Shoreline Transfer and Recycling Station named project of the year

Published 12:23 pm Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Add another high-profile honor to the Shoreline Transfer and Recycling Station’s impressive list of accolades.

The King County facility, which re-opened in February 2008 following a two-year-long, ground-up redevelopment and features numerous environmentally sustainable attributes, this month was selected as a Public Works Project of the Year for 2009 by the American Public Works Association (AWPA).

The award will be presented by the Washington state chapter of AWPA to the King County Solid Waste Division on May 19 at the 2009 Public Works Week Luncheon in Bellevue. The Solid Waste Division will also be recognized at the APWA’s annual Awards Recognition Ceremony in conjunction with the 2009 International Public Works Congress and Exposition in Columbus, Ohio later this year.

The Public Works Projects of the Year award honors excellence in management and administration efforts of public works projects. The awards recognize the alliances between managing agencies and the innovative minds that engineer, design and oversee the construction of these projects.

“We are extremely proud of the Shoreline Recycling and Transfer Station, and we look forward to emulating this success with future redevelopment plans for our other facilities,” Kevin Kiernan, director of the King County Solid Waste Division said.

In 2008, the U.S. Green Building Council awarded the Shoreline station with its highest designation – the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) platinum certification. There are only 60 projects in the United States and 65 projects worldwide with a LEED platinum certification, and Shoreline is the only transfer station to achieve the highest rating.

The facility was also honored in an international competition from the Seattle Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. The group awarded the facility with an “Honorable Mention” designation in its “What Makes it Green? Regional Top Ten Green Awards.”

Last year, the facility earned the Northwest Construction Consumer Council’s “Grand Award – Project of the Year” and the “Green Project of the Year” awards.

King County’s Solid Waste Division operates the Shoreline Recycling and Transfer Station, and also operates nine other transfer facilities throughout the county, including the Cedar Hills Regional Landfill in Maple Valley. The division offers a wide range of recycling and solid waste services to residents and businesses and works in partnership with cities and other stakeholders to protect health, safety and the environment.