2025 California Green Building Awards
Merit in Water
The LAX/Metro Transit Center (MTC), located in an industrial zone prone to the urban heat island effect, redefines sustainable transit infrastructure by connecting water, air, and equity. It highlights water’s essential role in linking resilience and climate adaptation, indoor air quality and health, and resource conservation. Beyond the traditional water conservation approaches, the project tackles existing ground water contamination and mitigates the effects of contaminated ground water in its liquid and vapor forms. An additional passive vapor venting system located beneath each building slab further improves indoor air quality.
Built on a remediated brownfield and existing plumes of contaminated groundwater, MTC integrates over 50,000 SF of California native and climate-adapted plantings. These plantings mitigate heat island effects, restore habitat, support pollinators, and reduce irrigation demand by 80% compared to the baseline. Stormwater capture and reuse, chiller water reuse, and connection to the local water utility’s recycled waterline, save over 80,000 gallons per month, eliminating potable water use for irrigation. Stormwater filters through planted gravel swales, hydrodynamic separators, and five cisterns before being reused for irrigation. An active soil vapor extraction system scrubber purifies existing contaminated ground water and improves local, indoor, outdoor, air and ground water quality.