[CPEO-BIF] Buel Elementary School project, McMinnville, Oregon

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Community Loses a Notorious Brownfield and Gains a New, LEED-certified 
(Gold) School

Brownfields Update for the Pacific Northwest
January 2010

A project in Oregon shows the value of thorough environmental assessment 
and consistent site planning when redeveloping a Brownfields site. It 
also illustrates how unknowns and the unexpected can affect the cost. 
Despite these obstacles and complications, the Sue Buel Elementary 
School project in McMinnville is considered to be a significant success, 
thanks to the dedication of the McMinnville School District to 
environmental stewardship and sustainable design.

One of the goals in $62 million bond levy approved by McMinnville voters 
in 2006 was to replace an aging 79-year old school with one that is 
energy-efficient, and sustainably designed. The result is the Sue Buel 
Elementary School, the first Oregon school to achieve LEED for Schools 
gold status and only the sixth in the nation.  Every aspect of the 
school was designed to meet sustainability goals. From the mechanical 
systems to the lighting to the landscape watering system, the school 
boasts sophisticated, state-of-the-art sustainable design features.

The project's involvement with Brownfields was due to an adjacent 
1.5-acre property now part of the school grounds that was an abandoned 
asphalt production facility. The property had been abandoned since the 
mid-1990s and was littered with dilapidated structures, old vehicles and 
the equipment remnants of the asphalt plant.

...

release, see
http://www.nwbrownfields-update.com/2010/01/community-loses-a-notorious-brownfield-and-gains-a-new-leed-certified-gold-school/

--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org



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