Green Garage eh?

As you might be thinking, isn’t this oxymoronic? It is a parking garage that is considered “green”. Dennis Moore Ruble Yudell architects and other planners constructed the garage, which is on its way to being the first LEED certified parking structure in the USA. Currently in Santa Monica, the Civic Center parking structure (that’s its name) provides 900 parking spaces, 14 of which are specified to electrical vehicles. There are a total of 6 levels of above ground and one and a half levels below ground. There is free bicycle storage, which encourages alternate means of transportation. The garage has a solar panel that is arranged to provide all the of the buildings energy needs. It is not only energy efficient, it also contains a sustainable storm drain water treatment system, recycled construction materials, energy efficient mechanical systems and more. The Glass Association of North America also awarded the firm a design award based on the use of laminated glass panels. This really something, it is definitely a remarkable innovation to the use of cars, since garages are always a littering place, nothing good ever comes from it. They have managed to make this place somewhere fun to park your car and it is as they say “green”. I wouldn’t mind heading down the Santa Monica to see the view while parking by car in one of the best garages in the world (for now).