Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority Unveils Gold Standard for Sustainability at Nearly Complete Gold Line Operations Campus

MONROVIA, Calif., April 10, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As part of Earth Month, the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority today held a press conference to highlight the sustainability features built into the 24-acre Gold Line Operations Campus. The $265-million campus, located in the city of Monrovia, was designed and built to meet U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Gold standards, one of the highest levels available.

"The Gold Line Operations Campus is one of the only facilities of its kind to meet the Gold Standard," commented Habib F. Balian, CEO of the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority. "Our goal was to reduce consumption of natural resources, reduce pollution and provide a healthy work environment for the future staff that will work at the campus. I believe we have achieved that goal."

The Gold Line Operations Campus is an integral part of the six-station, 11.5-mile Foothill Gold Line light rail project from Pasadena to Azusa currently nearing completion. The full-service, state-of-the-art facility will house up to 84 light rail vehicles and nearly 200 employees over several shifts a day. Features built into the facility will reduce water and electricity consumption, as well as capture 100% of the rainfall from the site and infiltrate it into the groundwater aquifers below.  Here are highlights of the features announced today:

• On-Site Solar Power Array will Generate 22,000 Kilowatt Hours/Month: A 714-panel, 178.5-kilowatt solar panel array has been installed at the campus that will generate enough electricity to meet one-third of power needs of the 132,000 square foot Main Shop Building. If not immediately used on-site, the electricity generated by the solar panel array will be made available to the local electric grid.
• Smart Technology and Reclaimed Water will Reduce Fresh Water Consumption: Water-reduction measures in the Main Shop Building (such as high efficiency fixtures and infrared sensor faucets) were employed to help achieve a 35% water reduction level. Smart sprinkler technology, and planting of a variety of drought-tolerant plants, will reduce landscape water consumption at the campus by 50%. The large carwash facility, with average usage of 60,000 gallons of water a day, will use only recycled, reclaimed water.
• 100% of Stormwater will be Captured, Treated, and Infiltrated into the Groundwater Aquifers: To better capture stormwater, the Construction Authority has installed a specialized stormwater management system at the Gold Line Operations Campus designed to capture the first ¾-inch (112,000 gallons) of a 100-year storm event. The stormwater is captured through an extensive drainage system, treated, and then sent to large subterranean chambers built below the facility with open bottoms.
• Recycled Materials Make Up Nearly 50% of the Material Used on the Campus, and Materials were Locally Sourced to Reduce to Reduce Environmental Impacts of Long-distance Transport

"The Operations Campus provided us a unique opportunity to find ways to reduce water and energy usage, without significantly impacting the project schedule and budget," added Balian. "We believe our efforts here will become a model for other, similar facilities around the county and the nation."

Download an on-line media kit with materials including photo galleries of the installation of the above referenced features, sustainability and project fact sheets and more at:
www.foothillgoldline.org/news/media-resources/

About the Foothill Gold Line - The Foothill Gold Line is a nearly $2 billion, 12-station extension of the Metro Gold Line light rail system, being overseen by the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority, an independent transportation planning and construction agency created in 1998 by the California State Legislature. The project is planned in two segments – Pasadena to Azusa and Azusa to Montclair. The Pasadena to Azusa segment is fully funded by Los Angeles County's Measure R and is on budget and on schedule to be completed in September 2015 when it will be turned over to Metro for testing and pre-revenue service. Measure R is funding the majority of the cost associated with the advanced conceptual engineering and environmental work for the Azusa to Montclair segment (San Bernardino County will fund their portion of the work), which will be shovel ready in 2017. The Construction Authority is currently seeking $1 billion needed to construct the Azusa to Montclair segment.

SOURCE Foothill Gold Line