GRuB Farmhouse Zoning Case Study

GRuB (Garden-Raised Bounty) was a project with a lot of community support. Local outreach and a history of service to the area were factors that led to this non-profit’s headquarters being located in a Single Family Residence neighborhood with a conditional use permit. Their facility includes a 5-Star Green Built farmhouse, which they use to stage their activities that provide fresh produce and garden beds for low to no-income households in the South Puget Sound area. GRuB Farmhouse was permitted to build a commercially designated building in a single family residence zone in Olympia, WA. This was accomplished by the acquisition of a conditional use permit through the City of Olympia.

Ensley Street Strawbale ADU

This project was primarily challenging due to innovative insulation technique (straw bales); Tumwater and Thurston County jurisdictions were previously inexperienced with this type of engineering. Due to material choices based on ecologically based decision making, straw bale walls were approximately 2’ thick, this required extra discussion to verify footprint, whether to count sq ft from internal or external footprint of house—an important qualification to meet ADU permitting guidelines.

Crushed Glass Structural Fill at West Bay Business Park

Crushed glass cullet was used below a sidewalk as fill and leveling agent in place of sand and gravel at 304 West Bay Drive in Olympia, WA. The material is made up of glass otherwise unsuitable for typical glass recycling and is created at a local quarry. Due to knowledgeable building officials and engineering examiners in Olympia, the material proved to meet the IBC compaction requirements with no additional procedures to permit the project. The project was successfully completed and crushed glass cullet proved to be safe and cost effective.

Supply Laundry Historic Retrofit via Outcome-Based Energy Code

Adaptive redevelopment of the historic 110-year old Supply Laundry building, vacant for over a decade, required an upgrade to the stringent 2009 Seattle Energy Code. To maintain as much of the architectural character as possible, the owners partnered with the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the City on the nation’s first outcome-based energy code pilot project. In exchange for access to post-occupancy performance data, the City granted code flexibility in how energy targets were to be achieved.