BP’s gifts will help keep new park green Energy company will provide funds for 2 solar panels
By Mike Snyder, Houston Chronicle
Source: Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5130602.html
BP America is donating $1 million and a solar-powered buggy to help Discovery Green, the $80 million park scheduled to open next year in downtown Houston, achieve energy efficiency. The energy company’s gift, to be formally announced today, will pay for two solar panels that will be mounted on the park’s administrative office building and a restaurant, said Guy Hagstette, the park’s director. These panels and other non-polluting energy sources will provide at least 35 percent of the park’s electricity, Hagstette said.
The solar power is one of the features that the Discovery Green Conservancy, the nonprofit overseeing the park’s development, hopes to use to attain Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification (LEED), Hagstette said. The park also expects to earn points toward the LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for its location in a dense urban center close to public transportation, efficient use of water, recycling of construction materials and other efforts to conserve energy and protect the environment, a statement by the conservancy said.
The LEED distinction is viewed as a high honor in environmental circles. The solar vehicle being donated will be used along with several electric-powered golf carts for maintenance and transportation within the 12-acre park just west of the George R. Brown Convention Center, Hagstette said.
BP America’s gift is the second-largest monetary donation to the park, Hagstette said. Anheuser-Busch donated $1.5 million, and philanthropist Dan Duncan is donating a Jean Dubuffet sculpture valued at more than $1 million. The sculpture will be moved from outside the 1100 Louisiana building to a plaza within the park. The city contributed land for the park, but most of the funds for its development are coming from private donors.
Discovery Green, named in a public contest last year, will include an outdoor amphitheater, a large pond with an area for operating model boats, a putting green and two restaurants, among other attractions. Hagstette said persistent rains this summer have caused some delays in construction, but the park is still expected to open in January or February of next year.