U.S. Green Building Council Honors RTC

March 5, 2015

The U.S. Green Building Council is honoring the Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County for its commitment to the environment and sustainability.  The RTC was selected to receive the USGBC Nevada Community Organization Award.

“Through our peer review process we determined that your ‘above and beyond’ efforts are demonstrative of persistent hard work, sincerity and dedication to green building and sustainability in the community,” Lee Harris, a USGBC Nevada board member, stated.

“We are honored to be the recipient of this award.  Creating safe and healthy communities is a guiding principle at the RTC.  Our projects reduce traffic congestion and fewer idling vehicles reduces pollution.  Additionally, we perform corrective maintenance on roads using recycled materials – and these are just a few of our many efforts,” RTC Executive Director Lee Gibson said.  “The RTC is also proud to have put buses on the roads that produce no emissions and are unique in the state of Nevada,” Gibson added.

USGBC cited the RTC’s commitment to reduce emissions using alternative fuels for its transit services.  There are 16 diesel-electric hybrid buses in the fleet and four fully electric, zero emissions buses.  The RTC plans to acquire four more electric buses as part of a project to enhance public transit on 4th Street and Prater Way.

Moreover, as part of an ongoing commitment to the environment and safety, the largest project in the RTC’s history will feature numerous environmental benefits.  Construction of the SouthEast Connector project will create a new 80 acre wetland complex and more than 600 new trees will be planted.  The project will also remove 22-thousand pounds of historic mercury from exposure to the environment by permanently sequestering the soil with the highest concentration of mercury under the new roadway.  The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection stated the plan is “protective of human health and the environment.”  The RTC expects when the project is completed, it will be a national model for sustainable roadway design.