The nation's first certifiably green gasoline station sports a futuristic metal canopy covered in shiny triangles of uncoated, recyclable stainless steel.
The rooftop holds 90 solar panels and a collection system that gathers rainfall to irrigate drought-tolerant plants nearby. The underside is outfitted with low-energy lighting. Cars will roll across concrete mixed with bits of recycled glass.
At a time when oil companies are feeling the heat from lawmakers and motorists worried about global warming and high fuel prices, British oil giant BP plans to open Friday what it calls "a little better gas station" -- albeit one that will sell the same hydrocarbon-based fuels blamed for worsening air pollution and climate change.
Dubbed Helios House by BP, the eco-friendly station at the corner of Robertson and Olympic boulevards replaces a slightly run-down Thrifty station that served customers from Los Angeles and nearby Beverly Hills. The new gas station was built with cutting-edge earth-friendly design, using such materials as farmed wood and less-polluting paint, and its customers will be pushed to save energy.
"The whole site is really a lab," said Ann Hand, senior vice president for global marketing and innovation at BP, once known as British Petroleum. "Everything we have on this site is about reuse. My hope is that people will see that they can do little things ... to move up to a greener lifestyle."
Members of the station's "green team" will check the tire pressure on customers' cars and advise that properly inflated tires boost gas mileage. They will give out energy-saving tips, printed on recycled paper embedded with flower seeds that sprout when the card is planted in the ground.
While its customers pump gas -- a three-minute task, on average -- BP will show eco-vignettes and green videos on screens built into the fuel dispensers. The oil company is considering adding biodiesel and alternative fuels to the site, as well as selling carbon offsets to customers who want to make up for their fuel use, Hand said.
"This is just the starting point," Hand said. "Day 1 is not the final product." BP will encourage operators of its Arco and Thrifty branded stations to adopt some of the green practices showcased at Helios House, Hand said.
BP declined to disclose how much it cost to build Helios House, although Hand said the price was in line with conventional construction. "We will not be charging consumers more than what's normal for this market," she said.
