressed wood fiber panels, made from biobased materials.

  • Decorative Hex Acoustical Wall Panels: FeltRight, made from 100% Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET). Each tile contains the equivalent of four recycled water bottles. These panels have received GreenGuard’s Gold Certification, and are manufactured in a world-class, sustainable factory in Salt Lake City, Utah.

  • Paint: All paints used adhere to CalGreen requirements, featuring low volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to minimize the release of harmful chemicals into the air.

  • Lighting: Coronet Fixtures in the offices and Conklin Community Room, from a carbon-neutral company that helped protect 19,230 acres of the Monarch Corridor. Lumini Fixtures in the atrium, with highly efficient diffusers and a lifespan of 60,000 hours or more. Bruck Fixtures in the entryway and coffee bar, using reclaimed wood and biodegradable plastics.