I am very excited to post my 1st firehouse that was submited by using the submit a firehouse link.

My hope is that more fire departments that have green fire stations will submit their green fire station information, so other fire deparments that are considering building green will have a place to gather information.

Roanoke Green Station 3

A special thanks to Lt.  Rhett Fleitz ( Fire Critic) for this submission.

Roanoke Fire Department

Mission/Vision

This Department exists to protect and preserve the lives and property of residents and visitors of the City of Roanoke from damage or loss due to fire, medical emergencies, environmental hazards and traumatic accidents.

Responsibility

Roanoke Fire-EMS is a full-service fire and emergency medical service agency providing basic and advanced pre-hospital life support, fire prevention and education programs, fire suppression services, arson detection, vehicle extrication, and heavy tactical rescue. We also support a regional hazardous materials team. In addition to housing firefighting and EMS personnel and apparatus, fire-EMS stations are neighborhood resources. Fire-EMS personnel at these sites help distribute important city documents, teach children about fire safety, and provide a safe place for lost children and adults. Six of our stations are official polling places for all city elections.

Station Mascot

Station 3 :

Fire-EMS Station #3 is located at 4803 Williamson Rd..

It houses the Engine and Ambulance previously stationed at the Airport Fire Station. This is a great opportunity to bring emergency vehicles into the community.

Roanoke Fire-EMS has another reason to be proud of this building. It is the City’s first “Green” building. No, we’re not
talking about the color – this will be the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) building in the City of Roanoke, meaning it will be more environmentally friendly. The LEED process gives the Engineering Department a way to measure payback and real value.

The benefits of constructing a “LEED” building are

The building will use resources like energy, water, materials and land more efficiently than a building simply built“to code”. An improved living environment will improve the health, comfort and productivity of those that workin the building. The City will save money by reducing operations and maintenance costs, and by lowering utility bills. Energy and water efficient buildings can reduce operating costs to less than half those of a traditional building. Improved indoor environments can increase employee productivity by up to 16%! And most importantly, to set an example for the community.

Setting an example for the community is very important to the City of Roanoke. With concerns over global warming, state and
federal pressure to cut air pollution and the alarming rise of asthma and allergies in children, we have to increase the competitiveness in quality of life indicators.
By being the first LEED Building built by the City of Roanoke, the Fire-EMS Department is “leading” the way in the education process about the benefits of being environmentally friendly. To schedule a tour, please call the Public Education Office at (540)853-5785.
Link with a great video about this station.

http://www.roanokeva.gov/85256a8d0062af37/vwContentByKey/N27EVHF5438TBRYEN

Station 3 LEED Gold Certification
Roanoke,VA — The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has recognized the city’s new Williamson Road Fire Station with “gold” LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. This certification was achieved as the result of the facility scoring 39 credits (or points), which are defined and rewarded by the USGBC. To qualify as a basic LEED facility, the project must achieve 26 credits. LEED “silver” certification is achieved at 33 points. “It is a great accomplishment to have the city’s first LEED-certified facility earn the ‘gold’ status for new construction,” says City Manager Darlene Burcham. “This is an excellent demonstration of Roanoke’s strong commitment to
environmental stewardship.” The facility’s new features have the potential toreduce operating and maintenance costs to less than half those of a traditionalbuilding. The sustainable or “green” components in the fire station include:

• A Rainwater Harvesting Tank and System—a 10,000-gallon tank buried on site that collects rainwater run-off form the fire station. Thiscollected water is pumped from the tank to water the landscaping, flush toilets, and wash the trucks—greatly reducing the use of potable water. The system piping is not connected in any way to the building potable water system.
• A Bio-Retention Pond—an area of the property populated with native plants that provides a “Rain Garden” to collect storm water run-off. The purpose of the pond is to reduce the amount of water flowing directly into the storm drain system and filter impurities from the run-off through layers of subgrade material before it eventually reaches the storm drain.
• Shower fixtures that reduce water consumption.
• Pervious Concrete Pavement— used in lieu of traditional concrete pavement to allow for surface water run-off to “seep” or filterthrough the pervious concrete. This too reduces the amount of water flowing directly into the storm drain system and filters impurities from the run-off through layers of subgrade material before it eventually reaches the storm drain.
• Motion Detector Light Switches—these devices use sensors to turn light fixtures on and off depending on whether a room is occupied orvacant, and reduce the amount of electricity used.
• Spray Foam Insulation—used in lieu of traditional batt insulation to provide a more air-tight interior attic space, restricting theamount of cold and hot air entering the building, and thus reducing heating and cooling costs. The spray foam also provides additional noise reduction from operating HVAC units.
• Walk-off Floor Mats—these mats are provided at each doorway to reduce the amount of pollutants that enter into the core of the building.They are replaced with clean mats on a weekly basis by a service company.

Points were also earned for the city’s method for disposing of debris such as cardboard, glass, metals, and masonry. These materials were recycled as much as possible utilizing the city’s Solid Waste Management services and local recycling companies. In addition, the city earned points for procuring the majority of the building materials from vendors within 500 miles of the project site who produce their materials locally, thus reducing energy use and resources required to ship and obtain these products. “The building will use resources like energy, water, materials and land more efficiently than a building simply built ‘to code,’” says Roanoke Fire-EMS Chief David Hoback. “And an improved living environment will enhance the health, comfort, and productivity of those that work in the building.”

Pictures:
Pictures are by Rhett Fleitz with the exception of the graphic about the rainwater system. That one is from the City of Roanoke.

rain-water-harvest-system

The-pump-and-filters-for-the-rainwater-non-potable-water-system

wash-our-trucks-with-non-potable-water

Sensor Light Switch

Additional links:

http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/148307

http://www.rainwatermanagement.com/CS_Institutional.htm

http://www.heapy.com/portfolio/leed–sustainability-services/180-roanoke-fire-station-.html

http://www.roanokeciviccenter.com/85256A8D0062AF37/CurrentBaseLink/N2794MD4108JCOTEN

http://www.roanokeva.gov/85256A8D0062AF37/vwContentByKey/AF347B332DDF0FD48525786F00475321/$File/Ken_Cronin.pdf