Santa Monica has 1st LEED certified parking garage
You're probably wondering whether the term 'green parking garage' is a helpless oxymoron, since it accommodates the carbon spewing vehicles that we love to hate. Regardless, there is such a structure and, unsurprisingly, it's located in California. The recently completed Santa Monica Civic Center Parking Garage is the first ever LEED certified parking structure. No joke, this parking garage is impressively green. Its roof-level parking is actually shaded by an large array of solar panels and the bulk of its building materials are recycled, including the glass. Other features like an in house water treatment facility helps protect the local watershed by capturing the garage's oily runoff before it can escape. It also provides 14 spaces for electric vehicles, complete with an outlet for recharging.
I understand that symbolically it's not the greenest type of structure around, but overall I think it's a good thing. Like it or not, we're still going to be driving vehicles of one kind or another for a long time. What do you think?
[via Inhabitat]
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