Additional 'Green' Initiatives

When we began the process of building new fire stations, we had our architect/engineers include 'green' design elements in all four stations, including items such as rain gardens; minimized paving and building footprint; building material with recycled material content; natural lighting requirements; high efficiency HVAC units; and high efficiency lighting and occupancy sensors.

As we move through the building process and saw that the budget allowed for a certain amount of flexibility, additional energy efficient systems have been considered and for the most part added to our plans. Previously we authorized amendments to the plans to include solar domestic hot water systems. Earlier this week, we authorized design work and a test well for a Geothermal HVAC system at Station #3. The advantages of such a system are numerous, including reducing our annual energy consumption, reducing our carbon footprint, and guarding against operational cost increases in the way of increasing energy costs.

We were also the recipients of a Pervious Concrete Demonstration Project Grant of $40,000. "The Pervious Concrete Demonstration Project will address environmental water quality issues in the region and provide a model for other communities to follow. It will result in improved water quality within the Ottawa River watershed. The combined resources of [USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service] and [Sylvania Township] will result in enhancing the protection of land and water resources in the basis." Grant proceeds will be used to install a pervious concrete parking lot in Station #3 (and thus reduce our costs for the parking lot) and monitor the quality of water runoff (in conjunction with the University of Toledo) for several years.