Robin Hamers Yard

The Costa Mesa Sanitary District's Robin Hamers Yard contains advanced architectural, engineering, and landscape design that qualifies the building and site to be "Platinum" certified in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). This is the highest certification awarded by the USGBC for buildings that are energy and resource efficient! The facility was designed and built using strategies aimed at energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts.

The building is named for the District's long-time engineer, Robin Hamers, who passed away on January 8, 2020. Rob's passing was a tremendous loss to the District and to the wastewater industry as a whole due to his extensive involvement in local wastewater organizations and his mentorship of local engineers. The Board of Directors decided to name the facility after Rob, since it is the home base for the District's wastewater operations.

• Energy efficiency of 25% better than code
• Approaching a carbon neutral footprint
• 10.1 KW solar panel electricity generating system and Solatube lighting
• All offices are naturally day lit from windows and/or skylights.
• Natural ventilation through operable windows and vented skylights
• Double pane windows and doors (double glazing)
• Durable white reflective “Cool Roof” helps reduce building heat.
• Concrete parking lot, which helps minimize the “urban heat island effect” by reflecting more of the sun than an asphalt parking lot
• Paints, glue and adhesives used contain less pollutants for better indoor environmental quality
• High efficiency water fixtures that use 40% less domestic water
• Vegetated open space area exceeds code by 25%
• Drought tolerant native gardens and landscaping
• Specially engineered infiltration trench that captures runoff, so storm water and associated pollutants are contained and filtered on the property
• Floors, walls and furnishings made from sustainable materials (renewable materials such as bamboo that re-grows within a 10-year life cycle)
• Over 75% of the building construction waste was recycled, and over 50% of waste generated during normal operation is recycled.

Below are photos from the Robin Hamers Yard construction process.