Google Bay View

Google’s Bay View campus was designed to operate as “net water positive,” meaning it produces more non-potable water than it consumes.

The campus has achieved LEED Platinum and is on track to be the largest facility to attain the International Living Future Institute’s Living Building Challenge (LBC) Water Petal. As the project’s master water engineer, Sherwood led the development of a closed-loop onsite wastewater treatment plant that challenges the status quo for innovative and sustainable campus development. 

Bay View’s immediate adjacency to the San Francisco Bay makes water an important focus. Operating as net water positive, the on-site system collects, treats, and re-uses all stormwater and wastewater. This treatment system includes a series of interconnected, above-ground ponds that capture stormwater runoff year-round. The design simulates naturally occurring ponds and their hydrological patterns at the edge of the bay. When treated stormwater is drawn from these ponds, it enters the treatment system, where it combines with treated wastewater from the buildings to become a sustainable source of water for cooling towers, flushing toilets, and landscape irrigation.

Throughout the project, Sherwood managed the water balance to ensure LEED and LBC goals could be met, carefully collaborating across disciplines to optimize all water-relevant resources. This included evaluating and supporting the implementation of an innovative geothermal energy system, which is expected to help reduce about 90% of the water needed for cooling when compared with a traditional cooling tower system (based on Google’s predictive models). In later phases, we were the Engineer-of-Record and provided construction documentation for the onsite wastewater treatment plant.

Sherwood’s engineers worked closely with Google and the design team to optimize resource stewardship, user experience, and regional ecology. The campus includes 20 acres of open space and offers enhanced opportunities for active recreation and engagement with nature, including public access to improved trails and bike lanes.