91视频

The project is kaput, but one of its partners isn’t giving up on the concept.

, in collaboration with , is seeking a new, highly efficient office space for itself near downtown Portland. The company’s aspirations are for a building net zero for energy, water and waste, and possibly able to achieve the 鈥� billed as the most advanced measure of sustainability in the built environment.

Interface President Omid Nabipoor said the goal is to push the envelope of green construction and prove to the industry that it can be done cost-effectively.

鈥淲e want to be part of a market and industry transformation,鈥� Nabipoor said. 鈥淲e believe that in order for us to reverse the effects of buildings, or at least hold it where it is on the environment, we need to start having buildings that are regenerative or have the lightest footprint possible.鈥�

Interface’s lease at its 27,000-square-foot office in the Mohawk Building downtown expires in August 2014. The company hopes to move the following month, Nabipoor said.

Interface is accepting submissions of interest, and beginning Dec. 15, Norris, Beggs & Simpson will respond with requests for proposals from parties representing ideas that meet project criteria. Specifically, the company is looking for 30,000 square feet (with a capacity for 50,000), within two miles of the downtown core.

It also needs to be affordable, which Nabipoor said is possible.

鈥淲e’re not looking for fancy finishes,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e’re very much organic. We’re very simple, and what it’s about is performance of the building 鈥� not necessarily how it looks.鈥�

Interface Engineering specializes in the performance of building systems; it has designed more than 110 Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rated projects around the world. It designed the net-zero Newberg campus for Portland Community College, and it’s working on a Living Building Challenge project at Chatham University’s Eden Hall campus.

Interface also participated in the Oregon Sustainability Center project, which was supposed to produce a net-zero building that would’ve included the company’s offices. But the effort fizzled amid a lack of political support.

Despite the setback, Nabipoor believes the concepts have marketability.

LEED-rated buildings exist throughout the city. And those structures earn, on average, 4.11 percent more in rent than non-LEED ones, according to a 2011 report by CBRE.

Nabipoor said he is willing to pay up to $30 per square foot in rent for his envisioned office space. The average rent in the Central Business District is $22.20, according to a third-quarter market report by Kidder Mathews.

The Portland Development Commission is interested in offering support for Interface’s endeavor. Lisa Abuaf, PDC central city manager, said helping businesses advance green technology helps Portland professionals compete on national and international playing fields. The PDC’s own LEED requirements, she said, have helped spur the industry locally.

Nabipoor, however, thinks too much emphasis is placed on LEED. There’s more merit, he said, in gauging performance, which is why he likes the idea of a net-zero or living building.

Perhaps the closest example is the Bullitt Center in Seattle, which is slated to open next spring. The 50,000-square-foot building will generate as much energy and collect as much water as it uses. Wastewater and carbon emissions will be treated on site, and sunlight will be able to reach all 200 potential occupants.

Ron Rochon, managing partner of the Miller Hull Partnership, the project’s architect, said all designs were financially feasible.

鈥淭he vision of the Bullitt Center was to create a building like this but to try and do it on a developer model,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was not the mode of the project to just throw money at it to get it done 鈥� It’s a lean, mean building, and the rents are comparable to Class A rents in Seattle.鈥�

The project has a $30 million budget, and $18 million went toward construction ($365 per square foot).

But as the cost of energy increases, so too will the demand for similar solutions, Rochon said. The Miller Hull Partnership already is working with Interface on a net-zero project at the U.S.-Mexico border crossing near Tijuana. Rochon said Western Michigan University also is seeking proposals for a living building.

Rochon said each new project makes the next one easier. For design of the Bullitt Center, team members researched more than 1,000 materials to ensure that none was on the red list. That information now is accessible to others.

Nevertheless, Rochon said several living building projects will need to be completed, and several years will need to pass to prove their performance, before the real estate industry can begin to monetize the value of sustainability.

Of course, no building is truly sustainable. Each one uses natural resources and leaves an environmental footprint. Nabipoor acknowledges that the most sustainable solution is always reuse of an existing resource, and so Interface will entertain proposals for renovations.

But if no existing options prove compatible with Interface’s efficiency goals, it’s ready for new construction. Nabipoor also admitted to a playful, competitive desire to best the Bullitt Center and show what his company can do.

鈥淲e are engineers and innovators, and so it’s more about what we learn that gets us new business, and the new things we do and apply to our clients’ projects,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here’s always a market value if you walk your talk.鈥�