Greener Steps for Gas Stations

BP Helios House: A Little Greener, A Little Better

As consumers step toward to environmentally-friendly and less fuel consuming vehicles, filling stations are going green from their architectural design to the alternative fuels.

BP with its effort to do a little better for the environment than a typical station, built a unique gas station in Los Angeles, California. Called the Helios House, this station was built by “upcycling” an old, not-so-green gas station. The new design incorporates a lot of unusual features that reduce its environmental impact and allows more sustainable way of operation.  It produces energy via photovoltaics, captures rainwater for irrigation, and reduces urban heat island effect with a drought-tolerant green roof. Recyclable, recycled, sustainable and non-toxic materials were used to build this station, including even the reuse of scrap materials from the construction job itself.

Architecturally its green features made it eligible for LEED Gold rating but it still not as green as might be possible with today’s technology as it still dispenses old-fashioned gasoline.

Last year, Sequential Biofuels opened the first all-biofuel and biofuel blend fueling station in the Pacific Northwest.  Innovative and sustainable design elements were incorporated into the design of the station, including passive solar architecture, a living roof and a 33.6 kW solar array canopy.

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