The Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department brand new $4.1-million Fire Station No. 4 -- lean and "green" -- was set to be unveiled late this afternoon.
The new station, near Bernal and Valley avenues, is the city's first green building and includes environmentally-friendly features such xeriscape, a landscaping technique that uses a minimum amount of water and fertilizer. Solar panels are expected to generate between a quarter to a third of the station's power needs.
The site also will include vegetative swales -- ditches -- that will collect and filter storm water that runs off the new facility. In this system, pollutants are collected in the ditches and cleaner rain water is taken in by the ground.
The city approved its green building ordinance in 2002 that requires new civic and many new commercial projects to incorporate certain green building measures. The ordinance makes use of the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system to make sure buildings reach certain criteria such as energy efficiency, the use of recycled building materials in construction and specific interior finishes.
The new 7,600-square-foot station sits on 3.5 acres on the city-owned Bernal property and is set to replace the old Fire Station 4 on Railroad Avenue. The decision to switch stations was due to a "small" response time gap in service to the new Valley Trails neighborhood, on the Bernal land. With the new station, that gap should be eliminated.
Staffing levels will stay the same at station compared to its predecessor on Railroad Avenue, with four firefighters, one structure fire engine and one brush fire engine.