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U.S. EPA Announces Green Building Project on Kauai Brownfields Site

Release Date: 10/4/2002
Contact Information: Dean Higuchi, U.S. EPA, (808) 541-2711, Mike Ardito, U.S. EPA, (415) 972-3081

     SAN FRANCISCO   The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will provide $15,000 in consultant services for a green building project on a Brownfields site in Kauai as announced nationally last week.

     A green building expert will help the Hawai'i Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism plan and execute this project.  The Brownfields site is on former sugarcane lands in Anahola on Kauai, north of the Lihue airport, that is now owned by the state and managed by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.  The site is littered with illegally disposed items such as automobiles, tires, appliances, batteries, and other household goods.

     "It makes good sense to construct and showcase green buildings that are energy efficient and save resources simultaneously with redevelopment," said Jeff Scott, the EPA's director for waste management programs in the Pacific Southwest region.

     The Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism will assess the site and develop cleanup plans for the Department of Hawaiian Homelands, along with the Hawai'i Department of Health.  The site will eventually be developed into a community commercial and cultural center.

    The Department of Health consultants will begin the site assessment in the fall 2002 with work scheduled for completion in spring 2003.  Cleanup and redevelopment plans are scheduled for completion in fall 2003.  The actual cleanup and site work is scheduled for winter 2003.
     
     The redevelopment master plan calls for phased development.  The first phase includes a senior care living center and elderly independent living.  Subsequent incremental development include a Hawaiian charter school, retail and office space, and other support facilities.  The plan is to use local building materials whenever possible   including recycled building materials from the Kauai Habitat for Humanity's Restore and other sources, along with the use of non-toxic finishes and materials.  
               
     The many partners involved with this green building redevelopment plan include the EPA, the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, the Department of Health, the Department of Hawaiian Homelands, the Anahola Homesteaders Council, the County of Kauai Public Works, the U.S. Economic Development Administration, and others.

     In an initiative designed to promote the construction of environmentally friendly buildings on Brownfields properties nationwide, the EPA last month launched the green buildings on Brownfields pilot projects in eight states   which includes the project in Kauai.  Green buildings conserve energy, water and materials, and create healthy indoor and outdoor environments.  They can include residential, commercial, institutional and industrial buildings and even major remodeling of existing buildings.  

     Brownfields are abandoned, idled or under-used industrial and commercial facilities where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination.

For general information about green buildings, see the EPA's green buildings web page at:
https://www.epa.gov/greenbuilding .  For more information on the EPA's Brownfields program, see: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields .