Southern California Park Earns LEED Silver

Virginia Avenue Park in Santa Monica, California, recently earned a Silver rating in the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED^® for New Construction rating system, becoming the first park in North America to achieve LEED certification. The park, which opened in November 2005, was designed by Koning Eizenberg Architecture in Santa Monica and Spurlock Poirier Landscape Architects in San Diego. Designed for sustainability, the park features energy- and water-efficient systems, stations for recharging alternative-fuel vehicles, and a parking area, paved with durable turf, that doubles as a play area.