The Living Classroom sits on an old landfill.

Designers of San Francisco’s Living Classroom at Heron’s Head Park are attempting to create a show-and-tell learning experience.

Once completed, the 2,100- square-foot building and amphitheater will serve southeast San Francisco as an environmental learning and community center. Gaining its namesake from its green building features, the center includes a green roof and a rare inhouse wastewater treatment system called a “living machine.” Solar panels are expected to generate enough electricity to power the entire facility, and structural insulated paneling was selected to provide high thermal insulation.

Project manager Laurie Schoeman of nonprofit Literacy for Environmental Justice says the classroom brings renewable power and energy-efficient technologies to a neighborhood that needs it most.

“You can design a green building in Berkeley and that’s great,” Schoeman says. “But when you bring designs where people need it the most — cutting down gas bills where people really need it — that can make a real difference.”

The Center for Environmental Literacy is pursuing a Silver rating from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. Schoeman says she expects the building to be completed by September 2007.