Proud to be involved in regenerative youth campus living buildings in @yellowstonePF! More:https://t.co/ZsQhrNPfbm pic.twitter.com/6VMsXGZMwj
— Toyota USA (@Toyota) August 25, 2016
The Living Building Challenge Certification is one of the highest standards for environmentally-friendly construction. To be certified as a Living Building, the project must generate more electricity than it uses, through non-combustion methods. It must use only materials low in noxious volatile organic compounds (VOC), and it cannot use any hazardous materials, like lead, mercury, or chlorofluorocarbons.
Air quality must be assured, using exhaust systems, natural ventilation, and even creating a cleaning plan that utilizes only environmentally-safe cleaning products.
The new Yellowstone Youth Campus, which will be home to several of the park's residential programs for students, will be powered by a photovoltaic array, collect its own water, and treat its own waste-water on site. It hopes to be the first building in a national park to earn Living Building Challenge Certification.
To help Yellowstone achieve this goal, and help the conservationists of tomorrow thrive, Toyota is donating $1 million toward the youth campus project.
This will be the third green building project Toyota has helped Yellowstone National Park with. In 2010, Toyota helped the park earn LEED certification on its new Old Faithful Visitor Education Center, and in 2015, it helped the Lamar Buffalo Ranch with a self-sufficient solar power system, which stores excess energy in recycled Camry Hybrid batteries.
Learn more about Toyota's environmental initiatives at Shore Toyota, and pay us a visit to test drive green new vehicles in Mays Landing.
