Green tech startups Silicon Valley

Despite all the creativity that flows from Silicon Valley, America’s tech capital hasn’t been famed for its iconic architecture. Startups are never sure enough of their future to sink millions into a structure that could outlast the company. Enterprises born in dorm rooms or garages typically graduate to nondescript office rentals in San Francisco or Palo Alto or take up residence in cookie-cutter, single- or two-story buildings in industrial parks around San Jose. As the late Steve Jobs remarked in 2011, “Buildings in office parks get boring pretty fast.”

It seems (AAPL) design-obsessed co-founder may have another enduring legacy besides the trendsetting gadgets his company produces. Since Jobs presented plans for new headquarters shaped like a giant spaceship to the Cupertino City Council two years ago, several other cash-flush tech companies, including (FB), (GOOG), Samsung Electronics, and (NVDA), have released blueprints for monumental new campuses. Although each appears to be its own unique architectural wonder—not surprising considering the high-wattage talent tapped for these projects—they all share an eco-consciousness that could become the most distinctive feature of this new West Coast aesthetic. “In the past, it was pretty easy for companies to throw some solar panels on the roof, ” says Doug Woods, co-founder of DPR Construction, a company that’s working on the Apple and Google projects. He won’t divulge details of clients’ plans but says “some of the companies around here are looking to become a darker green.”

While none of the projects has broken ground, this green push is clear from documents filed with city authorities and interviews with people familiar with the plans. Apple wants to install enough solar panels and fuel cells to make its new Norman Foster-designed headquarters in Cupertino entirely energy-independent. At Facebook, which commissioned Frank Gehry to create a western extension to its existing Menlo Park campus, employees will be able to escape to a parklike roof complete with mature oak trees. Google, which is working with architects NBBJ, will restore 8 acres of wetlands at a 42-acre property in Mountain View and is considering installing an expensive system to recycle its own sewage, according to four people familiar with the plans who don’t want to be identified because the plans are private. The companies referred Bloomberg Businessweek to public documents.