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KCTS 9 Awarded Kresge Grant for Sustainable Renovation and Addition
11.05.2009 Mithun, In The News
Early conceptual rendering of KCTS 9’s LEED-EB (Existing Building) Platinum renovation and potential Living Building Challenge addition, showing proximity to Gates Foundation Headquarters, Seattle Center and downtown. The station’s roof, shown at the lower left, may become a “solar meadow,” with photovoltaic panels and a food garden. An addition on the northeast corner of the site would add up to 10,000 square feet.
KCTS 9, the largest nonprofit public television station in the Pacific Northwest, was one of only seven organizations to receive The Kresge Foundation's Green Building Initiative (GBI) planning grant from among 114 applicants nationwide. In making the award, The Kresge Foundation stated, "We were impressed by [KCTS 9's] plans and commitment to developing an environmentally sustainable facility." (source: KCTS.org press release)
Funds from this grant will allow KCTS 9 to plan a high-performing LEED building through necessary renovations to its 23-year-old facility. The grant will also enable the station to explore a Living Building Challenge addition to its current facility. Mithun provided pro-bono design work and grant writing assistance. The DJC has picked up the story and interviewed several Mithunees involved in the project:
David Walsh, senior associate at Mithun, said there are three major components the team is considering: a LEED for existing buildings platinum renovation, a green roof and a Living Building addition.
The existing building needs a lot of work, such as mechanical and electrical system upgrades, infrastructure upgrades, and passive technologies like daylighting and natural cooling zones. Walsh said the energy and water savings will allow KCTS to focus more on its mission. [...] "It's a great opportunity for them to reduce their utility costs and really be able to direct their hard earned budget into more core of their mission, i.e. programming. In many ways, it's conservation as a form of fund-raising."
[...]
Brendan Connolly, associate principal at Mithun, said the project is exciting because of the LEED-EB platinum goal.
"There's so much that requires help and improvement and greater work," he said. "The opportunity here is to create a real and very relevant focus on improvement to existing buildings."
Read the full article, KCTS wants new station to be model for nonprofits by Katie Zemtseff on DJC.com (subscription required).
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