William Hermann
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 23, 2007 12:38 PM

Valley Metro driver John W. Blake gazed around at the comfortable, glistening, spacious drivers’ lounge in the brand new East Valley Bus Operations & Maintenance Facility in Tempe and had just one word to say.

“Awesome!”

The $46.8 million center, which is owned and operated by Tempe and Scottsdale along with the regional transit agency Valley Metro, opened Monday.

Buses that serve Tempe, Scottsdale and parts of Phoenix will be parked, serviced, gassed and washed at the 24-acre facility on Rio Salado Parkway west of Priest Drive.

Federal funds covered 50 percent of the costs for the new site. The other half came from the Proposition 400 Public Transit Fund, as well as from Tempe and Scottsdale.

Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman and Scottsdale Vice Mayor Wayne Ecton were also awestruck by the new center, and particularly by its environmentally-friendly construction and operation.

The new site includes drought-resistant native landscaping, fabric shade canopies, a separator to filter storm water run-off, alternate fuels for buses, evaporative cooling, double-pane/low-emissive glazing glass, decomposed granite parking lot surfaces and recycled content in all carpet, tile, millwork and ceiling finishes.

Ecton said that in the center, “we can see an example for homebuilders, businesses and government,” to follow.

Hallman said the site was part of ongoing efforts “to make Tempe environmentally sustainable.”

Robert Yabes, Tempe’s construction project manager, and Ken J. Anderson, project architect with RNL Design, pointed out other “green” aspects of the center.

Anderson said the huge bus maintenance bays - there is 74,400 square feet of maintenance space - are well lit during the day even when the lights are off because of skylights that allow natural light into the building.

Anderson also noted that while buses are washed every other day, they are washed with reclaimed water so that even counting evaporation and drip run-off, 80% of the water is recaptured and used again.

Yabes said that 150 vehicles are stored and serviced at the site now, but eventually 250 will be housed there. He said vehicles are stored under canopies so they remain cooler and less energy is used to cool them off at the beginning of the day.

Anderson said evaporative cooling is used throughout the facility to save energy and money, and an under-floor air distribution system reduces energy usage by up to 47 percent.

Anderson said that the buses are fueled by liquefied natural gas and compressed natural gas.

He said that on some days the emissions coming out of the buses using these fuels “will be cleaner than the air outside.”