In 2007 Ben Franklin Transit was the recipient of the coveted Governors Award for Pollution Prevention and Sustainable Practices. This same environmental awareness was paramount in the design and sustainability criteria established for our base modernization program that was started in August of 2009. The US Green Building Council prescribes an approach called the LEED (Leadership in Engineering and Environmental Design) Rating System to evaluate the performance of building designs and compares that against industry accepted energy efficient standards. This rating system provides designers the opportunity to objectively demonstrate the performance of their sustainable design efforts. The goal of our project(s) was to achieve a LEED Silver Certification or beyond. By attaining this standard, our facilities will have achieved the prescribed benchmarks in efficiency and comfort. Some of the highlights of the six (6) areas of consideration are shown below:

• Our new facility uses a buried drip irrigation system for both lawn and decorative plants. This system reduces water usage by putting water below the surface which also eliminates wind blown loss.
• The use of light reflecting roofing decreases the absorption of heat further reducing our cooling needs.
• In the remodeled building we created a ceiling height and design that allowed us to retain original glass blocks used in the initial construction to be used as a natural light source adding to the openness of our newly created common area. 
• During construction The United States Department of Energy used our new building as a model in their production of a compact disc evaluating commercial buildings as it relates to energy codes and energy efficiency.

It was the goal of Ben Franklin Transit to produce buildings that will promote future green building efforts by show- casing sustainable building concepts, materials and methods that will aid in achieving this goal while reflecting our commitment to continued environmental stewardship.