From the Mountain View Patch: The Mountain View (Calif.) recently dedicated its Fire Station No. 5, a 9,500-square-foot facility that will house Engine 5, Hazmat 5 and the department's reserve truck. It has dorms, a living area, office space and a small gym. It will replace the modular buildings the firefighters had used since 1999 when the project was originally approved.

The city's first LEED Silver building, the station complies with various federal water and energy conservation measures. Solar panels on the roof will heat the building's water and even the paint meets green building standards.

One of the other significant innovations at the station include the doors. Instead of the traditional garage doors, these doors fan open and close within six seconds. And in the event of en earthquake, the doors can be manually opened.