“Green” Construction on the Upswing in Portland
Published Mar 06, 2007
The Brewery Blocks area showcases environmentally sound development.
More than seven years ago, when Gerding Edlen Development executives looked at the site of a nearly defunct brewery in Portland’s Pearl District, they envisioned a thriving neighborhood. Today, that area – known as the Brewery Blocks – is not only one of the most successful mixed-use urban development projects in the country, it is also one of the city’s best examples of environmentally friendly sustainable development.
Its “green” features include high-efficiency glazing, energy-efficient appliances, rainwater harvesting, and a chilled water system that provides water for air conditioning and heating to all 1.7 million square feet of the development.
Mike O’Brien, a green building specialist for the city’s Office of Sustainable Development, applauds Gerding Edlen Development. “This is a company that raises the bar for everyone else in this business,” says O’Brien, whose agency provides more than $450,000 in grants for builders each year from a green investment fund.
For Dennis Wilde, a principal at Gerding Edlen, developing green buildings is both a good business strategy and a proper way to treat the environment. “Within five years we want all of our projects to be net energy producers,” Wilde says.
Another local developer thinking green is the Neil Kelly Co. According to Chief Executive Officer Tom Kelly, increasing demand for green buildings has helped his company grow an average of 20 percent annually for the past several years.
“Five years ago, we were on the fringe,” says Kelly, whose father founded the company in 1947. “However, 10 years from now the exception will be not building green.”
Story by Valerie Pascoe
Photo by Red Studio Inc.
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