Grand Rapids' transit system,
The Rapid, has once again received national recognition for its environmental conscience in new building construction. This week, The Rapid received the
U.S. Green Building Council's second-highest certification, LEED Gold, for the renovation and expansion of its operations center (333 Wealthy St. SW).
The LEED award is the organization's second LEED achievement. Rapid Central Station qualified for LEED certification in 2006, the first transit station in the nation to receive the designation.
The expansion doubled the size of the former operations center, bringing it to some 280,000 square feet, which houses the dispatch center, a training center, and storage and maintenance for over 150 buses.
Notable environmental features of the building include a bus wash water reclamation system that saves nearly nine million gallons of water per year; a 40,000-square-foot green roof; increased day light, natural light, and natural ventilation; radiant floor heating in the garage; and high-speed garage doors.
"Grand Rapids has all these sustainability initiatives and has been designated as a sustainable city by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and that adds more status to the city," says The Rapid CEO Peter Varga. "I think it raises the national profile of us as a city. For The Rapid, our conservation of water and electricity, the resistance of our green roof to degradation because it will last three times as long as a standard roof -- for us, there's a balance that's worthwhile because the upfront costs always get repaid over time."
Besides the LEED achievement, the financial numbers are also impressive. The project, which received $10.7 million in federal stimulus money and $17 million in federal transportation funding, was projected to cost $32.4 million, yet came in $1 million under budget.
Source: Peter Varga, The Rapids
Writer: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News Editor
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