The following article appeared in Passenger Transport on April 17, 2015.

Foothill Gold Line Unveils Sustainability Features – Passenger Transport

The Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority recently highlighted the sustainability features built into the 24-acre Gold Line Operations Campus in Monrovia, CA. The facility is part of the six-station, 11.5-mile Foothill Gold Line project, currently under construction, that will extend light rail from Pasadena east to Asuza, housing up to 84 light rail vehicles.

The authority designed and built the $265 million campus to meet the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Gold standards.

“The Gold Line Operations Campus is one of the only facilities of its kind to meet the [LEED] Gold standard,” said authority Chief Executive Officer Habib F. Balian. “Our goal was to reduce consumption of natural resources, reduce pollution and provide a healthy work environment for the future staff that will work at the campus. I believe we have achieved that goal.”

The facility’s 714-panel on-site solar power array will generate 22,000 kilowatt-hours per month—enough electricity to meet one-third of power needs of the 132,000-square-foot main shop building. If not immediately used on-site, the electricity generated by the solar panel array will be made available to the local electric grid.

Water conservation measures will include high-efficiency fixtures and infrared sensor faucets to help achieve a 35 percent water reduction level, smart sprinkler technology and a variety of drought-tolerant plants to cut landscape water consumption in half. A specialized stormwater management system will capture 100 percent of stormwater, which then will be treated and infiltrated into the groundwater aquifers.