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The city of Portland鈥檚 proposed Green Innovation Park is being likened by some green advocates in Portland to the Oregon Sustainability Center for its green building practices. Others say the in-the-pipeline project is more like the Street of Dreams because of its emphasis on residential clustering.

Builders and green product companies in Portland, however, have an entirely different take on the project.

The city, working with Portland Development Commission, has pitched the Green Innovation Park as a way for local companies to show off their green building know-how. But area builders are so far not convinced that the initial investment they鈥檒l be required to make will pay off in the long run.

England’s BRE Innovation Park sets the bar

PDC staff and Mayor Sam Adams鈥檚 Office began planning the 鈥淕reen Innovation Park鈥� in 2010, modeled it after the BRE Innovation Park in Watford England. BRE, a research group specializing in all areas of the built environment in the United Kingdom, is building new innovation parks in Scotland, Brasilia, Beijing, and looking to Portland to accommodate the first park in the U.S.

Colin Sears, PDC sustainable industries manager, has visited one of the English parks and likens the potential return on investments and job creation to that of the proposed Oregon Sustainability Center.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the same basic principle: push the envelope and attract businesses and professionals to the region to grow their product, develop engineering and building strategies, and continue our leadership in clean technology,鈥� Sears said.

The park is envisioned as a testing ground for cutting edge green building techniques. The initial plan is to have private residential contractors build four to eight green homes on a small lot, and then hold tours, test new technologies, and collect data for two or three years until the building is no longer 鈥渃utting edge.鈥� At that point, the homes will either be dismantled or sold.

Unlike the Street of Dreams, which aims to attract home buyers, the targeted markets here will be home builders, developers, manufacturers, architects, and engineers. Spurring job creation in Portland is the goal 鈥� either through the growth of Portland companies, or by having non-Portland businesses display their products and then commit to Portland as their launch location for manufacturing, research and development, sales, or other aspects of their business.

In addition to a boost in sales and marketing, the PDC contends that companies that contribute to the park will benefit from having a place to test construction techniques and the efficiency of products.

But the businesses that want to demonstrate their products in the park will have to foot almost the entire bill, which is easier for large companies. But waiting for up to three years for a return on investments does not sit well with some small, local firms that might otherwise be interested in participating.

鈥淭his type of demonstration project can be really educational and useful, but I don鈥檛 know if there would be much benefit to have them open for three years,鈥� said Shaina Sullivan, green building specialist at the Portland Home Builders Association. 鈥淣obody wants to put their business in a place where they鈥檙e just unsure of the results. If the industry doesn鈥檛 want to put money forward, then there probably needs to be conversation about what industry really needs right now.鈥�

The PDC already has memoranda of understanding, non-binding documents asserting interest in the Green Innovation Park, with Swedish manufacturing company Fagerdala and Japan-based Sanyo Homes Corp.

鈥淭hese international firms are generally larger with deeper pockets and are ready to broaden their markets, so for them to build a home to showcase their product here it鈥檚 not as big of a risk,鈥� said Colin Sears, PDC鈥檚 sustainable industries manager. 鈥淟ocally, there are tighter budgets and so it鈥檚 more difficult.鈥�

Some local builders argue that there are better, less risky ways to showcase the green building going on in the region.

鈥淎nything that shows leadership in innovative buildings based from Portland is fantastic, but this proposal will be a major challenge for local businesses to pull off,鈥� said Stephen Aiguier, president and founder of Green Hammer Inc. 鈥淚t takes a really high level business proposal and financing to get a speculative building built, then have it just sitting there, waiting.鈥�

Given the slow economy, Aiguier said, builders might instead aspire to participate in something like the Build It Green Tour, a self-guided tour sponsored by the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability showcasing 20 green remodels and new homes聽around the Portland metropolitan area.

Whether or not local companies will be able to make an Innovation Park project pencil out will in many cases hinge on the park鈥檚 business plan, for which the PDC recently released a request for proposals. The RFP period closes Sept. 9.

鈥淭he business plan will drill down on how to assist local companies,鈥� Sears said. 鈥淲e have to get local products in the park 鈥� it鈥檚 a PDC project, so of course that鈥檚 a priority.鈥�

Some local builders are expressing interest in the park because it could provide data that compares the performances of various green building certifications.

鈥淭he opportunity to benchmark housing units built to one standard versus another is pretty intriguing to me,鈥� said Mike Steffen, general manager of Walsh Construction in Portland. 鈥淪ome rating systems haven鈥檛 produced good energy performance, so it would be good to clarify how different rating systems produce this type of performance.鈥�

Incentives and strategies may come out of the business plan that change the game for local builders, but for now, low-capital projects might be a better fit for small, local businesses.

鈥淥ur idea is to build a 12-foot-by-12-foot, rotating house, which has very low capital costs,鈥� said Ben Kaiser, co-founder of both Kaiser Group Inc. and Path Architecture. 鈥淚t would be trickier if you were doing a 2,300-square-foot, really technologically advanced home, but we鈥檙e not. For me, I know I can make it work.鈥�

Kaiser is also the owner of one of the proposed sites for the Innovation Park: the half-acre lot at the corner of North Fremont Street and Williams Avenue. The site is within the Interstate Corridor urban renewal area and currently home to the Boise-Eliot Outdoor Market.

The other site under consideration is a .38 acre, PDC-owned lot at Southeast 93^rd Street and Woodstock Boulevard, within the Lents Town Center URA.

Regardless of where the first park is sited, Sears hopes it will be enough of a success to then build a second version in another urban renewal neighborhood 鈥� a different district with a fresh angle on the needs of green building.

鈥淥nce companies understand that this place will show all types of green building techniques, they get really jazzed about it,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hether people come from six hours away or 1000 miles, Portland will become destination for professionals within region.鈥�

And despite his critiques of the park and some of the missed opportunities for local builders, Aiguier said he is following the plans closely, and even thinking about participating.