A team of South Puget Sound companies, including Mountain Construction of Tacoma and Helix Design Group of Fife, were recently awarded the National Design-Build Award in the under $5 million project category for the Washington PUD Association (WPUDA) building in Olympia.

The WPUDA building, the first in Washington to be certified LEED Platinum by the U.S. Green Building Council, was also one of three finalists for the Best Overall Award from the Design-Build Institute of America at their convention in Las Vegas Nov. 3.

Mountain Construction was the design-build contractor for the project, and Helix Design Group the architect. Other members of the team are Sitts & Hill Engineers (Tacoma), Sunset Air (Lacey), Electric Systems (Tacoma), and Tacoma Plumbing and Heating (Tacoma).

Earlier this year, the Associated General Contractors of Washington selected the project for the 2008 Construction Excellence Award in the Green Building category. The team has also been recognized by McGraw-Hill’s NW Construction Magazine as the Best of 2008 winner in the design-build category. That award will be presented in December.

The Washington PUD Association is the trade association of Washington’s 27 Public Utility Districts, serving approximately 1.7 million customers across the state.