Success Stories
Dona Spring Animal Shelter: A Healthy Landscape for People, Pets and Wildlife
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Dona Spring Animal Shelter, Berkeley - Bay-Friendly Rated in 2013 -
Landscaped bike trail at the Dona Spring Animal Shelter. Photo: Sarah Sutton. -
A rain garden captures rainwater runoff from the pavement, allowing it to sink into the soil. Photo: Sarah Sutton. -
Dona Spring Animal Shelter, Berkeley - Bay-Friendly Rated in 2013
The Dona Spring Municipal Animal Shelter, a beautiful new facility at the north end of Berkeley's Aquatic Park, replaces a well-worn shelter built in the 1950s. Named in honor Dona Spring, a former Berkeley Councilmember and longtime advocate for animal welfare, the new shelter is highly visible from the freeway and more accessible to visitors and volunteers. The two-story building has many improved features, including state-of-the-art animal adoption rooms for dogs and cats, a medical suite for on-site spay and neutering, expanded facilities for animal health care, fenced-in play areas, indoor-outdoor kennels, and more.
LANDSCAPE HIGHLIGHTS
- Rain gardens, grass pavers in the parking area and a green roof slow the flow of rainwater, allowing it to sink into the soil and recharge the aquifer rather than running off into stormdrains
- The green roof also helps insulate the building and provides habitat for birds, insects and other beneficial wildlife
- Shielded exterior lights reduce light pollution to the sky
- Fencing covered with vines provides green screening
RESULTS
- 144,000 gallons of irrigation water saved annually compared to a conventional landscape
- 52% of landscape construction and demolition debris recycled
- 16 tons of local, recycled compost used
- 31 tons of recycled mulch used
- 95% of new plants are low water species
- Bay-Friendly landscape practices reduced greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 8 to 17 tons CO2E
PROJECT DETAILS
- Project owner/developer: City of Berkeley
- Landscape architect: Placeworks
- Landscape contractor: Broward Builders, Inc.
- Location: 1 Bolivar Drive, Berkeley, CA
- Project area: 1.15 acres
- Landscape accessible to the public? Yes
Bay-Friendly Rated Landscape score: 116
Year rated: 2013
Bay-Friendly Rater: Cynthia Greenberg, Placeworks