The King County Housing Authority (KCHA) has installed an electric-vehicle charging station at its administrative offices in Tukwila, Wash. The Level 2 (220-volt), one-car station is located near the Housing Authority’s Section 8 parking lot at 700 Andover Park West. It is operated by ECOtality, the largest EV charging network in the state, and is part of the Blink network.

The King County Housing Authority has a broad range of sustainability initiatives underway, ranging from energy use reduction through the weatherization of existing buildings, energy-efficient new construction, and solar electric generation to recycling and waste stream reduction, safe disposal of toxic materials, and surface water filtration. Water usage by the Authority has been reduced by 40 percent since 2004.

As part of KCHA’s overall plan, this station will help the agency achieve its green fleet goals and comply with requirements mandated by state law to begin purchasing electric, plug-in electric, and/or alternative fuel vehicles to replace aging vehicles in its fleet.

Gasoline and diesel vehicles are a huge source of greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for 31.4 percent of the state’s total greenhouse gas emissions and 26 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2010, the Authority said. Electric cars, as well as plug-in hybrids operating in all-electric mode, emit no harmful tailpipe pollutants.

As of December 2012, 4,588 electric cars and trucks were registered in Washington state, about half of which are registered in King County, according the state Department of Licensing. It is expected that more than 100,000 plug-in electric cars will be sold in the U.S. this year.

The station was funded through a grant from the Washington State Department of Enterprise Services under a federal stimulus grant made possible by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

ECOtality is the project manager of The EV Project and will oversee the installation of 15,000 commercial and residential charging stations in 16 cities and major metropolitan areas in six states and the District of Columbia. The project will provide EV infrastructure to support the deployment of 8,300 EVs.