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 Green
is in! Especially in Portland. In 2005, Portland was named one
of top 10 "green cities" in USA by the
The Green Guide
magazine. The designation comes from the city's air quality, renewable energy
leadership, miles of bike trails and environmentally friendly building practices.
Again in 2005, Renewable
Energy World magazine reported on ten cities worldwide that energy experts
have named "green cities to watch," based on their clean energy goals, use
of renewable energy, and particularly their energy innovations. Portland
was one of the cities.
In June 2005,
SustainLane, a
Bay Area-based group, rank Portland the No. 2 city in the nation in sustainability
practices. The magazine had this to say about Portland: ". .
. Portland's leading sustainability efforts include comprehensive renewable
energy programs and climate protection policy, a large city “green” vehicle
fleet using alternative fuels, visionary city planning and inner-city redevelopment,
and well-managed free public transit."
Portland is second in LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design) buildings per capita, with 78 certified and registered buildings
demonstrating eco-efficiency. It's no wonder, the city has excelled
in green building, it knows how to make it easy and inexpensive. Portland
offers a $2.5 million Green Incentives Fund to residents and commercial
developers from 2005-2009. The money comes from a partnership with a non-profit,
the Energy Trust of
Oregon.
Portland's two electric utilities came in second and third
in the amount of green energy they sold. This was an annual ranking
by the U.S. Department of
Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory for the year 2005. Portland
General Electric customers bought nearly 400 million kilowatts of power
generated by geothermal plants, dams and wind farms in 2005. PacifiCorp
customers bought more than 234 million kilowatts in the same period.
November 2007: Portland Announced New Green Building
Standards
In a bold move to curb the growth of greenhouse gas emissions
from the Portland area, city officials plan to charge builders hundreds
of dollars for each new home that is not extremely energy efficient. And
it would require, as part of every existing home sale, that an energy efficiency
report be done by home inspectors.
Believed to be the first of its kind in the nation, the
carbon fee and inspection requirement would levy taxes upon builders who
merely comply with the energy efficiency requirements of the Oregon building
code, already one of the most stringent in the nation. It would then pay
cash rewards to developers who make buildings that save at least 45 percent
more energy than the code requires.
To view the proposed standards, click
here.
Department of Energy Numbers
In our daily lives, we use enormous amounts of energy.
The United States uses about 97 quadrillion British Thermal Units (quads)
of energy each year. The residential building sector accounts for about
21% (20.1 quads) of that use. And, about 86% of total annual energy use
in the United States comes from burning fossil fuels — coal, oil, and natural
gas. Visit the
Department of Energy's Web site for more details.
From this picture you can see that homeowners (residential
users) take surprisingly little of the energy use in the U.S.A. Our vehicles,
those 18-wheelers you see rolling down the freeways, industry, and agricultural
are the big users of fossil fuels. But, residential users want to save money
so we keep on searching for better solutions.
What is a Green Home?
Green homes are a matter of degree since there are numerous
standards for “green homes.” You can start with the Earth Advantage® and
go all the way to a Net-Zero-Energy home. These two labels apply to detached
single-family homes. When you get into large condo projects, the LEED Green
Building Rating System prevails. Here is a brief explanation of the three:
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Earth Advantage
At minimum, an Earth Advantage® home is designed to improve energy efficiency
by 15 percent over a conventionally built home. The incorporation
of products such as energy-efficient windows, appliances, mechanical
systems and light fixtures can add up to lower energy usage and greater
comfort year round.
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Energy
Star The Northwest part of the federal Energy Star program.
New homes earning the Energy Star label are built using the "house as
a systems" approach.
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Net-Zero
Energy A net-zero energy house is designed to produce as much
energy as it consumes on an annual basis.
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LEED™ - Leadership
in Energy and Environmental Design: LEED™ is a voluntary, consensus-based
national standard for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings.
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Resources
Search for a Green Home
in the Portland Metro Area.
It's the story of building a
new passive solar home. Excellent explanation of passive solar energy
with loads of photos.
For decades, Consumer Reports
has delivered careful, unbiased evaluations of a spectrum of consumer products.
Now, a sister Web site provides detailed, impartial reviews of everything
from appliances to cares to home and garden products - all with a special
eye to environmental impact.
Environmental Building Supplies
at http://www.ecohaus.com/
Located in southeast Portland,
this is the place to start looking for ideas and materials. They can
show you many options to build or remodel in a healthy and more sustainable
way. The focus is on natural and renewable materials, like FSC-certified
wood products, wool carpets, cork and natural paints. They also offer low-toxic,
energy-efficient, solar and recycled content products.
U.S. Energy Department Energy
Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) at
http://www.eere.energy.gov
Their mission is to strengthen America's energy security,
environmental quality, and economic vitality in public-private partnerships.
Energy Star at
http://www.energystar.gov
A government-backed program helping businesses and
individuals protect the environment through energy efficiency. The
Energy Star label is on major appliances, office equipment, lighting, home
electronics, and more. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has also
extended the label to cover new homes and commercial and industrial buildings.
Green Building Initiative
The mission of the Green Building Initiative is to accelerate
the adoption of building practices that result in energy-efficient, healthier
and environmentally sustainable buildings by promoting credible and practical
green building approaches.
Green Roofs
Greenroofs.com is an international green roof industry's
resource and online information portal. Their goal is to inform, promote
and inspire the earth-friendly technology of organic greenroof architecture.
The National Renewable Energy
Laboratory (NREL) at http://www.nrel.gov
NREL is the nation's primary
laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency R&D. NREL is home
to three national centers of excellence: the
National Center for
Photovoltaics, the
National Bioenergy Center, and the
National Wind Technology
Center.
Oregon Natural Step Network
at http://www.ortns.org
This organization supports Oregon business, governmental,
and educational organizations interested in using The Natural Step (TNS)
framework for sustainability.
Portland ReBuilding Center at
http://www.rebuildingcenter.org/
The ReBuilding Center is a popular destination for homeowners,
do-it-yourselfers, contractors, artists, and enthusiasts interested in building
with affordable, environmentally low impact materials. With an inventory
that changes by the hour, The ReBuilding Center is the largest non-profit
used building materials resource in North America.
Renewable Energy World at
http://www.earthscan.co.uk
Formed by the coming together of two of the publishers
in environment science, technology and sustainable development, James &
James/Earthscan is becoming recognized as an important specialist source
of information for all those around the world with a keen interest in a
sustainable future.
Sustainable Journal at
http://www.sijournal.com
Portland-based publisher of Sustainable Industries, their
Web site is also a solid resource. Sign up for their newsletter.
Home Energy Magazine at
http://www.homeenergy.org
Home Energy magazine's mission
is to disseminate objective and practical information on residential energy
efficiency, performance, comfort, and affordability.
Based in Portland, Oregon, Green
Hammer Inc. provides intelligent ecologically conscious design and build
services for home additions, remodels and new construction. They unite the
use of advanced technologies in energy efficiency with the intelligent use
of earth friendly materials and design concepts.
A greener home doesn't necessarily
mean a more expensive home - and that knowledge helped
SunTerra Homes of
Bend, Oregon earn the 2005 Custom Home Builder of the Year award at the
National Association of Home Builders.
March 2007
According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, PGE's residential
customers bought 343,879,496 kilowatt hours of renewable energy in 2006,
23 percent more than in 2005. PGE now ranks third in the nation, at 6.5
percent of customers, up from sixth place (5.3 percent) in 2005.
PGE is the local utility that provides the greater Portland metro area with
electricity.
Build It Green! Tour
Every September, a self-guided
tour, sponsored by the city's Office of Sustainable Development and Metro,
welcomes visitors into over 20 new and remodeled homes, including condos,
throughout the Portland metropolitan area. The information fair gives tour-goers
a chance to talk with vendors about green building products and services,
and is sponsored by Environmental Building Supplies. See this
Web pages
for details.
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Earth Advantage
Earth Advantage®
offers many resources to acquaint you with various aspects of the Earth
Advantage® program. They frequently participate in events targeted
to the home buyer, builder and industry professional. They also host
open houses and organize tours of Earth Advantage® homes.
According to Earth Advantage®, “No matter how old your
home is you still may be able to make changes that will reduce your energy
and resource consumption, improve your indoor air quality and protect the
environment around you.” This means that the Earth Advantage® standard
can be applied to both new construction as well as remodeling projects.
Earth Advantage® has over
30 builders and remodelers listed in the Portland metro area that are
Earth Advantage® certified.
Energy Star
The Energy Star label is awarded to homes that have been
independently verified to be at least 15% more efficient than the state
or local energy codes in the Northwest. Their
Web site
lists certified Energy Star builders and products (appliances, lighting,
etc.) that bear the Energy Star label.
Consumer
Reports, in their September 2008 issue, reported that Federal test
procedures haven't kept pace with technology, a point Energy Star
leadership conceded in a meeting with Consumers Union, nonprofit
publisher of Consumer Reports.
In a test of refrigerators, Consumer Reports reported
that in preliminary tests with the icemaker off, the energy use measured
was much closer to LG's (LG LMX25981ST French-door fridge) figure. But
that's not how you'd use the feature at home since doing so melts all
the ice. When we gauged energy use with the LG's icemaker on, we got a
consumption of 1,110 kWh per year. Such a loophole lets manufacturers
label products more energy efficient than we've found them to be, and
they get the Energy Star and its cachet when you won’t see those
savings.
Net-Zero Energy
Net-Zero Energy is easy to understand: A Net-Zero
Energy home is designed to produce as much energy as it consumes on an annual
basis. For more information about Net-Zero Energy, visit the
National Renewable Energy
Laboratory (NREL) Web site.
LEED™
The non-profit United States Green Building Council (USGBC)developed
LEED (Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design) as a set of voluntary,
consensus-based national standards for developing high-performance, sustainable
buildings. LEED uses a four-tiered rating system (Certified, Silver, Gold,
and Platinum) that award points to projects based on their efficient use
of energy resources, water resources, building construction resources, land
resources, and consideration of enhanced indoor air quality.
The
Cascadia
Region Green Building Council is one of three original chapters of the
U.S. Green Building Council. Incorporated in Oregon in December 1999,
the chapter covers Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia but also includes
members from as far away as Idaho and Montana. By January 2002, the
chapter had 175 members, mostly companies or agencies that in turn represented
dozens or even thousands of individuals interested in a better way of building.
Portland has its own version of LEED called
PDX LEED™ that is based on New Construction (NC 2.1) standard.
It is the country's first supplemental guide to the USGBC national LEED™
standards. PDX LEED™ enhances USGBC's LEED™ certification in several
ways. First, it makes it easier to achieve credits by 'localizing'
LEED™ standards - Portland's erosion control, stormwater management, and
energy regulations.
There are a growing number (over 75 in Portland alone)
of Pacific Northwest buildings that have obtained LEED certification and
you can find them on the
Cascadia
Region Green Building Council Web site. The new Casey Condo building
in the Pearl District of Portland may be the first Platinum LEED building
in Portland – it is just short by a point or two of earning this distinguished
mark. Gerding/Edlen, the developer of the South Waterfront and the
Brewery Blocks, is LEED™ certifying all their buildings.
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