When Sonoma Mountain Village, a northern California new

When Sonoma Mountain Village, a northern California new urban community for 5,000 residents, begins construction in 2009, its developers intend to outfit it with an unusual array of energy- and water-saving techniques. Codding Enterprises says the 200-acre development, on the site of a former office campus in Rohnert Park, will have roof-mounted solar collectors to provide hot water; passive solar designs for most residential heating; a community-wide grid of geothermal heat pumps for backup heating; and photovoltaic panels on the roofs of all the commercial and some of the residential buildings to produce electricity. “Cisterns throughout the project will collect and treat rain to be used for irrigating the landscape during the nine-month dry season,” The Washington Post reported May 3. Codding, in concert with BioRegional Development Group, foresees 1,900 housing units of varying types in Sonoma Mountain Village, along with a 10-block town square area containing 50 stores and small businesses.