The Oakland EcoBlock is piloting a new kind of integrated urban design: block-scale retrofits centered on local decarbonization.
The project, currently focused on one neighborhood block in East Oakland, intends to promote collective climate resilience and demonstrate the benefits of small-group retrofitting by transitioning existing residential and commercial properties to shared energy- and water- efficient technologies. So far, the EcoBlock team has established a first-of-its-kind urban community microgrid, formed a nonprofit association to co-own shared electrical equipment and installed a greywater system to recycle laundry water for irrigation, among other accomplishments.
Sherwood Design Engineers, the civil engineering firm leading the EcoBlock water team, recently reported on their progress on the project. They have installed a bioretention area that will intercept, treat and detain the block’s stormwater within the existing public right of way. The zone is designed to slow and reduce stormwater runoff that drains into the nearby creek in order to protect the water quality and minimize erosion and sedimentation.
Funded by a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant, the addition also includes space for sensors to implement a water monitoring system, which will routinely collect data and demonstrate the bioretention facility’s measurable positive impact on the community’s infrastructure and ecologies.
In addition, the latest episode of KQED housing podcast Sold Out, which featured EcoBlock in 2023, includes a check-in with the block’s residents.