With the completion of the $30 million dollar high school building, 12 parking spots designated for fuel-efficient and low emission vehicles (LEV) line the front of Building 10. The “green” parking spots are one of the features of the building’s aim for Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) certification, a rating system for “green” buildings.
“[The parking spots] are designed to provide preferential parking for fuel efficient vehicles,” Viridian sustainability consultant April Ambrose said, “to reward or encourage people to drive those vehicles.”
Does your car qualify?
To qualify to park in the fuel efficient/LEV parking spots, a vehicle must have a green score of 40 points or higher. The green score is based on the vehicle’s gas mileage and emissions standards. To see if a vehicle has a qualifying green score, click here for a list of vehicles that may park in the fuel-efficient/LEV parking spots . The vehicles on the list range in year models from 1998 to 2012. For example, a 2012 Chevrolet Cruze with 26 mpg in the city and 38 mpg on the highway and an emissions standard in Bin 4 has a green score of 46. Some SUVs like the 2011 GMC Terrain, Hyundai Tucson and Jeep Compass qualify for the fuel-efficient/LEV parking.
Enforcement
Principal Jay Pickering said administrators have ignored the parking policy during the first months of school because of the obstacles involved with moving into a new high school.
“It was not high on the priority list as a new high school,” Pickering said, “but as we move forward, that is definitely something we will tackle.
Pickering and the assistant principals plan to monitor the parking spots leniently throughout the year.
“We will be able to monitor that with our students in the morning, but common sense has to come into play. There will be days when enforcement of LEED certification parking spots will have to go out the window,” Pickering said. “It’s all about common sense and helping out kids. By no means would I have an assistant principal or myself, on a day when we have storms coming in, say ‘you have to park all the way down by 4th street.’ We are going to use those spots effectively and use them for what they’re designed for.”
LEED certification
Ambrose works for Viridian, a third party consultant to the Bryant School District during the construction of the high school and Hill Farm Elementary. Ambrose and her team did not design or construct the building; they verify that the architect and construction company build the facility to meet LEED certification by including elements like fuel-efficient parking.
“We are verifying [the building] meets the owner’s requirements,” Ambrose said. “We are the owner’s bulldog.”
The purpose of LEED certification, according to Ambrose, is for marketing, to be able to label the building as LEED certified.
“If you don’t get certified, it’s like going through high school without getting a diploma,” Ambrose said.
Ambrose and her team expect the school to receive a silver certification. In LEED certification, schools can receive silver, gold or platinum level certification.
“We attempted gold,” Ambrose said, “but budget cuts held us back. “We are hoping to achieve silver.”
According to Ambrose, the results of the LEED certification should be available in the spring.
