Green Horizon emergency housing pre-fab
This is one of the most amazing ideas to come along in a while. These 100% recycled material prefab homes are specifically meant for FEMA and disaster relief housing. Each home is LEED platinum certified as well as modular, and can fit into a single standard shipping container for easy shipping and assembly. The home slides open to become large enough for a family of four, as well as self sustainable for weeks with its own drinking water and recycled grey water management. Each of these homes can connect easily up to others of its kind to make quick mini communities with several homes around each other. They also have prefabricated medical units and a few other emergency management aid. I for one hope that this company makes it in a big way, this would have saved countless people and dollars after hurricane Katrina. See more at Jetson Green
Filed Under: Eco Ideas, Green Home, LEED | Tagged:
The 20 on Hawthorne
SE 20th and Hawthorne is now host to “The 20 on Hawthorne” a 51 unit complex of LEED silver certified homes. The homes feature energy efficient lighting and heating, low VOC paints and surfacing, and Energy Star appliances. The complex also boasts Portlands first (and the nations largest) puzzle lift parking garage (See the video here). A large eco-roof with drought resistant indigenous plants tops the whole complex off reducing rainwater runoff and further insulating the building. See more on this complex at Seeing Green.
Filed Under: Green Home, LEED, News, Portland | Tagged:
Rooftop Wind Turbines in Portland
Southwest Windpower has just installed 4 wind turbines to the new residential tower on 12st street in downtown Portland, Oregon. The 4 wind turbines will power a portion of the buildings electrical needs and will serve as an experiment for the viability of rooftop wind power. The Energy Trust of Oregon paid for the turbines atop the LEED Platinum certified tower where they will only provide about 1% of the total power for the building. See more (including a video) at Jetson Green.
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“The Sage” LEED home in Eugene, OR
US Green Buildings Council founder David Gottfried (the makers of the LEED certification) had his own LEED certified home built in Eugene, OR by Arbor South Architecture called “The Sage“. The LEED platinum home received a record 110 points on the LEED scale. The 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom beauty is situated on a low maintenance drought resistant landscaped property. Active solar water heating and PV solar panels are installed on the roof to provide most of the electricity needed for the home and cleverly planned window placement give natural lighting to the entire home. The $450,000 home is about $60,000 greater than an average home in the area because of all of the environmental features. Check out more on the Tour of Homes.
Filed Under: Green Home, LEED, Northwest, Solar Power | Tagged:
New PDX airport sewage treating lobby
Living Machine is helping build the new Port of Portland administrative headquarters next to the airport, which will also serve as an atrium for arriving people from the airport. Being the center of sustainability, the Port of Portland felt that the entrance to the city should really showcase the true meaning of sustainability in one of the last untouched frontiers to be tested. Most of the time, we use perfectly good drinking water to carry away our eliminated waste where it is partially treated and then dumped into the river and local ecosystem. The closed system by Living Machine creates a natural greenhouse of gorgeous plants that deep beneath the surface of the soil are helping play host to the natural breakdown and cleaning process for the waste that is flushed from the airport bathrooms. The water is cleaned using a chain of monitored processes until eventually clean (yet non-drinkable) emerges at the end ready to be pumpted right back into the toilets of the airport. Never to fear, this water is only used for toilet flushing and despite being perfectly clean and pathogen free it will never be used for sinks or drinking fountains. The building is expected to open Spring of 2010 in a 10 story building. The blackwater purifying plants will be located in the ground floor lobby of the building. See Wired Magazine and USA Today for more information.
Filed Under: Eco Ideas, LEED, Portland, Sustainable | Tagged: living machine, pdx, portland airport, sewage treatment
Clean Water Services Field Operation Center
Clean Water Services is a utility serving a large portion of the Portland metro area designed and operated for the sole purpose of protecting the Tualitin river and the watershed. One of the first of its kind in the nation, Clean Water Services is responsible for protecting water quality in the Tualitin river, manage flooding, protect fish and their habitat, and manage the flow of the river. They are also responsible for the four treatment facilities spread throughout the area that are responsible for cleaning over 64 million gallons a day. Clean Water Services has also been working on innovations and keeping up on the green curve by fostering a progressive environment where new ideas are readily accepted. Their new Field Operations Center has undergone a greening including permeable parking concrete in the employee lot which reduces runoff water from rain by allowing it to soak right into the ground instead of puddling. Their extensive eco roof also reduces and cleans rainwater runoff. Around their facility there are also several rain gardens with native Oregon plantlife that soak up and clean the rainwater instead of flowing down to the river (See Landscape Urbanism for photos more). Their most recent treatment facility upgrade brought their Durham facility up to LEED Silver certification level with another certification from the US Green Buildings Council.
Filed Under: LEED, Portland, Rainwater Harvesting, Water Conservation | Tagged: clean water services
Globe Hotel renovation in Chinatown
Portland, OR: The Globe Hotel or the “Import Plaza” is going to be remodeled completely bringing the building up to a LEED Gold standard certification. The Globe Hotel will become home to the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine after its reopening for the fall 2010 school year. This renovation will further the city’s goal to revitalize the Chinatown neighborhood including other projects like the Mercy Corps world headquarters just a block away. The historic original sign that rotates above the building currently will be kept, but it will be updated to say “OCOM” along with a general repainting makeover. The building will be receiving a seismic upgrade as well for earthquake safety along with some eco features like stormwater management, low flow water fixtures, and a high efficiency HVAC system. See more information here.
Filed Under: LEED, News, Portland | Tagged: green renovation, portland chinatown
The Living Building from Sera Architects
Portland has often been called the “greenest city in the world” and this new project will help us keep that title. Sera Architects is going to build a Living Building for the challenge put together by the U.S. Green Building Council. The project will create a home for 4 or 5 families, plus a built in day care space. Each aspect of the building from the raw materials, to the location chosen, and the appliances inside have been specifically designed and chosen for their high efficiency and low environmental impact. That includes a large rainwater harvesting system with an underground cistern large enough to hold water for everyone for 6 months. The showers, toilets, and even the washing machine are special models that use very low amounts of water. This way the Living Building is completely self sustainable for water, and partially self sustainable for electricity. Tenants inside of the building have to agree to some lifestyle changes to live inside of the house, for instance, they can only use environmentally friendly household products because the grey water from the sinks, showers, and tubs is used to flush the toilets (no, the toilet water never gets re-used). The Living Building is going to cost about twice as much as a standard building of the same size, which is why funding is a bit of a problem at the moment. The cost can be justified though, as the self sustainability will bring benefits to the owners, tenants, and the environment for as long as it stands.
More information and sources:
Kenton Living Building Official Website
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