DPR Construction, Inc., a forward-thinking commercial contractor/construction manager, advances its efforts in environmentally friendly construction with the kickoff of The Evergreen State College's Seminar II building. With Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified green building projects continuing as a strong trend in the Northwest, DPR is working with The Evergreen State College and Mahlum Architects to achieve the college's goal of creating the first "Gold" LEED-certified building in the state of Washington. The more than 160,000-sq.-ft. building includes five "clusters" of classrooms, lecture halls and faculty office space. The project also includes a support area for the clusters equipped with walkways and elevators and a Public Services Center and a Part-Time Studies building.

According to Michel George, The Evergreen State College's Director of Facilities, the goal to utilize sustainable building principles was established in the predesign study to provide energy conservation, create opportunities for the building to function as a learning tool, and further integrate ecology into the culture of the school.

"As an owner, The Evergreen State College is very environmentally sensitive and committed to creating a green campus. Achieving the Gold certification will require a high level of diligence on the part of all the team members," said Ken Schmidt, project engineer of DPR. "Lessons learned from previous LEED projects are being implemented at this site, allowing the team to improve upon past processes and set the higher standard."

Recently completing projects for Clackamas Community College's Wilsonville campus and the University of Oregon, DPR is also building a LEED-certified campus housing project for Lewis & Clark University in Portland. Totaling approximately 80,000-sq.-ft., the project recently received a Merit Award from Oregon OSHA's Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) for its outstanding workplace safety record that not only exceeded the program's requirements but also, according to the Oregon-OSHA VPP evaluation team, is well above the construction industry average.

According to Schmidt, in addition to a comprehensive, proactive safety program that focuses on eliminating accidents, DPR brings its extensive network of experience and knowledge gathered from other challenging projects. For example, information captured from the Lewis & Clark project provided the Evergreen team with a wealth of information on LEED certification prior to construction start.

"We're a knowledge-based builder that encourages collaboration and sharing of information," said Schmidt. "We take every opportunity to discuss various elements of the project, such as green building or safety, with the entire project team and beyond, to come up with new ideas and approaches for building better."

Joining DPR, The Evergreen State College and Mahlum Architects on the project team are structural engineer, Martens/Chans Inc; mechanical engineer, Wood/Harbinger; electrical engineer, Sparling Inc.; civil engineer, SVR Design; and landscape architect, Murase Associates. The project is scheduled for completion in November 2003.

A local builder with global capabilities, DPR Construction, Inc., has been "building great things" in Seattle since 1994, including such projects as a Class A office building for Hughes Northwest, the West Wing Addition and Support Services for Good Samaritan Community Healthcare, new corporate headquarters for Onyx Software, a process development facility for Immunex Corporation, and corporate headquarters for WatchGuard Technologies.

Specializing in technically demanding projects in biotech/pharmaceutical, healthcare, corporate/speculative office, education, entertainment, digital media, mission critical (data/telecom), and warehouse and distribution industries, DPR has been recognized for its unique collaborative approach in both local and national markets for motivating and retaining employees and customer relationship management. DPR's Seattle office is located at 157 Yesler Way, Second Floor, Seattle, Wash., and can be reached by phone at 206.292.4800 or by email at [email protected], or on the Web at http://www.dprinc.com.