The Mix Master
Paul Hemming, 33. Owner, the Zen Compound.
posted March 18, 2008 5:35PM
If the green movement is a vision of fresh air and sunshine, the nightlife business is more strobe lights and thumping bass. Combine the two, and you’re starting to get the idea behind the Zen Compound, Paul Hemming’s 20,000-square-foot, eco-conscious entertainment facility in SoMa, which opened less than a year ago and includes Prana restaurant and the nightclub Temple. Some 85 percent of the complex’s waste is diverted from the landfill, kitchen grease becomes biofuel, drinks are served in corn-based cups and a double-helix wind turbine is being installed on the roof. And, he hopes, there’s more to come. He envisions the Compound as the ultimate place “to incubate new [sustainable] technologies.” Director of sustainability Mike Zuckerman concedes that the forthcoming hydroelectric dance floor, which will light up from the energy of the people dancing on it, is more super-cool than world-changing. But the Compound intends to make people think. “We’re just one building,” he says. “But to engage people and inspire them—that’s equally important.”
WEB EXCLUSIVE
Frequenting Paul Hemming’s Zen Compound, which includes Temple (the nightclub) and Prana (the restaurant), is just one way to take your eco-conscious values to the party. Keep your vodka tonics local by drinking anything made with Hangar One —or go even further and make them local and organic by ordering up Square One.
At the end of the night? Call a cab—preferably a green one. In March, Mayor Gavin Newsom signed legislation that will help fulfill the city’s goal to have a 100 percent “green” taxi fleet by 2011. (Currently, only 15 percent of the city’s cabs are hybrid vehicles or run on compressed natural gas.) SF Green Cab (415-626-GREEN) is aiming to be the first one you call. Currently, the company operates only four hybrid cabs, but the more demand it has, the more impetus it’ll have to expand.
And if all fails—because catching the even the most environmentally unfriendly cab (the typical Ford Crown Victoria gets 12 miles per gallon!) can be impossible come club-closing witching hour—there’s always Muni, which might not be as swift, but as of April 2007 had 86 Daimler-Chrysler hybrid diesel-electric buses. Click here to read more about it.
WEB EXCLUSIVE
Frequenting Paul Hemming’s Zen Compound, which includes Temple (the nightclub) and Prana (the restaurant), is just one way to take your eco-conscious values to the party. Keep your vodka tonics local by drinking anything made with Hangar One —or go even further and make them local and organic by ordering up Square One.
At the end of the night? Call a cab—preferably a green one. In March, Mayor Gavin Newsom signed legislation that will help fulfill the city’s goal to have a 100 percent “green” taxi fleet by 2011. (Currently, only 15 percent of the city’s cabs are hybrid vehicles or run on compressed natural gas.) SF Green Cab (415-626-GREEN) is aiming to be the first one you call. Currently, the company operates only four hybrid cabs, but the more demand it has, the more impetus it’ll have to expand.
And if all fails—because catching the even the most environmentally unfriendly cab (the typical Ford Crown Victoria gets 12 miles per gallon!) can be impossible come club-closing witching hour—there’s always Muni, which might not be as swift, but as of April 2007 had 86 Daimler-Chrysler hybrid diesel-electric buses. Click here to read more about it.
