Green Washington Awards 2013: Manufacuring

WINNER: Precor Inc.

Precor Inc. has been designing and manufacturing the latest, coolest, trendiest fitness equipment since 1980 and is responsible for many industry firsts. It created the first padded treadmill, the first elliptical cross-trainer and the revolutionary Adaptive Motion Trainer (AMT), which adapts to the users stride length and mobility patterns.

Along the way, Precor made itself into one of the states greenest manufacturers. It recycles nearly 700 tons of material annually, including almost 60 tons of previously wasted ABS plastic, styrofoam and low-density polyethylene. A new smart welding ventilation system is saving more than 75,000 kilowatt hours each year by assuring that the ventilation system is open only when a robot is welding instead of operating at full power all day, as it had in the past. Precor even recycles used treadmill belts. Bellevues Upcycle Goods uses them to create iPad protection sleeves.

Precors green initiatives have previously earned accolades from King County and the Washington State Department of Ecology.

SILVER: Method Homes

Method Homes builds prefabricated homes in Washington and British Columbia, specializing in the type of contemporary island cabins that grace the covers of sumptuous architecture and design magazines. Method does prefab not only because its beautiful and efficient. It also does prefab because its green. Since, the company manufactures its modules in Ferndale, it diverts waste from landfills and reduce the CO2 emissions that often occur on remote building projects. Method continues to push the envelope of green prefab construction with its recently unveiled Paradigm Series, a line of ultra-efficient homes that can be built to meet the strict standards of the Living Building Challenge administered by the Seattle-based International Living Future Institute.