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Department of Ecology Press Release - November 15, 2005
05-272
SPOKANE - Spokane architect, Tom Angell, today received the state of Washington's highest environmental honor for his work as a champion of environmentally friendly, or "green" building.
Tom Angell was presented the award at Eastern Washington's "Washington Recycles Day" event held at the Red Lion Hotel at the Park. The Department of Ecology's (Ecology) Mike Hibbler presented the award. Hibbler manages Ecology's solid waste program in Spokane. The solid waste program is responsible for Ecology's green building initiative.
The green building initiative is Washington state's drive to bring green-building principles to the main stream.
"His influence and energy has really helped to bring this part of the state to the forefront of green building," Hibbler said when presenting the award. "We're very lucky to have Tom here, making a very tangible difference in our community."
Angell was instrumental in bringing the movement of environmentally-friendly design and building to Eastern Washington. As a founding member and current president of the Inland Chapter of the EcoBuilding Guild, Angell has brought the concepts of green building to city buildings, schools, retail stores and homes in the Spokane area.
The Inland Northwest Chapter of the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild is a an association of builders, designers, homeowners, tradespeople, manufacturers, suppliers and others interested in ecologically sustainable building.
With advice from the Guild and funding from the State Board of Community and Technical Colleges, the Community Colleges of Spokane (SCC) developed a first-in-the-nation apprentice and journeyman's training program in green-building technologies.
Angell designed a flexible work space for the hands-on training that is part of this innovative green building training. He was the principal designer of the Green Building Training Module at the Apprentice Training Center at SCC.
The training module includes demonstration areas where students can install radiant-heat flooring, alternative walls systems and green roofs that use plants to add insulation and strength. The trainees can deconstruct and reinstall most of these systems in the same space with each successive class.
Angell also helped to design two straw bale homes that were built and sold in the Spokane Valley by the Spokane County Conservation District in 2001. These homes are unique because they competed in the market with surrounding stick-built homes in a "hot" real estate market in an established neighborhood.
Both homes sold at prices competitive with surrounding properties, and offer identical features (3 bedroom, two bath, attached garage), but use less than half the energy of their neighbors.
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Contact: Jani Gilbert, public information manager, 509-329-3495; pager, 509-622-3073
For more information:
EcoBuilding Guild: www.ecobuilding.org
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
