Kent's New ShoWare Performance Center Gets it right with LEED Certification and "Green" Parking!

Every once in a while somebody really gets it right.

Thursday, I had the opportunity to go check out the new "ShoWare Center" for the 38 Special, REO Speedwagon, Styx Concert. The 'ShoWare' is the new Events Center in Kent (about 18 miles South of Seattle). It was built by the City with anchor tenant the Seattle Thunderbirds Hockey Club - but is also available for other events including concerts, family shows, professional and exhibition sports, trade shows, and community gatherings.

The City of Kent not only built a beautiful building, they also hold the distinction of being the first sports & entertainment arena to achieve SILVER certification for Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design by the US Green Building Council.

But it doesn't stop there. No only do they have FREE PARKING (when was the last time you didn't have to shell out $10 to $20 bucks to park at a concert - sheeze), but what really blew me away was this - FREE PREFERRED PARKING FOR FUEL EFFICIENT VEHICLES! Yep, hybrids, alternative fuel vehicles and carpools park right up front in one of "90 parking stalls in ShoWare Center's west lot for drivers of low-emission/fuel-efficient vehicles and/or carpools of four or more. Parking attendants and signage is in place to direct qualifying vehicles to the designated parking stalls."

As far as I know, this is the first venue to offer free preferred parking to fuel efficient vehicles. The closest thing I think I've ever seen to this is in Vancouver, Canada, where they have small on-street parking "half spots" in preferred locations just big enough for a Smart Car, Mini or motorcycle.

Think of the ramifications if all government venues or even private employers starting offering this!

Would it stimulate YOU to go get a more fuel efficient vehicle if you knew there was a FREE parking space waiting for you right up front?

1,000 Web Sites to Visit Before You Die.

By now you've no doubt seen various incarnations of the '1,000 Best' books. Thought I'd throw in my own version for those looking for environmental information. The Editors at the World Environmental Organization have located and catagorized 1,000 of what they call "the most useful environment related web sites". They are arranged into several categories, each containing 100 web sites. link here. Maybe they should have titled it "1,000 web sites to keep us ALL alive...."

Get A $20 Bike Shop Gift Card for Riding Your Bike to Work.

A Lynnwood, Washington bike shop is offering a $20 gift card to anyone that rides their bike for 20 days via an alternate means of transportation- biking, walking or public transit. All Seattle-area business, non-profit and government workplaces are eligible to participate. Seattle-area residents and workplaces who are interested in being part of the program can learn more by downloading a flier here.

Gas for $1.80 Per Gallon In Seattle????

Well, sort of. Compressed Natural Gas, that is.

Okay, I know this is a bit "niche" and I'll admit that I don't know how many CNG vehicles are currently running around the street of Seattle. That being said, even a casual reader of my blog knows what a HUGE fan I am of alternative fuels. Bottom line, we HAVE to get off of our "oil addiction" if this planet is going to survive for our children- so I am in favor af anything and everything that has even a promise of moving us in that direction. And hey, gas at $1.80 a gallon in a Honda Civic is pretty darn attractive.

Here's the story from Environmental Protection:

PetroCard, a fuels distributor, and Waste Management announced on May 1 the grand opening of a "Clean N' Green Fuel" compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station in South Seattle, the first public-access CNG facility in the city. For businesses and consumers with CNG-compatible vehicles, the facility offers a readily available and affordable fuel. The station sells CNG at prices typically one-third below gasoline and diesel.

There are currently more than 120,000 CNG vehicles in the United States and more than 8 million worldwide. Locally, several municipalities, airport shuttles and taxis run fleet vehicles on CNG including vehicles from the King County Government fleet and STITA airport taxis. The Honda Civic GX is currently the only consumer CNG vehicle on the American car market, however many standard engines can be converted to use CNG.

CNG is sold in gasoline gallon equivalents (GGEs), with each GGE having the same energy content as a gallon of gasoline. Vehicles using CNG typically have similar or better fuel economy ratings than standard gasoline or diesel vehicles, and today CNG is approximately one-third lower in price. Current pricing at the station is in the range of $1.70-$1.80/GGE.

CNG produces 17-80 percent less nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, 25 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions, and provides up to 85 percent reduction in toxic soot associated with conventional diesel engines.

PetroCard, based in Kent, Wash., sells fuel to commercial fleets through a chain of unattended cardlocks and provides mobile fueling services. Today the company has 66 cardlocks – 27 sites in the greater Seattle area, 3 sites in Spokane, Wash., and 36 sites in Oregon.

Seattle Makes List of Car.Com's Greenest US Cities. Barely....

This from the greencarwebsite.co.uk.

Mirror, mirror on the wall - which is the greenest city of all?

That is the question posed by Car.com’s second annual Green Cities Index which shows which areas have the most interest in hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles. The index ranks cities across the USA by evaluating the number of hybrid searches as a percentage of overall car searches in each market and then ranking them.

Eight of the top 10 cities on the list can be found in just three states - Oregon, California and Washington - as the Pacific North West continues to show the greatest eco-conscious.

Eugene in Oregon finished at the top of the list ahead of its Oregon neighbor Portland and Santa Barbara in California. Meanwhile, it is cities in the south that are lagging behind with seven of the bottom 10 cities coming from Mississippi, Texas or Louisiana - Laredo in Texas finished at the bottom of the list.

Another interesting note is that in addition to the West Coast cities, it is often cities with colleges that rank high on the list. In among the top 15 cities are several smaller cities with large state universities such as Charlottesville, VA and Gainesville, FL.

Here is the top 10 in full:

1. Eugene, Oregon.

2. Portland, Oregon.

3. Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-San Luis Obispo, California.

4. Monterey-Salinas, California.

5. San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, California.

6. Charlottesville, Virginia.

7. Medford-Klamath Falls, Oregon.

8. Chico-Redding, California.

9. Juneau, Alaska

10. Seattle-Tacoma, Washington.