SEATTLE — May 19, 2004 — Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has won three prestigious local awards for its unique and creative approaches to environmental sustainability. The BEST (Businesses for an Environmentally Sustainable Tomorrow) Awards, sponsored by Resource Venture, a program of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, and other local partner organizations. The awards were presented May 13 at the 3rd Annual BEST Awards Ceremony at Bell Harbor International Conference Center.
The center won the program's highest honor, the Mayor's Environmental Leadership Award, as well as awards for energy conservation and innovation in conservation.
The BEST Awards celebrate notable "green" achievements by organizations in the greater Seattle area. Other sponsoring organizations include the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, Seattle Public Utilities, Seattle City Light and local water providers in the Saving Water Partnership, a group of local utilities that fund water conservation programs in Seattle and King County.
This year's ceremony, which honored 11 organizations, was held as part of the Mayor's Forum on Sustainable Strategies for Business Success. Fred Hutchinson's Scott Rusch, vice president of facilities and operations, and Dr. Mark Groudine, director of the Basic Sciences Division, accepted the awards on behalf of the center.
"We are extremely pleased and proud to have received BEST Awards in three categories," Rusch said. "Our team has worked very hard over the past couple of years to implement measures and changes to reduce the center's energy needs. These awards recognize the extent to which our team has gone, in order to be innovative in our approach to develop and operate our campus in a responsible, cost-effective and sustainable manner."
"The center's buildings have been equipped with cutting-edge systems and features that have led to a substantial reduction in operating costs," Rusch said. "Our recycling program has grown and improved tremendously and its success is the result of individuals and departments across the center including Facilities Engineering, Environmental Health and Safety, Glasswash, Materiel Management and Information Technology. These awards show that, through these efforts, we are leading the community in our approach to operate our campus in a sustainable manner."
Bob Cowan, Fred Hutchinson's facilities engineering manager, noted that the center's conservation efforts also support the center's mission.
"While last year we spent more than $2 million on electricity cost and more than $500,000 on fuel cost, we also saved $1.5 million in annual energy costs," he said. "This savings allows that much more cancer research to be done."
Notable achievements recognized by the award sponsors:
Media Contact
Susan Edmonds
(206) 667-2896
sedmonds@fhcrc.org
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Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, home of two Nobel Prize laureates, is an independent, nonprofit research institution dedicated to the development and advancement of biomedical technology to eliminate cancer and other potentially fatal diseases. Fred Hutchinson receives more funding from the National Institutes of Health than any other independent U.S. research center. Recognized internationally for its pioneering work in bone-marrow transplantation, the center's four scientific divisions collaborate to form a unique environment for conducting basic and applied science. Fred Hutchinson, in collaboration with its clinical and research partners, the University of Washington Academic Medical Center and Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center, is the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in the Pacific Northwest and is one of 38 nationwide. For more information, visit the center's Web site at www.fhcrc.org.
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