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Portland has many historic buildings and many sustainable buildings. But few are both historic and sustainable.

One downtown building, however, now fits that description, thanks to its owner, property manager and like-minded tenants.

The Morgan Building, constructed in 1913, earlier this month received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design silver certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Existing Building, Operations and Maintenance criteria. The building is the first in Portland to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places and also receive this LEED certification.

The push for the certification started in February 2008, when Seattle-based Urban Renaissance Group began managing the building for owner Great Point Investors, an institutional investment firm.

The property manager held interviews with all tenants to find out what they wanted out of the building. The resounding answer was better efficiency.

“At first, the task of LEED-certifying a 96-year-old building was daunting, but as we got into it, we realized that there were many aspects of the building’s design that were inherently sustainable,” said Kimberly Fuller, general manager for Urban Renaissance Group’s Portland office. “When the Morgan Building was built in 1913, natural light and natural ventilation were required.

“In some ways we are just returning the designer’s original intent in terms of the building’s operation. When it’s nice outside, open the window.”

The building was designed by A.E. Doyle and maintains an ‘E’ shape that allows natural light and natural air to reach most all of the building’s interior space.

But natural light and natural air were not enough to achieve LEED standards.

The owner has since spent nearly $600,000 to improve energy efficiency in the 145,000-square-foot building and pursue LEED certification.

The improvement project also benefited from the two biggest tenants, The Cadmus Group and BOORA Architects, offering their assistance – free of charge. This saved the project $30,000 in consulting services, Fuller said.

The Cadmus Group, an environmental consulting organization that leases 23,000 square feet in the building, conducted a top-to-bottom efficiency assessment of the building.

“The first thing I found was that the building was using a boiler that used to accommodate this building and the building next to it,” said Tom Van Liew, a senior associate with The Cadmus Group. “It was way too big.”

It was replaced by two much smaller, highly efficient boilers – cutting the energy usage by half.

The property manager also installed a new cooling tower, a sophisticated lighting control system, an upgraded HVAC system and energy efficient lighting throughout the building. The additions have reduced gas usage by 52 percent – knocking 58 percent off the bill for the building. Also, electricity usage has fallen by 18.6 percent – knocking 10.6 percent off the bill.

BOORA Architects, which leases 23,000 square feet in the building, also contributed to the project.

“When we were first talking about this we were actually thinking about moving to get into a sustainable building,” said Mike Manzi, specifications manager at BOORA. “So we decided to survey everyone that works here and see what they wanted to do.

“Everyone wanted to stay here.”

In addition to helping lay out the design for the new systems, BOORA also made tenant improvements to its space, landing a LEED platinum certification under the tenant-improvement designation. The space has a thermometer that triggers a “windows open” sign, letting employees know when it’s OK to open windows. Also, every wall perpendicular to windows is transparent so that natural light can penetrate the space.

Urban Renaissance Group also has started a composting program for tenants, and initiated the conversion of the basement into bike storage, lockers and showers. Plus, nearly 60 percent of the tenants have signed up to participate in Pacific Power’s Blue Sky Program, which offers wind energy to the building for a premium cost.

“With these improvements we like to think of this building as a historic, Class A space,” said Thomas Kilbane, director of Urban Renaissance Group’s Portland office. “There is a wide range of Class B spaces, and we feel that this building is definitely at the top of the list.”

At present, 87 percent of the building is occupied. Lease rates range from $19.50 to $22.50 per square foot.