Green Giant Planned for Portland

Portland, Oregon prides itself on being an eco-friendly city claiming to have the second most green buildings in the nation behind only Chicago. And now officials are investing in what they say will be the tallest living building in the world. The Oregon Sustainability Center will generate its own electricity, use only rain for its water source and treat all its waste. How? A massive solar disk on the roof, a 200,000 gallon storage tank and a sewage separater on site that will turn solids into fertilizer and flush water back into the ground. And instead of a typical forced air heating system, the building will use geo thermal to regulate the inside temperature. If it sounds expensive, it is. Most of the cost of the building, $65-million, will come from taxpayers. The Oregon University System and the City of Portland are picking up the lions share. To recoup the high construction costs, the building will have to charge among the highest rents in the city. Some estimate rents will be 20% above market rates. That's already proving to be a concern. Only government and some environmental groups have stepped forward to say they'll pay the high rent...more

Sounds like it would be a lovely place to work:

Even with all the technology, developers say they'll need some social engineering to reach their energy saving goals. Tenants will be encouraged to walk up stairs more and use the elevators less. Temperatures will be cooler than most office buildings in the winter and warmer in the summer. And the building will be equipped with sensors throughout that will monitor electricity usage by the cubicle. So workers will be notified if they use too much power. Charge a cell phone at your desk, get a warning. Leave your computer on over night, be prepared for a stern email.

But if it is all government employees and enviros, so be it.

At least it will be more energy efficient, right?

Some even question whether green buildings save energy. Todd Myers of the Washington Policy Center has looked at green schools. Washington State was the first in the nation to require all government buildings be built to silver L.E.E.D. standards. He compared two recently constructed schools, one built to green standards and one not. He found the green building used 30% more energy than the other one.

Gonna be worth it though, just to see all those birkenstocks going up and down those stairs and up and down those stairs.

And now that Gov. Bill Richardson is officially out of work, I nominate him to run the sewage separater.

I do wonder, though, how his Pay to Play politics will work. Guess it will be a Dollars to Defecate system.