Have no idea what you are looking at? I'll give you a couple of clues. It's made of recycled glass and crushed waste. It uses solar energy and has a green roof. There is a cell phone recycling facility on the premises. The toilet seats are made of post-industrial aluminum scrap (Insert ‘going to the can joke’ here). Still can't figure it out? One more clue: It is a great place to fill up your Hummer.
Recently opened in LA at the corner of Olympic and Robertson, this BP gas station flaunts green practices like low wattage overhead lighting, LEDs on the pumps and signs, and light sensing automatic switches. The green roof decreases the need for AC and water filters in the drains protect the ocean from oil or gasoline. Overall, the station uses 16% less energy than the typical station.
The design is, according to their website, "a little better" for the environment. "It's a start."
So when is BP rolling out more environmentally friendly stations? Not any time soon. A second is being considered but there are no plans to plant Helio seedlings in place of BP's 14,000 other service stations.
Think of it more as a "living laboratory” than a prototype.
Apparently the assumption that a gasoline company can't go green is a faulty one. BP's does use alternative energy sources like wind and solar, and their website features a carbon footprint calculator on the home page. The environmental effort doesn't seem disingenuous, but I'd like to see more... like 50% less energy use and many, many more Helios-type facilities. "It's a start," as they say. I just hope they green 2/14,000 stations soon.
[photo:bp]
