The Chamber annually recognizes entrepreneurial efforts that meet a high standard of excellence for environmental, preservation and protection accomplishments through its Tahoma Business Environmental Award. Tuesday, January 4, the 8th annual award was presented by award sponsor Tom Taylor, Taylor-Thomason Insurance, to Don Ward, Senior Project Manager, Walsh Construction Company in the Chamber's Simpson Community Room. Through Walsh Construction's leadership and initiative, the Tacoma Housing Authority's (THA) redevelopment in Tacoma is the first federal Hope IV project to achieve a LEED Platinum rating in the country. When Washington State issued a mandate that entities receiving funding awards from its Housing Trust Fund build projects more sustainably, Walsh Construction saw the potential in Salishan 7 and looked beyond what was required by the state. Walsh Construction informed the THA of the opportunities and how to achieve the highest standard - platinum. Walsh conducted exploratory work in the design phase with help from the Berger Partnership PS, McGranahan Architects and the project's sustainability consultant O'Brien & Company. From this, Walsh Construction determined the project as designed did not meet the lowest LEED rating of Certified. >From Walsh Construction's research and analysis, THA chose to pursue the most challenging goal: LEED for Homes Platinum. Walsh Construction has deservedly been acknowledged with the Tahoma Business Environmental Award by having invested money and thought into ways that would improve the environmental performance of their overall operations and thus, impacting our community's quality of life. Visit our website http://tacomawacoc.weblinkconnect.com/cwt/External/WCPages/WCNews/NewsArticleDisplay.aspx?ArticleID=148 for more information on Walsh Construction's environmental achievements.