Today the state will present its top environmental honor, the Environmental Excellence Award, to South Puget Sound Community College (SPSCC) for re-using the last of its remaining portable buildings and keeping tons of demolition debris out of the landfill.
Besides the environmental benefits of the move, the college saved thousands of dollars in demolition and disposal costs, and a small private school found a low-cost alternative for expansion.
“This is a terrific example of how we can eliminate waste by keeping our buildings in use until they no longer serve our needs,” said award presenter, Dick Wallace, director of the Department of Ecology’s Southwest Regional Office in Lacey. “South Puget Sound College is a leader in showing that building re-use saves money, helps the environment and serves community needs.”
The state Department of General Administration assisted the college through a program that can surplus used buildings and find willing buyers. In this case, the buyer was small, private Sunrise Beach School, located near Griffin School in Thurston County.
Sunrise Beach School paid the state a scant $250 for the buildings and paid a contractor $56,000 to prepare and move the buildings, saving hundreds of thousands of dollars compared to new construction costs. As another bonus, the college saved more than $40,000 in demolition and disposal fees in getting rid of the buildings.
The college’s portables, previously known as Building 23, had included faculty offices and lounges, an art studio, classrooms and restrooms.
Sunrise Beach School will re-use them to provide five classrooms, a pre-school, a rock and mineral museum, and a library. The building units are currently staged on Sunrise Beach School’s 15-acre parcel next to Griffin School in Olympia, scheduled for use by September 2006.
The Ecology Department gives the Environmental Excellence Award infrequently to individuals, businesses or organizations that have shown leadership, innovation or extraordinary service in protecting, improving or cleaning up the environment.
