2005 NPS Environmental Achievement Awards

Since 2002, the National Park Service (NPS) has awarded Environmental Achievement (EA) Awards to recognize staff and partners in the area of environmental preservation, protection and stewardship.

Winners

Chris Case, Facility Manager

Park Site: Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

Chris Case, Facility Manager at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (PIRO), has been a leader in educating and encouraging others in the NPS and elsewhere to adopt Environmental Leadership (EL) principles. Mr. Case has made it a personal and professional goal to promote PIRO’s Bio-Fluids/Lubricants Substitution Program – now a component of the park’s Environmental Management System - as a venue to educate, advise, assist and encourage NPS units, government agencies, businesses, educational institutions, and individuals to institute EL programs of their own.

In 2004, Mr. Case took PIRO’s EL program “on the road” and showcased the Park’s comprehensive Bio-Fluids/Lubricants Program. In his presentation, Mr. Case provides the following examples:

• Vehicles using bio-based products display labels listing the products used;
• Exhibit panels describing PIRO’s EL Program are installed on campground and day use area bulletin boards;
• Mr. Case’s EL PowerPoint presentation slides are available on CD and are sent to all interested individuals;
• More than a dozen articles, interviews, and tape clips have been distributed throughout the country describing PIRO’s EL program; and
• PIRO’s “Sustainable is Attainable” web page is available to the general public at www.nps.gov/piro/sustain/index.html.

Mr. Case has also broadened the presentation to include a larger EL prospective that encourages audience members to look beyond bio-diesel substitution. Utilizing examples from the other five elements in PIRO’s EL program - Photovoltaics, Green Purchasing, Recycling, Reduced Toxins, and Environmental Practices – Mr. Case describes immediate steps that can be taken to develop new or enhance existing EL programs. Using this approach, Mr. Case is able to make audience members realize how simple it is to expand EL programs.

Chris Case’s dedication to helping parks as well as other government and business entities develop their own comprehensive EL programs is a model for facility managers throughout the NPS.

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Yellowstone National Park/Xanterra Parks & Resorts

Park Location: Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park teamed with Xanterra Parks & Resorts, the park’s largest concessioner for the environmentally sensitive design and construction of new concessioner employee housing. In 2004, the team completed construction of two new single-family housing units in Gardiner, Montana using the U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System.

Highlights of this innovative project include:

• The team chose a site at the old Yellowstone Park Service Station fuel transfer facility, to avoid building on prime farmland, land subject to flooding, land located near waterways or wetlands, land identified as habitat for threatened or endangered species, or undeveloped public parkland.
• The team chose to retain a maximum amount of undeveloped land (69% of the lot’s square footage) by constructing homes that are tall and narrow, rather than spread out over a large area. Thus, the team was able to promise neighbors and visitors that the majority of the lot would remain in a natural state.
• The site was landscaped with native, drought-resistant plants and grasses that stand up well in winter, yet remain attractive year-round.
• Windows were oriented toward the equator to maximize direct sunshine and capture the “free” heat in a thermal mass inside the houses (the concept of passive solar design).
• Rather than utilizing wood framing and fiberglass insulation, the team incorporated Integrated Concrete Form (ICF) walls and Structural Insulated Panel (SIP) rooftops.
• The team recycled or reused every feasible pound of construction waste and successfully diverted over 53 percent of the project’s waste from disposal.
• Each of the houses is equipped with a 1.2-kilowatt solar photovoltaic generation system.
• The team entered into a two-year contract with Renewable Choice Energy to ensure that 100 percent of the electricity for the new houses is purchased from renewable sources.
• Each house has energy-saving compact fluorescent bulbs or tubes, propane boilers, and water conserving fixtures.
• Materials were used and actions were taken during construction to ensure that high level of air quality during occupancy (i.e., use of low-VOC paints, venting of houses, etc.).

The process for designing and constructing these houses should serve as model for other NPS units.

Honorable Mention

Forever Resorts, Concessioner

Park Location: Big Bend National Park

Forever Resorts, a concessioner providing lodging, food and beverage, retail, gas station, and other associated visitor services within Big Bend National Park, implemented an aggressive recycling program in 2004 that, if maintained, was estimated to extend the life expectancy of the Park’s landfill by 30 years. Forever’s recycling program is noteworthy in particular because Big Bend is located in a remote area where recyclable materials have to be trucked over 250 miles to the nearest recycling center. In cooperation with Big Bend National Park, Forever has succeeded in creating a model recycling program for remote parks.

In 2004, the program accomplished the following:

• Incorporated recycling into all standard operating procedures including those for: housekeeping, retail, food and beverage, gas stations, and employee housing.
• Placed recycling containers that accept plastic, aluminum, magazines, newspapers, paper board, cardboard and glass have been placed in all guest rooms.
• Donated over 1,500 hours of labor to the park’s recycling center, in addition to the nearly 1,500 hours spent on concession recycling operations.
• Recycled approximately 43,000 pounds of materials including:
  • 1,000 pounds of aluminum,
  • 14,000 pounds of cardboard,
  • 13,500 pounds of glass,
  • 179 pounds of household batteries,
  • 1,300 pounds of magazines,
  • 1,200 pounds of metal cans,
  • 500 pounds of mixed colored paper,
  • 4,000 pounds of newspapers,
  • 2,300 pounds of paper board,
  • 2,500 pounds of plastic and 650 pounds of white paper,
  • 20 fluorescent light bulbs,
  • 20 ink and toner cartridges,
  • 240 gallons of motor oil,
  • 86 tires,
  • 28 car batteries, and
  • 560 gallons of vegetable oil.

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Jim Butterfus and Campbell Architects

Park Location: Zion National Park

In 2004, Jim Butterfus, Landscape Architect at Zion National Park, teamed with Kim Campbell Architects of St. George, Utah, to produce a design for Zion’s new Emergency Operations Center (EOC). The concept for the design was driven by sustainability, utilizing the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Ratings System as a gauge. Construction of the building was completed in May of 2004. The team’s notable accomplishments include:

• The EOC is a split-level, 13,167 square foot building with a relatively small footprint of 8,900 square feet that accommodates space for up to 45 employees, a conference/training room, storage, vehicle bays, and a fitness facility
• The EOC was designed to include the following sustainable features:
  • photovoltaic system,
  • ground-source heat pump,
  • thermal massing,
  • proper solar orientation,
  • low-flow or waterless fixtures,
  • native landscaping, water retention, and
  • numerous daylighting strategies to reduce energy consumption.
• Materials for the building were selected based on their recycled or renewable resource content, locality, and lack of volatile emissions.
• The EOC serves as a model for other parks that are looking to incorporate sustainable design practices into their building designs.

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Mammoth Cave National Park

Over the past several years, Mammoth Cave National Park has strived to demonstrate the practical applications of sustainability, showcase innovative techniques, and provide leadership by demonstrating the best environmental practices and products being utilized in the U.S. and abroad.

In 2004, the park was successful in switching much of its vehicle fleet and power equipment to alternative fuels. Noteworthy achievements include:

• All 42 vehicles in the park’s primary vehicle fleet run on either E-85 or E-10 Ethanol;
• To support the park’s ethanol program, an ethanol storage tank was purchased and installed using grants from the Kentucky Corn Growers Association and the Kentucky Clean Fuels Coalition;
• Mammoth Cave National Park was the first national park to have an ethanol fueling station installed within park boundaries;
• A new propane fueling station has been installed and six buses, which are used by a concessioner to transport visitors to cave tours, have been converted to run on propane;
• Biodiesel is used for a variety of park equipment, such as lawn tractors, graders, back-hoes, and emergency generators;
• To support the park’s bio-diesel program, a fuel storage tank was purchased and installed with a grant from the Kentucky Clean Fuels Coalition; and
• The park has purchased and successfully used three electric vehicles.