Sustainability Center | x feet | x floors | Never Built

[crow]

WWeek article about the Oregon Sustainability Center. One thing the article does fail to mention is that the bonds that OUS is using to fund the project are self performing bonds. Basically OUS had to convince their board that the project would self perform, so getting costs down and rents within reason is so crucial. The rents and the leases on the building are what are required to pay off the bonds.

Willamette Week-OSC-The Green Giant

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by crow

WWeek article about the Oregon Sustainability Center. One thing the article does fail to mention is that the bonds that OUS is using to fund the project are self performing bonds. Basically OUS had to convince their board that the project would self perform, so getting costs down and rents within reason is so crucial. The rents and the leases on the building are what are required to pay off the bonds.

Willamette Week-OSC-The Green Giant

I thought it was a pretty good article, though I will agree, it could of been much more thorough seeing it is the centerpiece article for the issue. I tend to get annoyed when the WWeek half-asses what should be a well written and well rounded article.

But I will say, I personally will see this as a PSU building more than anything and this will definitely be an amazing flagship building for the college that really needs to have at least one piece of amazing architecture in its collection outside of a hand full of renovated buildings and so-so new buildings.

[RoseCtyRoks]

http://djcoregon.com/news/2010/11/30...tractor-chosen

Oregon Sustainability Center Contractor Chosen
POSTED: Tuesday, November 30, 2010 at 09:10 AM PT
BY: Nathalie Weinstein
Tags: Gerding Edlen Development, Oregon Sustainability Center, Skanska USA

Gerding Edlen Development has chosen Skanska USA as the general contractor for the Oregon Sustainability Center, a planned $72 million structure that would be the world's tallest building to meet the Living Building Challenge.

Gerding Edlen Development has chosen Skanska USA as the general contractor for the Oregon Sustainability Center.

Skanska will tap a team from its Beaverton office to construct the highly sustainable project, which is slated to achieve the Living Building Challenge.

The contractor was chosen based on its understanding of the challenge and its experience with Integrated Project Delivery, according to Jill Sherman, vice president of acquisitions and development for Gerding Edlen. Integrated Project Delivery is a project delivery method that requires cooperation between owner, contractor and design team throughout the development of a project.

Skanska is currently working on a Living Building in Seattle and has built many Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold projects, according to Dan Johnson, vice president with Skanska’s Beaverton office.

“We have a strong green team here in Oregon,” Johnson said. “I think that’s what was attractive to the project’s developers. Timely decision making will be necessary for a project like this. It’s so unique and has so many possibilities. Getting the right elements into the project that bring about the right outcomes will be our challenge.”

Skanska’s project director for the Oregon Sustainability Center, Steve Clem, said the largest challenge facing the project team is material selection. The Living Building Challenge has a materials red list that forbids the use of unsustainable building materials, such as polyvinyl chloride and halogenated flame retardants. During the next 12 weeks, Clem will work closely with SERA Architects and GBD Architects to develop a palette of materials that don’t violate those rules. LBC also requires materials to be locally sourced, further complicating the issue, Clem said.

“We find PVC in places we didn’t know it existed,” Clem said. “A major concern as we swap out these materials is confirming their durability and warranty. It would be counterintuitive to replace a material with something that will wear out. The goal is to take our something harmful and replace it with something that will be safe and endure.”

The $72 million Oregon Sustainability Center will be the largest project to meet the Living Building Challenge at 132,000 square feet. Schematic design for the project anticipated to be complete in February, Sherman said. Once the design and budget are finalized, the project will be voted on by Portland City Council and the Portland Development Commission before moving forward with construction in fall 2011.

[MarkDaMan]

Hmmm....





Tuesday, January 18, 2011, 1:43pm PST | Modified: January 18, 2011, 2:30 PM
Open house Tuesday for OSC plan
by Christina Williams
Sustainable Business Oregon

The team developing plans for the controversial Oregon Sustainability Center is holding a public open house Tuesday evening to review plans for the building and collect comments from community members.

The project team, led by Gerding Edlen and including Portland architect firms SERA Architects and GBD Architects along with Skanska Construction, will cover the following topics:

• The Living Building Challenge and its guidelines for green construction and low-impact operation of the building.

• The schematic designs.

• Building programming and its proposed tenants.

• Research and commercialization of the building's technologies and its role as a "living laboratory" for the green building and energy efficiency industries.

The open house will be held at Portland State University's Smith Memorial Student Union Ballroom on the third floor at 1825 S.W. Broadway, room 355.

Lisa Abuaf, project manager for the OSC at the Portland Development Commission, said the project team will be collecting public comment — both at the open house and online — on the design plans for the next week and a half before finalizing the schematic design.

Two basic designs have been developed, both with extensive use of solar panels and the employment of a Living Machine to treat waste water in the building. Both designs include an auditorium annex, a feature requested by Portland State University. The differences include the overall look of the building and how the entrance is configured.

The center is aiming to be one of the first net-zero high-rise commercial buildings adhering to the strict criteria of the Cascadia Green Building Council's Living Building Challenge. Critics of the project have said its $70-million price tag is too high and the use of unproven building technology is too risky.

The City of Portland voted in August to go forward with the schematic design of the OSC, a $1 million undertaking jointly funded by the city and the Oregon University System. The plans are expected to be completed in March. At that time the city will revisit the idea and decide whether or not to approve the center's construction.

christinawilliams@bizjournals.com | 503.219.3438
http://www.sustainablebusinessoregon...-osc-plan.html

[RED_PDXer]

I prefer the design that's affordable and gets built.

[tworivers]

Wow, talk about a redesign. I don't know what to think.

[65MAX]

Dynamic to dull in 60 seconds. Too bad.... value engineering strikes again.

[zilfondel]

Wait, open house a few hours ago, or another day? They can't possibly be asking people to show up 2 hours after they post a news article!

I'd like to see this stuff in person.

*edit - open house was 5:30pm yesterday. They apparently don't want to give anyone more than 24 hour notice to show up.

[philopdx]

Aw, jeebus

[smendesPDX]

The sustainability center redesign reminds of the Federal Building "greenification." I am not sure how I feel about all these buildings looking like they are wearing graduation caps...

[zilfondel]

First concept model kind of looks like the San Francisco Federal Building by Morphosis. Sort of, anyway, and less sculptural.

I found the original teardrop shaped tower rather... bizarre and ugly.

[Northeast79]

Originally Posted by zilfondel

First concept model kind of looks like the San Francisco Federal Building by Morphosis. Sort of, anyway, and less sculptural.

I found the original teardrop shaped tower rather... bizarre and ugly.

^This^

Totally agree zilfondel about the original design not making any sense aesthetically. I much prefer the lower rendering. There are some interesting spacial relationships developing and an overall coherence to the design.

Of course I would like to see it taller, but money talks... I guess.

[New Madrid]

Combine the large mass of the first and the small from the second and then we can talk...

Still so much better than that ridiculous thing before.

[RainDog]

I don't know, I thought the original renderings were much better looking....

[MarkDaMan]

Thursday, May 5, 2011, 9:09am PDT | Modified: May 5, 2011, 9:36 AM
Oregon Sustainability Center team releases new designs
by Christina Williams
Sustainable Business Oregon

Schematic design for the much-anticipated and oft-criticized Oregon Sustainability Center has been released by the design team, which is seeking public comment before the design is approved and financed by the City of Portland, the Portland Development Commission and the Oregon University System.

The OSC design team, led by Gerding Edlen and including SERA Architects, GBD Architects and Skanska Construction, anticipates going before the funding partners for final approval for the building, planned for the eastern edge of Portland State University, in August or September.

The new design of the eight-story structure also comes with a revised price tag, an estimated $59.3 million for the base building. That price doesn't include the cost of rerouting the streetcar line through the building — an estimated $4 million project — and the outfitting of the educational center and a public meeting space — an estimated cost of $1.3 million, $250,000 of which will be covered by a Meyer Memorial Trust grant. The full cost of the project is estimated at $64.6 million
Oregon Sustainability Center rendering: Aerial view

The previous cost estimate for the OSC, $69.4 million, included the streetcar and action center costs.

More than 80 percent of the OSC's available office, research and classroom space has been designed for specific tenants.

The center is aiming for a Living Building designation from the International Living Building Institute.

Jill Sherman, project manager for Gerding Edlen, said comments collected about the design, will be considered and incorporated during the design and development process before construction begins on the building.

"There's still quite a bit of design work to do before we're through," Sherman said.

If the project is approved, final design work would lead up to construction beginning during the first quarter of 2012 with an anticipated opening of the building in August 2013.
Oregon Sustainability Center schematic cross-section

The following items are on the project team's to-do list before seeking final approval:

• Garnering firm commitments from the tenants to fulfill the occupancy requirements of the Living Building Challenge.

• Working out the co-ownership agreements for the building. Both the OUS and the city will own their portions of the building.

• Ongoing fundraising for the project from corporate sponsors and other funding sources.

• Further refining of operating cost projections for the building.

Financing for the OSC will be shared by the city, PDC and OUS and will include tax-increment financing and bonds as well as budget funds. The project team also anticipates receiving new market tax credits, Energy Trust tax funds and in-kind donations from corporate partners.

Sherman said she's hopeful the project will see a green light by this fall.

"We have made significant progress," she said.

A public open house on the OSC schematic design will be held Wednesday, May 11 at AIA Portland, 403 N.W. 11th Ave., from 6-8 p.m.

http://www.sustainablebusinessoregon...m.html?ana=sbo

[pdxtraveler]

I kind of like it.

[tworivers]

^^^ Me too. The top rendering, in particular, looks pretty striking. I'll have to go to the AIA event, though, before I say anything else...

[Eco_jt]

what block is this building proposed for?

[crow]

Originally Posted by Eco_jt

what block is this building proposed for?

just east of the PSU Rec center, between 5th/4th and Montgomery/Harrison. A surface parking lot today. An apartment building in the SW corner that will remain.

[tworivers]

Anyone have a DJC subscription?

Oregon Sustainability Center, other capital projects put on ice (access required)
by Angela Webber

The fate of the Oregon Sustainability Center project is now in limbo. More than half of the cost is slated to be covered by Oregon University System bonds, but the Legislature plans to delay consideration of bond approval for the center and some other projects until February 2012.