Sustain the chapel building - a demonstration of sustainable materials renovation

Faced with thousands of square feet of building demolition per year, waste managers at Fort Lewis, WA and the Seattle District Army Corps of Engineers (USAGE) seek effective ways to keep demolition debris out of the landfill. Ft. Lewis collects concrete and grinds it for use on training trails. They gather wood pallets and other clean wood waste for use in creating compost and they treat petroleum-contaminated soils. When a World War II-era chapel appeared on the demolition list, Ft. Lewis and the USAGE started thinking of waste management in a more holistic view. Why not divert the whole building to a new location and remodel it for a new use rather than disposing it in a landfill? This holistic approach spurred the development and design of a new Environmental Education and Conference Center (E2C2) for Fort Lewis. The E2C2 (the old chapel) will be relocated on a former landfill site, now being reclaimed and transformed into the Sequalitchew Eco-Park (Eco-Park). This paper evaluates the benefits of reusing the existing chapel for the E2C2, rather than building a new facility and disposing the old chapel into a local landfill.