The New Southwest / Sun Tran’s New LEED Certified Facility Drives Into Phase Three

Sun Tran’s New LEED Certified Facility Drives Into Phase Three

By Bonnie Lewis

Tucson Green Times – December 2009

The City of Tucson has completed Phase II of a new Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold bus storage and maintenance facility, located at 3920 North Sun Tran Boulevard.

In 2006, Mayor Bob Walkup and the City Council adopted LEED Silver standards for all new City-owned buildings and renovations over 5,000 square feet. SunTran’s Northwest Facility is the third City-owned facility to be completed under that ordinance, using the US Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED specifications for green building.  LEED is an internationally recognized green building certification system developed by the USGBC to focus on using less water, energy, and resources while creating less waste throughout the construction process.

“This new Northwest Facility will help operate Tucson’s transit system for 40 to 50 years into the future,” says Thomas Fisher, project manager of Tucson’s Department of Transportation and Transit Service Division.

Built with many energy-efficient features, this is a very impressive facility in design, function, and scale. Upon completion, the 25-acre facility, located near Prince Road and I-10, will include several buildings to maintain SunTran buses that run on B-20 bio-diesel. The Park Avenue facility could only operate and maintain 150 of the 230-bus fleet. The land was purchased in 1997 after a facilities needs assessment and alternative site analysis was conducted.

Phase I of the project, building the SunTran Boulevard and the Fueling Facility, was completed in October 2005.  The second phase saw the completion of the Operations/Maintenance building last month. This 50,000-square-foot building houses 17 bus bays, including an articulated bus bay, two levels of computerized parts storage, a lower-level work area, extensive use of natural light, and a dispatch center.

The final Phase III, expected to be completed by mid-2011, will focus on constructing the Maintenance and Administration buildings.  The Maintenance building will include an expanded body shop, major component rebuild, fuel storage, and a bus wash bay. The Administration building will provide a regional center for transit operations.

“Upon completion, the center will have the capacity to operate and maintain a fleet of 250 buses,” Fisher says.

The goal was to build a facility with less impact on the environment and offer a comfortable workplace for employees.  As a result, the facility’s features include:

• 68kw solar power generation
• Reclaimed water for irrigation and storm-water harvesting
• Construction waste recycling
• Low-flow plumbing (waterless urinals) and sensor faucets
• Natural lighting
• Roofing materials designed to help reduce interior and exterior temperature and energy costs
• Parking for low emission/fuel efficient vehicles and bicycle lockers for employees
• Building materials with post-industrial recycled content
• Furnishings and flooring featuring low volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions for improved indoor air quality

The Northwest Transit Center is a result of a $4 million 1994 General Obligation bond approved by City voters and $8 million funded by the Federal Transportation Administration. The $32 million to complete the second phase was funded by the Regional Transit Authority and Federal Transit Administration. The final phase will be funded with $16 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus funds.

Author: Bonnie Lewis is a local freelance writer.