Working Green: Headquarters

Earthjustice is actively promoting a green, environmentally-conscious future, both inside and outside of the courtroom.

When Earthjustice’s Headquarters office moved to our current space in San Francisco, we kept sustainability in mind, while finding a space to fit our growing organization.

The construction and day-to-day operation of buildings have a powerful impact on our planet.

In the United States, for example, buildings are the largest consumers of electricity and contribute nearly a third of our total greenhouse gas emissions, according to the U.S. Green Building Council.

When we found a space in the Financial District of downtown San Francisco, we wanted to make sure we used as many of the existing resources as possible.

A Green Building

The building itself has earned Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), the benchmark for green buildings.

The building provides composting and e-waste collection, uses green products with their janitorial services, and ensures energy efficiency with their heating, ventilation and lighting.

During our build-out, we reused existing offices, light fixtures, and carpeting when we could. Any removed material was recycled responsibly and any added material was evaluated for its sustainability and environmental impact.

In addition, the location of our office maximizes public transportation options for our staff, which we’re happy to take advantage of! We have easy access to three different train systems, multiple bus options, and ferries.

We use CFL and florescent lights throughout our space. Because our lights are on motion sensors, the lights turn off when there’s no movement and keeps our energy usage lower.

A Green Space

We have made sure that our whole location was well-supplied with plants, suitable to the varying amounts of light and lovingly maintained by our in-house green thumbs! Everywhere you look, we’ll have some green for you.

Our café was designed to be a social area for our staff, as we were divided between five floors in our previous office. The floors are made from marmoleum, which is produced using natural linseed oil.

We kept our tables and chairs from our previous location and added some taller tables and stools so staff can converse while making lunch. We also made sure our kitchen is well-stocked with reusable ceramic and glass flatware and glasses. Our appliances are ENERGY STAR rated and very efficient! We keep our water hot with on-demand water heaters, minimizing the energy usage to heat our water.

We’re proud to provide our staff with locally-roasted beans from Mr. Espresso and teas from Numi, both based in neighboring Oakland, CA.

Landmark Cases Celebrated

Our conference rooms are all named after landmark cases in Earthjustice history, reminding us of what we’re working for each day.

Our main conference room, Mineral King, was named after the founding case for our organization and was designed around the existing setup from the previous occupants. All the lighting remained intact and we worked to reduce waste and impact with any changes we made to the conference room.

Our artwork was chosen to keep our mission in mind. We are proud of our work and wanted to make sure we had visual reminders of what we are striving to protect and uphold.