Architects, designers, builders and even preservationists are creating a fascinating green scene right here in America. These sites range from simple to complex, from industrial to fashionable and chic. They all share a “waste-not, want-not” respect for our precious energy resources.

Take the High Line in New York City, for instance. Once an abandoned section of an elevated railroad, the High Line will soon make its debut as an elevated park or greenway, similar to the Promenade Plantée in Paris. The 1.45-mile stretch of elevated track ran between 34th Street near the Javits Convention Center and Gansevoort Street in the West Village. In 2003, neighborhood residents Robert Hammond and Joshua David set out to make use of the property. One year later, New York City committed $50 million to establish the proposed park. High Line Park is on schedule to open this spring. The resurrected High Line isn’t high tech or particularly revolutionary, but it is greenway with a view, somewhat of a luxury in the city. Sculpted concrete walkways are surrounded by meadow grasses and wild flowers, an oasis in the concrete jungle.

There’s a completely different type of park in our nation’s capitol. Nationals Park is the nation's first major professional stadium to earn certification from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) organization. Nationals Park is located in southeast Washington, DC, south of the Capitol, along the fast-developing Capitol Riverfront adjacent to the Navy Yard. The new park not only redefines modern sports facility architecture, it also serves as the catalyst and cornerstone of a new mixed-use Capitol Riverfront in D.C. The project incorporates a variety of environmentally sustainable design elements, but one feature really stands out. More than half the crowd at a ball game can walk straight off the street to their seats without ever climbing elevators, escalators, ramps or stairs because the field is 24 feet below street level and the main concourse is at the same height as the sidewalk. The ballpark serves as an anchor for urban revitalization of the area including a new mixed-use entertainment zone.

Fresh green thinking takes on new meaning in Greensburg, Kansas, home of the University of Kansas and site of a tornado touchdown that nearly destroyed the entire town. In 2008, the K.U. Arts Center was the first public facility completed after the disaster. In addition to its LEED Platinum certification, the building is serving as an inspiration for the residents of Greensburg who are determined to rebuild their city using the latest in sustainable technology. Called the Sustainable Prototype, the Arts Center is the result of collaboration between Studio 804 at the University of Kansas and the 5.4.7 Arts Center in Greensburg, Kansas. The facility is the first LEED Platinum structure in the U.S. designed and built by students. The building is a modular prefab design that reduces waste and minimizes site impact. It also combines many active energy systems including photovoltaics, geothermal and wind turbines. The systems are expected to be able to provide for 80 to 120 percent of the building’s energy needs, depending on the season and wind speed.

As Monty Python might say, “And now for something completely different!” We direct your attention to the Santa Monica Civic Center Parking Structure, which sits near the entrance and exit ramps at the end of the 10 Freeway. Yes, a parking garage is making the green scene. The six-story, 882-space structure features photovoltaic roof panels, a storm drain water treatment system, recycled construction materials and energy efficient mechanical systems. Ground-floor retail stores, art works on every floor and sweeping city and ocean views have made the “green” garage a destination in its own right. The 290,000-square-foot-garage is the nation’s first LEED-certified parking structure.

Next, we travel up the Pacific Coast Highway to Cavallo Point to the Lodge at the Golden Gate, San Francisco Bay's first and newly opened National Park lodge. The 142-room hotel may have one of the most enviable settings around. Located on the Marin County side of the Golden Gate Bridge near Sausalito, it lies in a waterfront, forested glen totaling 45 acres in the shadow of one of the bridge's soaring towers. Cavallo Point occupies the former site of Fort Baker, an army post built at the turn of the 20th century in the Marin headlands. Today, the newly refurbished officers’ quarters uses unisolar panels, blue jean cotton insulation, bamboo and recycled woods. The entire property is a statement of sustainable luxury and green living, and it is the home of the Institute at the Golden Gate, an environmental program of the National Parks Conservancy.

Nearby in Golden Gate Park, the California Academy of Sciences is one of the 10 largest museums of natural history in the world and one of the oldest in the United States. The complex is the only place on the planet where you can explore an aquarium, planetarium and a natural history museum under one “living” roof. The Academy's buildings were damaged significantly in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. So severe was the damage that the Academy decided to rebuild and set out to make the new facility one of the most ecologically advanced museums in the world.

The Academy's primary buildings in Golden Gate Park reopened on September 27, 2008 carrying the coveted LEED Platinum certification. Among the Academy’s most notable features is the “Living Roof,” a 2.5-acre biotic expanse with seven grassy domes creating a roof-scape of rolling hills and valleys that echoes San Francisco's topography and its seven predominant hills. The steepest peaks carpet the academy's domed planetarium, rain forest and aquarium exhibits. Sixty thousand photovoltaic cells make the new building energy self-sufficient. Ninety percent of the occupied space uses natural lighting. Wall insulation consists of scraps of recycled Levis! That’s right, denim! It’s no wonder the Los Angeles Times refers to it as “world-class, unparalleled, greatest, biggest, most diverse, greenest and eco-grooviest. Able to leap tall buildings in a single rave, the new state-of-the-art and state-of-the-planet incarnation of the California Academy of Sciences is generating kilowatts of excitement and kudos.”

Welcome the green scene, Lexus faithful! The sustainable Lexus Lifestyle is rapidly becoming a way of life. Be sure to seek out the green scene in your region. You’ll be surprised at what’s happening out there.