a few blocks away from here, we have been experimenting with what it means to close market street, to take back parking spaces for parkland. i want to thank the transit advocates here. hats off to burning man because you are leading the way. without further ado, it is my honor to introduce one of the founders of the burning man project. where is larry harvey? come on up. [applause] >> i did not want to speak to

the "post." i am not here as the founder of burning man. i am representing the burning man project, a new nonprofit. our offices are down the street at 995 market at 6th, right in the hearth of the mid-market district. there is no better place to commence this effort in san francisco, our home town. [applause] we know a thing or two about building a diversity and culture from the ground up.

the key thing was expressed by the great jane jacobs. she said cities have the capability of providing something for everybody only because and only when they are created by everybody. care this is the principle that will guide the burning man project. working with the city of san francisco, we can do many things. you have noticed all of the vacant shop fronts along market street, i am sure. we can begin to change this. pardon me? anyway, we can change this by making it easier for artists to occupy. working with our sister

organization, we can install public artworks. if you look behind you, you will see two of them freshly installed. we can also do what all of us are doing here today. it can mean celebrations. we certainly know how to do that. we can do more. everyone of you here can participate. let's broaden the scope and think about more than just market street. after all, cities have the capability of providing something for everybody when they are created by everybody.

let's look beyond the central market corridor and the neighborhood, the community that already lives here. if you go down to the project office, you will see the gateway to the tenderloin. we do not mean to merely decorate our city's main street. that would be superficial. we want to help change lives. [applause] we want to do what we do best by inventing truly interactive art. we want to work with the residents of the district, creating art made by and for the people. we will need volunteers in order to accomplish this.

burners know exactly what i am talking about. we want you to pay attention to our website, burningmanproject.org. the burning man private even may be sold out of tickets, but the project is destined to fill a much larger canvas. to participate in that, you will not need no stinking tickets. [applause] i already hear people referring to where we are as u.m. playa. [laughter] to repeat with the mayor has already said, welcome home. [cheers and applause]

♪ ♪ >> this is where it techs started and this is where we lead from. it is with great pleasure of publicly announce -- i publicly announce the expansion into an additional 50,000 square feet of offices. [applause] we have quickly proven our

ability to build a thriving and profitable ecosystem of some of the best tech startups in the world. these are our next generation of stars. this will be the center of epicness in san francisco, the place for tech entrepreneurs to build their dream with the support that san francisco has to offer. i was greatly encouraged when the mayor came to meet the company's. it would appear in the industry -- any industry is in need of support and lack of disruption. your support shows needed

political support for the technology industry in san francisco. thank you for that. ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce our mayor, ed lee. [applause] >> thank you. congratulations. it is a wonderful building you have here. it is more than just a building. this building houses some of the smartest people you could find in technology. that is what san francisco is trying to do. we're trying to attract the best talent in the world to come here. whether it is from u.s., canada, or spain, the companies are coming here because they know where the talent is to be found.

this is a tech-friendly city that will do everything it can to support technology growth because the real challenge is our future. we're still very strong as a city in tourism from all over the world. we will continue being strong in that because of our natural beauty, the commission of tourism and travel. there is another reason why people are coming to this city. a lot of other cities have build them in terms of creating jobs and having a stable economic foundation upon which to grow. for me, that is what i have been all about in my administration. what began with a conversation earlier this year with a company called twitter about their

needs have us sit down with them. i went to their offices. i chatted with their seceo and cfo. the managers left the room and let me speak to the engineers, people such as yourselves. i asked what they really needed to stay here. they said they loved the diversity and culture. they wanted more biplanes -- bike lanes and infrastructure to support their lifestyle. they wanted help with the challenging payroll tax. they gave me input at the engineering level and from the

management level. we went on to make a pretty historic decision to make sure a company like twitter would grow from 250 people to the expected up to 3000 people in the next two and a half years. that is the vision we shared at that moment. it is beginning to happen. it is the same thing with zynga. we were one of the only cities taxing stock options. we dealt with that. we have been demonstrating we want technology companies to grow. this is the innovation ecosystem we want to create. we will do everything possible here. as duncan announced earlier, a

rocket space is one of a number of technology companies locating here. over 4.5 million space of office -- over 4.5 million feet of office space has been leased this year. of that 4.6 million square feet, 1.6 million square feet have been leased by technology companies. tech leasing has become our basic business in san francisco. it is the bundling of services that come with the space. it is the smart way of doing things. if cities are going to survive, they have to be smarter about it. they have to reach out to new technology. i have to keep changing government to make sure we are business-friendly and doing smart things.

rocket space has an earthquake-safe building. then you start seeing the technology businesses. everybody is innovating in this building. they are innovating with great ideas. whether it is travel, financial , were just better ways of doing business all over the place, we have so much innovation going on. i have gotten innovated and inspired. i am happy to be here and congratulate you for a great offering of this building and the expansion that is coming on. i want to thank all of the

ceo's for the innovation you are bringing to san francisco. my next visit is going to be in the bayview. there is great hope in the city. high-school kids are wondering what their futures will be like. maybe they see blockages, lack of income, less opportunity. when i have the opportunity to talk with them, i will say there are jobs at twitter, and new companies, stay the course. get your education. be dedicated. we will be there to deliver the jobs for you. the technology companies are here to stay. this will be our future.

someone suggested this might be another bubble. i do not think so. people are interested in forming long-term relationships with the city. they are looking for talent. they are not only starting here, they are growing and staying here because the talent keeps coming. i will do my part to and still -- instill hope in youth. you will do your part by starting, growing, and stayed.

>> from our new headquarters building. the sfpuc is used to doing things. we build and maintain dams, treatment plants, transmission lines, water and sewer mains. at the same time, our staff has always been in rented headquarters. we thought it was time to own that, too. this is the time and place, 525 golden gate. this is a milestone in the project for building. in about 30 years, we will have paid off the building, and then

it will be free to our ratepayers. it makes sense for them and also makes sense for green purposes. this will be one of the most sustainable buildings anywhere around. it is going to generate power and also used 55% less power than and regular building. ed will send off more non- potable water for more uses in the area. it will be a wonderful thing to live around and be involved in. we are celebrating this topping off. we have done some research. topping off ceremonies started back in roman times. people would have a ceremony when they finished building the roof of a house. as they finished, it was traditional to put an evergreen tree on the final game, signaling the finish of the infrastructure and construction.

that is what we're doing today. you will notice of a lot of signatures on a banner that was attached to them being, because we have a lot of excited employees who could not be here today. hopefully, all of you have a chance to sign that beam and see that evergreen tree that symbolizes the sustainability of our building and the good fortune of having completed the building. the first person i want to introduce is a person who has been involved in this building probably longer than any of us. at one time, this was not even going to be a pc building. dpw was going to do a lot of things for the city. back then, as director of dpw, mr. lee was responsible for doing that. now as mayor, he gets to sign the top off.

[applause] >> thank you and good morning to this topping off. when ever you get three eds and an andy to gather you are going to have fun. i want to thank the pc for its leadership. they are leading the way in this building and in so many other things. -- the puc for its leadership. they have a tremendous amount of jobs on the street right now keeping the city alive, moving forward with labor unions. i want to thank webcor, dpw, department of the environment, working together under the puc commission to make this building come together. i just signed my name on that last iron been going up. i wanted to make sure that i was recognized at this moment because it was one of the few times that a former public works director can actually have

permission to do graffiti. but it is for a good cause. i know it represents so much of a great energy that has been poured in. it is lede platinum. that is a standard for the future. it is one of the few buildings we will see in our immediate lifetime -- but to get it started on this -- and to have it contribute to a sustainable area called the civic center, to have this corner of our civic center be an example and model, i want to congratulate everyone who has been associated with making this happen. i know public works people have been working closely with staff at the puc, department of environment making sure that everything from energy use to the water is at a high standard. it is my pleasure to be here.

we are so enthusiastic about this being the new standard and also a great building that our employees will be proud to work in. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you, mayor lee. our puc commissioners are the ones that actually make the decision about this building. all of them are here with us. the president of the department. [applause] >> thank you. it is an honor to be here for this topping ceremony. i want to thank my fellow commissioners who are here and also it knowledge a former commissioner, f.x. crowley, who was formally on the commission, who has helped.

this will be one of the greatest municipal buildings in the country, if not the greatest. i have to refer to my notes because some of these stats are pretty incredible. this building will design 55% less energy than most office buildings anywhere. that is one-third less energy than most buildings consume. over the next seven to five years, it will save an estimated $180 million in energy costs. that is a lot of money that will be saved by our ratepayers. we also talked about the reclaimed water. all of the sewage will be treated on site, as well as the gray water. that means all of the demand for the low flow toilets and your girls -- urinals will be met, and over 700,000 gallons of water will be saved annually. it will also save an additional

900,000 gallons that we are using at the sustainability district. it is a significant water savings that we need to pursue throughout the city. i also want to thank the mayor for his leadership on this. beginning in his early dpw days. dpw, p u c, department of environment staff, everyone who has worked so hard on this -- i remember, it must have been 12 years now when we were first identifying different pilot projects through the city that could be brain model the. this was one of the building that they identified. -- green modeled. it is so rewarding to see this be realized as one of the greatest buildings in the country. thank you for coming and we look forward to moving in next year. -- greenest buildings in the country. >> other members of the

commission, andy moran, art kane is here, various members of the puc, the general manager for water, power, waste water, business services, and juliet ellis, external affairs. one of our stars is shelly campbell, our product manager. thank you. [applause] we're also joined by the department of the environment had. -- hea. d. we are going to wait for the fire trucks to go by. this started with the dpw project and we are a client now representing the dpw is ed riskin. >> thank you.

as the general manager and commission president referred to, dpw has been with this project for over a decade it has really become a labor of love for the department. it is an extraordinarily complex building project, unlike our typical library or fire station that we work on. and it is not because of the exceedingly high environmental performance, but exceedingly high seismic performance, business continuity performance. this will be one of the most advanced office buildings in the country. it is really a great partnership that we have working with the puc to make this happen, but also with our private sector partners, kmd stevens, webcor and their construction team. it has been a collaborative effort. we are proud of the fact that we

are not only getting this great building built that will serve the city for generations to come, but in doing it, we are putting a lot of local businesses and residents to work in the process. it is really a win win. i want to commend the general manager and commission for their bitter ship and foresight in seeing after this project had been stalled for many years, seeing this was a great investment for the repairs and people of san francisco. it was the smart thing to do. we are righproud to be part of . i want to thank the work of the rest of the pc team to get this done. starting with a man who is living and breathing this, has been for years, our project manager brooke. [applause] he is working closely with edgar

lopez, who manages all of our major projects, but was here pretty much from day one. they are being supported by our city engineers and the rest of the department coming together to deliver a great project to the ratepayers of san francisco. we're so happy to be a part of this. congratulations to the puc on getting to this point, the topping off ceremony. [applause] >> as the owners, we are certainly willing to move in, but we are not building the building. representing the builders is andy of webcor. [applause] >> it is great to be here. most people do not realize this building almost did not happen. i was at a green building conference and i ran into mayor

gavin newsom. he said, we are not going to build that building. we cannot afford to. i said, mayor, you cannot afford not to. this building will be an example of what all cities should build. with the energy savings that were mentioned, this building will be like no others. when the city starts to operate, they will say, why did we not do this before? it is a wonderful thing for the environment, the city, a wonderful thing for us being chosen as a builder. i am wearing a hard hat because i am a contractor, that is what we do. i want to thank my team. they are doing a wonderful job. [applause] recognize that this is not an easy building. it is a innovative and complex structure. the first time it has been done here.

there is a very sophisticated mechanical system. we have some great consultants here. it is always a pleasure to work with a team at the department of public works. you are wonderful to be with. edgar, we have done this before. brooke, you as well. ed harrington, when he came into this position, he said this building would be too much. we brought it down to $140 million, kept it as lede platinum. everyone on this team is absolutely first class. it is a pleasure partner with the city. we are in good hands with mayor lee.