GOWANUS — The Brooklyn Center for the Urban Environment (BCUE) finally has a home of its very own. After 10 years in Prospect Park’s Picnic House and 20 years in the Tennis House, the 30-year-old environmental organization will hold an official grand opening on Saturday for its new LEED-certified headquarters at 168 Seventh St.

“It is a great opportunity to re-introduce ourselves to the community,� said Sandi Franklin, executive director of the center. “We’re working hard to become a one-stop shop for a public increasingly eager for information about sustainable practices.�

BCUE now occupies 18,000 square feet of space on two floors of a brick building that was originally a doll factory between Second and Third avenues in industrial Gowanus. They share the address with the Brooklyn Artists Gym and a new Mac Support Store.

Saturday’s attendees will be able to take a tour of the new facility. “Green� features of the building include low VOC-emitting paints, glues and sealants; counter tops made of recycled material; woods from rapidly renewable materials; reclaimed floor (uncovering original wood floor, rather than disposing of it); optimized energy performance HVAC (heating/cooling), lighting, equipment and appliances (Energy Star rated, etc.); zoned lighting and thermal systems to reduce energy use; water use reduction through dual flush toilets and motion sensor faucets; Bike storage; Heat island reduction; photovoltaic solar panels to offset power use (yet to be determined how big or how much power will be offset).

Saturday’s opening will be far more than a ribbon cutting for the renovated facility. BCUE has planned a celebration that includes live music from the band Astrograss; workshops on such diverse topics as green model building, invertebrates and puppet theater; a tour of the Gowanus neighborhood; and a viewing of the film “Twilight Becomes Night� accompanied by a talk with the film’s maker, Virginie-Alvine Perrette. The diversity of activities at the opening, “highlights the scope of our work,� says Aisha Glover, director of Public Affairs for BCUE. “We truly understand that ‘greening’ the city is not the purview of one sector over another, but the result of all groups working together,� she said.

BCUE creates programming for more than 300 public schools in New York City to promote the understanding of healthy and sustainable practices in an urban environment. In the past five years, their public programming has grown 200 percent. The center tries to “work closely with the public to anticipate their needs and remain on the cutting edge of the emergent green movement,� said Franklin. BCUE also organizes an annual Green Brooklyn Conference with Brooklyn Borough Hall, and this year launched the Sustainable Business Network with Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE).

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