Fire Station Goes for Gold

GILBERT, Ariz. — The city of Gilbert may have its first LEED certified building with Fire Station 10. The recently opened station is aiming to achieve LEED Gold, making the 60-point requirement by eight additional points.

"The level for minimum number for gold is 60," said general contractor Ray DelZotto, H2 Group construction manager. "So, we think we’ve got a pretty good cushion there and we’re comfortable right now that we will achieve that certification, which exceeds the original goal."

Originally intended to make LEED Silver, the station offers natural light, low water landscaping, motion-sensor lighting, solar energy and Energy Star appliances. The solar panels are expected to reduce the stations utility costs by 40 percent and double as shaded parking covers.

The city was awarded almost $3 million in federal stimulus funds to build the 10,000-square-foot station, with additional expenses for design and construction management paid for by system-development fees.

The fire department is committed to operating the station at its highest standards and plans to establish a baseline set of data that can be used by the city, according to Division Chief Wes Kamp.

"As we near the end of process and begin to work with commissioning, we have also commissioned a measurement-verification process and what we’ve decided as an organization, if we’re going to go to this level and lead the charge on a facility such as this, we really need to continue through that as we continue to operate and not just build and say we did it," said Kamp. "We’re going to measure ourselves over the next year and we’re going to see how well we did."