OEC leads initiative to build Oregon’s greenest building yet

OEC is proud to be a leader of the Living Building Initiative (LBI), a consortium of non-profits committed to sustainability issues and protection of natural resources, land use and public health in Oregon.  LBI is partnering with the Oregon University System, the City of Portland, the Portland Development Commission, and Portland + Oregon Sustainability Institute to support the development of the Oregon Sustainability Center.  The project will pursue sustainability concepts in the built environment by meeting the prerequisites of the Cascadia Region Green Building Council’s Living Building Challenge. The prerequisites involve six performance areas:

• Site – Defines acceptable locations to build, protection and restoration measures for the site once developed.
• Energy – Requires 100% on-site renewable energy.
  
• Materials – Addresses the toxicity, embodied energy, pollution, and resource depletion elements of building materials.
  
• Water – Establishes a net zero water usage and sustainable water discharge requirements.
  
• Indoor Quality – Focuses on best practices to create a healthy interior environment.
  
• Beauty + Inspiration – Requires genuine efforts to enrich life through building design and education.

All of the performance-based elements of the challenge are mandatory, with a few temporary exceptions due to market limitations.  Projects are evaluated on actual performance, rather than modeled or anticipated performance, so buildings must be in operation for at least twelve months prior to certification.  The hope is that the requirements of the Living Building Challenge will help foster greater progress towards incorporating sustainability concepts in the building industry.  They are not meant to compete with the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards introduced in the late 1990’s, and there are notable differences between the two.

LEED standards were instrumental in creating a demand for green building products and services, helping to transform the market, increase affordability, and spur innovation.  It’s important that we continue to challenge ourselves to incorporate sustainability concepts into our built environment.  The Living Building Challenge certainly contributes to this pursuit. 

As I think about the environmental impacts associated with our buildings (38% of all carbon dioxide emissions, 72% of electricity usage, and 39% of energy use in the U.S., yikes!), I’m interested in learning about the differences in costs and benefits associated with creating a new green building versus retrofitting an existing structure to the same standards.  If new construction constitutes a relatively small amount of our current building stock, and green buildings are a fraction of that amount, it seems like there is a huge opportunity for improving the energy efficiency, water usage, and indoor quality of our existing buildings.  In theory, work that involves retrofitting buildings could be considered a green job.  I’m going to do some research.  Check back for an update!