innovative, sustainable products and construction practices

At the conference Debbie Cleek, the green building specialist for the Bureau of Development Services, spoke on a panel about innovative programs government agencies had adopted to advance green building practices. The panel also included a representative from the State of Oregon Building Codes Division and a representative from the City of Vancouver.

Debbie spoke about the Alternative Technology Advisory Committee (ATAC), which is a new review process BDS created to help innovative, sustainable products and construction practices be used in buildings sooner. The optional review process runs parallel to the building codes appeal process, and includes a committee of outside experts in the field of sustainable design and construction to evaluate the proposals and make recommendations to BDS. The City of Portland is the first city in the nation to create such a process! More info about the ATAC process can be found on the BDS website.

The conference used Portland to showcase the latest in green building design, with tours of several local LEED buildings. This included a tour of the East Portland Community Center led by Alisa Kane with the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability. This city-owned recreation center was completed last year and is on track to be certified as a LEED platinum facility, due in part to many energy and water efficient measures used in the design.

One of the biggest selling points for the company that won the contract to build the new community center was their Green emphasis. Now it seems that there is considerably less focus on imparting Green principles and practices in this project. I spoke with the project manager a month or so ago and he was very vague about what Green options were going to be incorporated in this new community center. He said we will have to wait and see what can be done, etc. etc. He did say that some of the Green ideas can be expensive but since we are already paying a LOT for this project it isnt clear why we should have to pay significantly more.

For instance, there is a contractor I know with experience building gyms who says that this community center is a 3 million dollar project. We are paying over 6 million from the very beginning. Something is wrong there.

I would like to see solar panels there and solar hot water heating for the pool. We should also have a water reclamation project to reuse shower and sink water to irrigate the plants and flowers around the building. There should be recycling bins throughout the complex. Rainwater should also be recycled and used for plant irrigation.

These are some of my thoughts- yours?