Santa Barbara (CA) Municipal Airport Rental Car Facility Scores LEED Gold

The new $7.8 million consolidated rental car facility (CONRAC) at Santa Barbara (CA) Municipal Airport, designed by PGAL, has earned a LEED Gold certification from the US Green Building Council.

The 10,000 s.f. building occupies a 3.6-acre site one mile from the terminal and accommodates four rental car companies. They share a 2-vehicle car wash bay, an 8-vehicle fueling station and a 300-space parking lot. Original plans aspired to a LEED Silver rating, but a series of sustainable elements, including a solar photovoltaic system, boosted the project to LEED Gold.

“The facility is completely self-sustaining, in terms of energy use,” notes PGAL Principal Jeff Weiner, AIA. “It basically draws no power from the power grid.”

PGAL’s other completed CONRAC projects include the $185 million CONRAC facility at Sky Harbor International Airport, Phoenix, AZ, and the $235 million facility at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta, GA.

PGAL is a national design firm providing architecture, engineering, planning, interior architecture, program management and technology planning services for public and private sector clients. Founded in Houston in 1946, the firm has over 180 employees in ten offices: Atlanta, Alexandria, Austin, Boca Raton, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Mexico City, Mexico. PGAL has earned over 175 design awards. Its project specializations include aviation, civic, corporate/commercial, education, federal buildings, financial, healthcare, judicial/public safety, military, parking/transportation, residential and retail.