Under Sustainable Site Credit 4.3, Alternative Fuel Vehicles, we would like to request a credit because a high percentage of the large vehicle fleet, which is maintained at the Police Fleet Warehouse, has been converted to Bio-diesel fuel rather than being powered by either regular diesel or gasoline. Because bio-diesel is a cleaner burning fuel made from natural, renewable resources, and because the bio-diesel fleet will be maintained at the Tacoma Police / Fleet Warehouse, we believe that this qualifies the Police Fleet Warehouse for an Alternative Fuel Credit.
Supplying fleet vehicles with biodiesel fuel is an acceptable approach for achieving the intent of this credit. To create a credit equivalency path usable by all projects, the ruling committee has agreed upon the following requirements: 1) The minimum blend concentration allowed is B20 (20% biodiesel, 80% regular diesel). This is based on a precedent set by the Federal Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 1992. B20 is the most available blend. Make certain that the fuel meets quality standards and that special considerations are made if using B100 (e.g. effects of cold weather; use non-rubber seals). 2) The number of vehicles running full-time on B20 biodiesel must equal at least 15% of the total number of the building\'s occupants/employees. If fuel blends greater than B20 are used, proportionally less vehicles are required to be fueled by biodiesel. For instance, the threshold reduces to 3% if B100 (100% biodiesel) is used. The preferred parking requirement may be waived if the project can demonstrate that the number of alternative fuel vehicles equals at least 25% of the parking capacity. Parties interested in learning more about biodiesel should visit http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/altfuel/biodiesel.html.