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A sustainable yet practical approach to development of a new agriculture complex at Chemeketa Community College has produced a building expected to have net-zero energy use.

The anchor of the northern edge of an 8-acre campus in Salem is the 15,000-square-foot classroom building. FFA Architecture + Interiors designed the building, Lango Hansen Landscape Architects oversaw the exterior landscaping, and Swinerton Builders completed construction recently.

The project team had high sustainability goals. A mass-plywood-panel structure was chosen, along with a natural air ventilation system, and photovoltaic panels. Chemeketa Community College and FFA worked with Energy Trust of Oregon to help offset costs via the nonprofit’s Path to Net Zero program.

FFA Associate Partner Edward Running said when he starts work on a new project, he first sees what financial resources are available.

“The inability to make (a) better building has been cost,” he said.

With assistance from Energy Trust of Oregon, a 45-kilowatt solar array was placed on the roof of an exterior walkway along the building’s south side. The canopy not only ensures the photovoltaic panels receive sunlight, Running said, but also shades classrooms and puts less pressure on the ventilation system.

At first, even with those features, the building would have had an Energy Use Intensity (EUI) number too high to be net-zero. That number is calculated by dividing the building’s total energy consumed in one year by the total gross floor area. The new classroom building would’ve been around 20 EUI, Running said.

By the time the project team realized it wouldn’t achieve net-zero energy, it was a little late in the process; the contractor had been selected, and construction documents were completed. Now, 20 EUI would’ve been significantly lower than the state’s requirement that public buildings perform at least 20 percent better than the building code. But the team was “so close to net zero … the cost wasn’t too much more,” Running said.

Chemeketa Community College Technical Development Manager Isaac Talley then sought a grant from Portland General Electric to bridge the gap.

“There’s always the pursuit of the practical, best possible option but (a) need to balance that with what will work and the budget,” Talley said.

The college also looks at what would be the “best bang for the buck and maintaining the best functionality through the life of the building,” he added.

In February, when the project was nearing substantial completion, Talley received word that the team would receive a $158,000 grant from PGE. That would put a 91-kilowatt solar array on the classroom building’s roof, and achieve net-zero energy use.

The total cost to reach that goal was around $9 million, Running and Talley estimated. That included concrete floors, insulation, window systems, an efficient mechanical system, and the original solar array.

The key to this project, Running said, was “not trying to do every single sustainability strategy under the sun.” Instead, the team honed in on a few – one was natural ventilation inside the building, and another was solar energy production outside.

Outdoor features of the complex will include gardens and farm demonstration fields. Now the college can say it’s “harvesting from the ground and harvesting from the sun,” Running said.

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Dan Bramske, an architect with EMA Architecture, figured that like many dream projects explored by nonprofits, the Rotary Youth Center at Morrison would start with a nice conversation and then be forgotten.

That didn’t happen.

Morrison Child and Family Services forged ahead with a plan to build a 4,100-square-foot facility for children, many of whom have suffered from sexual abuse, or have drug or alcohol addictions.

The concept for the project started as a simple covered area for the organization’s clients to use for outdoor play to fulfill Portland Public Schools‘ physical education requirements. Morrison, in consultation with EMA Architecture, decided to dream bigger, and applied for a once-in-a-decade grant from the Rotary Club of Portland.

The youth center plan was chosen for the club’s Project 2020, which led to a $500,000 contribution toward the project’s $2.3 million budget.

EMA Architecture worked with Morrison and general contractor Joseph Hughes Construction to round up donors and subcontractors willing to reduce their rates.

“The fact that this has all come together, and has blossomed into a project that’s 100 percent donated, is amazing,” Bramske said.

The project site is on a portion of Morrison’s property that was used for surface parking. The building will finally give the organization a purpose-built facility, Development Director Deanna Kavanaugh said.

“Morrison has never built a building in its 73-year history, which is kind of amazing, and we serve over 8,200 clients a year,” she said.

Completion of the building at 11025 N.E. Sandy Blvd., in Portland’s Parkrose neighborhood, is expected this summer. Morrison has scheduled a grand opening celebration for Sept. 4.

The project is on track to be net-zero energy, Bramske said. The facility may even end up producing more energy than it uses, he added.

Donors pushed the project toward higher environmental performance, Bramske said. A solar array and a green roof will be installed. The project team is considering proposals for solar installations of 40 to 57 kilowatts, Bramske said.

“Through the design process, we realized the form and location of the building were ideal for solar and ideal for eco-roofs,” he said.

High-performance insulation and glazing are being installed. A 2,500-gallon cistern will collect rainwater that will be used to irrigate a grass play field behind the building.

The project team brought in ecoREAL Solutions as a consultant. Participation in certification programs such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design or Green Globes was considered, but determined to be too expensive, Bramske said. The LEED process, for example, was anticipated to cost $50,000, he said.

Instead, the project team is following Energy Trust of Oregon‘s Path to Net Zero program.

The front of the building is to be wrapped with a mural by a Portland artist who goes by the moniker Dominatah. The Regional Arts and Culture Council is evaluating the proposal.

Inside, the building is dominated by a large multipurpose room with a basketball court. A projector will be installed to show presentations or films. The room should be able to accommodate more than 100 people for events, Bramske said.

The building will be equipped with a “warm kitchen” – everything except a commercial stove – and bathrooms.

The building is envisioned to be used by youths in Morrison’s day treatment programs. It could host meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, and be used by foster families.

The design will be accessible to visitors with disabilities.

The project is close to fully funded, but is still accepting donations, Bramske said. Suppliers including Parr Lumber, Metallion Industries, Chown Hardware, James Hardie Siding, Sherwin-Williams, Thermal Supply and the Lake Oswego-based Home Builders Foundation have chipped in with in-kind donations. More are expected to arrive as the project wraps up.

As with all construction sites at this time, this one has adjusted to the coronavirus pandemic. During a May 27 site visit, workers (including those with subcontractors) were wearing masks. That’s a company-wide rule for Joseph Hughes Construction, said Scott Wigman, project manager for the Portland-based contractor.

“It’s definitely not easy, but for the most part we’re really coherent on it,” he said.

Some final tasks remain. Bramske is still working to secure permits from the Oregon Department of Transportation, which oversees Sandy Boulevard, to widen the driveway. Also, work is continuing on an outdoor space that will be terraced and have grass planted to provide a play field.

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Stayton-based Slayden Construction, a subsidiary of global firm MWH Constructors, has broken ground on a $13.9 million project to upgrade the Willow Lake Cogeneration Facility at Salem’s wastewater treatment plant.

The existing cogeneration system, in operation since 1988, “generates power from biogas produced as a byproduct of wastewater treatment processes,” according to the city’s website. However, the system “is at the end of its useful life and is undersized,” the city states.

A new cogeneration building will be constructed to house a Peterson-Caterpillar diesel generator for burning surplus methane and producing electricity. This new system will double the power output at Willow Lake to 1.2 megawatts. It’s expected to save the city up to $300,000 annually in energy costs.

“How the process typically works is they bring in raw sewage, clean it up and run it into the digesters,” Slayden project manager Ryan Imel said. “They’re just stomachs; they live off bacteria, and when it decomposes they start to off-gas methane. It’s a dirty, wet methane, and what they’ve found is with a little bit of effort you can treat that methane and burn it.”

Construction of the plant expansion won’t be technically difficult, Imel said.

“They use large diesel generators to burn that off-gas and make electricity for the plant,” he said. “And our project is to construct a new building for the (cogeneration) system and install a new diesel engine. That will double the output of the plant, and I believe the plant is set up to consume that power, so they power their own gear with that.”

The plant improvements also will reduce the amount of pollution released into the air by an estimated 5,000 metric tons annually.

While the construction method may be orthodox, scheduling and organization pose challenges, Imel said.

“It’s definitely a puzzle,” he said. “Because while we’re doing this, everything has to remain running. You cannot interrupt service. So a lot of that puzzle that has to be figured out before we dive in and start disconnecting things.”

Construction began earlier this month and is expected to finish by mid-summer 2020. As general contractor, Slayden will handle the entire project scope and self-perform demolition, civil, concrete, mechanical and piping work.

Project funding partners include the cities of Salem and Keizer as well as Portland General Electric and the Energy Trust of Oregon.

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The application deadline is fast approaching for a grant program supporting net-zero design internships.

Energy Trust of Oregon is offering five grants of up to $6,000 each for a 12-week internship program that will run from January to April 2019.

The deadline to apply for the 2019 Net Zero Emerging Leaders Internship is Friday.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler has joined 18 other mayors from around the world in pledging that all new buildings in the city, and all city-owned buildings, will be carbon-neutral by 2030. The pledge also has a goal for all buildings, existing and new, to be “net zero” by 2050.

“This grant will promote opportunities for future architects to gain an understanding of net-zero building design in Oregon while gaining real-world experience,” Energy Trust senior program manager Jessica Iplikci stated in a news release.

The interns will deliver presentations at a high-performance design training event at the program’s conclusion.

To be eligible, a firm must be located in Oregon, design buildings in Oregon, and be an AIA 2030 Commitment signatory. More information is available at .

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A financing tool formerly available only to public agencies is now available to private property owners seeking building improvements in Multnomah County.

Dubbed , the program makes available long-term financing to owners of commercial, industrial and multifamily properties wishing to lower energy consumption, generate or store renewable energy, lower water consumption, create or upgrade capacity to charge electric vehicles or improve seismic resiliency. It even covers new construction projects.

PropertyFit‘s structure addresses many investment barriers by offering property owners up-front financing for up to 100 percent of the cost of eligible improvements or construction. The loan is secured by a benefit assessment lien that is repaid in annual assessment payments. The maximum term is set at the average weighted useful life of the improvements. The cost savings that result may cover all or a portion of the benefit assessment payment.

The program is a collaborative effort between Prosper Portland, Multnomah County and the Energy Trust of Oregon and supports those organizations’ goals of equity, environmental sustainability, economic development and financial sustainability, Prosper Portland project manager Amy Nagy said.

“This came out of state legislation and then went to Multnomah County, and they partnered with us due to our ability to do lending,” said Nagy, who is in charge of administering PropertyFit for Prosper Portland.

PropertyFit uses the Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) financing structure, which was authorized by the Oregon Legislature in 2015 but heretofore never used.

The first project to use PropertyFit financing is in Northeast Portland. A historic building at 110 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. will become a 162-bed hostel with a ground-floor gastropub. A seismic retrofit and energy-efficiency upgrades are in the works.

The unique elements of PropertyFit include: no out-of-pocket costs; long-term, fully amortized financing; no personal guarantees; security via a benefit assessment that automatically transfers upon sale; loan repayment in annual assessments that cannot accelerate; and financing that may substitute for higher cost mezzanine debt in new construction projects.

“The other great thing about this is the term of the financing,” Nagy said. “… A lot of times in a construction loan you might have a five- to seven-year loan. But this can go out as long as 20 years. That’s also what makes it possible to lower the assessment on an annual basis; it doesn’t accelerate.”

The program’s goal, Prosper Portland Communications Manager Shawn Uhlman said, is to allow owners to carry out improvements that in the long term save them more money than their actual cost.

“It goes back to the energy assessment or audit,” he said. “That’s where you look for savings on any project.”

“We’re wanting to get as close to zero or have the savings be larger than what you borrowed,” Nagy said. “So if you have more savings than assessment you can actually make money on the deal.”

The program has been in the development phase for several years to ensure it is ready for use, Uhlman said.

“This is a tool that is being used nationally,” he said. “Several other states and counties have done this and we’ve really benefited from learning from other programs. It’s great for owners who don’t have immediate access to a lot of capital to make improvements to their building.”

More information about the program is available at .

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Portland Parks & Recreation will use more than $250,000 in rebates it received last year to launch a new project designed to save water and energy at 48 sites in the city.

The bureau last year earned a total of $267,191 in rebates from Energy Trust of Oregon; the credits mainly were related to energy-efficient upgrades made to various building control systems. Those upgrades include installations of solar panel arrays at several community centers, including the Matt Dishman Community Center in the Eliot neighborhood.

The rebates will be reinvested in a pilot program for an energy and water performance contract to study how reliance on utilities can be reduced at Parks & Recreation sites around the city. The goal of the program will be to reduce maintenance and utility costs by approximately 20 percent at those locations.

If the pilot program is successful, it will likely be used to help the city move toward its goal of using 100 percent renewable energy by 2050 – a target identified last year by Portland officials.

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Richard DeWolf’s Portland-based company, Versatile Wood Products, specializes in the restoration and remodel of historical doors, windows and cabinetry. In the course of a single year, that work produces a significant amount of wood waste and sawdust, to the tune of about 100 total tons per year.

DeWolf wanted to find a sustainable way to get rid of those excess materials. So he teamed up with another Portland firm, Wisewood Energy, to design and install a biomass boiler system that takes what would have been dumped in a landfill and turns it into fuel to heat Versatile Wood Products’ 40,000-square-foot facility in North Portland.

Wisewood Energy, which specializes in biomass energy systems, has been in business since 2011 and has handled projects in Alaska and Oregon. The biomass boiler system it created for DeWolf’s company uses a firebox to burn the wood scraps and sawdust to heat water, which is then piped to multiple Modine air-handling units. A forced-air system distributes the warm air throughout the facility to heat the entire building.

The cost for DeWolf to install the $250,000 system was offset by an Oregon Department of Energy commercial thermal tax credit and a support grant from Energy Trust of Oregon.

The system is expected to conserve 11,600 therms of natural gas and 8,600 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. Cost savings for DeWolf’s company could be as much as $20,000 per year, compared to the previous heating system used in the building.

The system also is expected to reduce the facility’s annual carbon emissions by 71 tons per year and eliminate an estimated 24 truckloads of wood debris that Versatile Wood Products previously had to send to landfills each year.

“The technology originated in Austria,” Wisewood Energy President Andrew Haden said. “Burning waste wood in an efficient way is just an intuitive solution to heating. We took that technology and designed a system for this client that turns their waste into a usable product. This is a state-of-the-art system … a showcase project.”

Haden added that he is encouraged by what he sees from both the city of Portland and the state as increasing support of – and interest in – biomass as an alternative, energy-efficient heating method that contributes to carbon sequestration.

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The Portland City Council is preparing to consider a policy that would require owners of unreinforced brick buildings to retrofit them, and building owners are urging the city to provide financing.

Portland has 1,644 unreinforced masonry buildings, according to a city inventory. They are 88 years old on average.

Portland officials have anticipated the need to retrofit the city’s unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings for years. The city’s first retrofit requirements were adopted in the mid-1990s. But increasing awareness of Portland’s risk for a potentially devastating Cascadia subduction zone earthquake has added urgency to the efforts.

Even landlords now recognize that seismic retrofit requirements are coming.

“At the end of the day, it’s how can it be done, not should it be done,” said Gwenn Baldwin, a lobbyist who represents the Masonry Building Owners of Oregon.

The URM Policy Committee will meet for the final time on Oct. 4. The City Council will then perform its first review of the policy Oct. 19. The council is not expected to vote on the policy at that meeting.

The policy’s creation is overseen by the city’s Bureau of Emergency Management, which is overseen by Mayor Ted Wheeler. His office is monitoring the URM Policy Committee’s work, spokesman Michael Cox said.

“We’ve been working closely with them on refining their proposal,” he said.

The policy has been years in the making, in part because building upgrade mandates often face resistance from property owners. Seismic retrofits are a particularly costly upgrade, often requiring landlords to evict or temporarily relocate tenants for months while work proceeds.

Adding to the difficulties is the city’s new relocation assistance ordinance that requires landlords to compensate tenants upon issuing a no-cause eviction. The relocation assistance varies by the size of unit, ranging from $2,900 to vacate a studio apartment to $4,500 for a unit with at least three bedrooms.

Those costs add up. Last spring, Urban Development + Partners evicted tenants from 65 units at the Fairmount Hotel to make way for a major renovation. The fees cost the Portland developer $199,800.

In concept, seismic retrofits could hardly be simpler: add steel. Typically, steel bars are added to reinforce masonry walls. Parapets and other features are tied down into more durable structures.

The construction is straightforward, but the costs can be high, particularly for the owners of small buildings that generate modest leasing income.

And not all unreinforced masonry buildings are for-profit operations. The city’s inventory lists approximately 45 schools and 35 churches. Central City Concern, one of the city’s largest nonprofit owners of affordable housing, owns several unreinforced masonry buildings.

URM buildings were built in Portland between about 1870 and 1960, according to the city’s draft summary. Many of the buildings are located downtown, in Old Town Chinatown and in the Central Eastside Industrial District.

Government officials have known of Portland’s seismic risks for years, but a story in the Portland Mercury in 2012 shed light on the scale of the problem. Former Commissioner Steve Novick drew attention to the issue, and then a 2015 article in The New Yorker added alarm with scenarios of widespread death, displacement and structural failures from the inevitable earthquake.

A draft of the city’s policy was released in April, and changes may still be made. The draft policy takes a tiered approach to regulating URM retrofits.

The URM committee process has helped make the draft policy workable for building owners, Baldwin said.

“The process has actually accomplished what you hope from the Portland process,” she said. “It has become more practical, more grounded.”

In the tiered approach, the vast majority of unreinforced masonry buildings is in class 3, designated for buildings with more than 10 occupants but no critical infrastructure. Draft retrofit standards for those buildings call for bracing unreinforced masonry parapets, cornices and chimneys, anchoring walls to floors and roofs, attaching a diaphragm to vertical elements to transfer in plane shear and out-of-plane wall bracing for taller walls.

Owners of class 3 buildings would have five years to assess needed seismic upgrades, 10 years to brace parapets and attach walls to the roof, 20 years to complete wall-to-floor attachments and wall strengthening and 25 years to complete all work. A five-year extension could be provided for hardship.

Class 1 buildings – critical ones such as hospitals and fire stations that must be occupied after an earthquake – have much tighter timelines. Owners of these buildings are given three years to assess and 10 years to complete a retrofit.

Class 2 buildings include schools and churches. Owners of those buildings are given three years for assessment, 10 years for bracing and 20 years to complete a retrofit.

Class 4 buildings are one- to two-story buildings with up to 10 occupants. Owners of those are given 10 years to complete a seismic retrofit.

Affordable housing providers are working to make sure the policy doesn’t result in the closure of any buildings. Central City Concern has been in contact with the Portland Housing Bureau to devise an exception for affordable housing.

The amendment, if adopted by the URM Policy Committee and City Council, would allow an extended timeline for owners of affordable housing to evaluate and conduct retrofits of their buildings, said Sean Hubert, chief housing and employment officer for Central City Concern.

“We feel in terms of the affordable housing piece that that is a good compromise,” he said.

If the amendment is not adopted, Central City Concern would oppose the URM policy, Hubert said.

City codes beginning in the 1970s resulted in the closure of thousands of single-room occupancy units, which share kitchens and bathrooms and serve as housing of last resort for many impoverished individuals, Hubert said. The closure of those units coincided with a rise in homelessness, he said.

“A lot of that loss was due to the city getting more tough on code enforcement and new codes,” he said.

Seismic retrofits for multistory apartment buildings are costlier than similar upgrades for buildings with open floor plans, Hubert said.

“What we have found – in order to do a full seismic retrofit – you have to shore up the diaphragm at each level, which means you have to tear up everything,” he said. “It’s a very costly prospect.”

For many owners of small URM buildings, the property serves as their retirement income, said Susan Steward, executive director of the Building Owners and Managers Association of Oregon. It’s critical the city provide financing for the seismic retrofits, she said.

“I’m still concerned at the end of the day they’re going to pass this with nothing in place (for financial assistance),” she said.

Few buildings have sufficient equity to finance costly retrofits, she said.

A program called PropertyFit aims to close the financial gap. It’s operated by Prosper Portland, Multnomah County and the Energy Trust of Oregon, with outside capital partners. The program offers financing beginning at $200,000 with terms of up to 30 years. The loans are secured by a property lien.

The program has yet to be tested, however.

City officials appear to be sympathetic to building owners’ concerns, Steward said.

“They seem to get it,” she said.

City officials are aware of the financing challenges, but also hesitant to hand out dollars to private property owners. A property-tax abatement may be part of the answer.

The policy is on the right track – as long as financing comes together, Baldwin said.

“We’re close,” she said. “But don’t get things out of order. Don’t pass (the policy) and then figure out financing.”

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A trio of agencies is coming together to offer building owners financing for energy-efficiency and seismic upgrades.

The program offers 100 percent financing to building owners and developers. Previously the program was available only in urban renewal areas; now the agencies have expanded eligibility to properties throughout Multnomah County.

Prosper Portland (formerly the Portland Development Commission), Multnomah County and the Energy Trust of Oregon are sponsoring the program.

PropertyFit differs from similar programs in other metro areas by also offering money for seismic retrofits. The costs of such projects have challenged owners of small buildings.

The program comes as Portland’s City Council is due to consider in October a policy proposal for unreinforced masonry buildings. The draft policy would require property owners to retrofit vulnerable buildings, but allow at least 10 years for completion.

“This program comes along at a time that offers a carrot to that requirement,” said Amy Nagy, project manager for Prosper Portland.

Projects can range from replacement of an outdated boiler to an update of lighting. The minimum financing for the private financiers is $200,000, with terms of up to 30 years. The loans are secured by a property lien.

Three capital providers are backing the PropertyFit program: Prosper Portland, CleanFund Commercial PACE Capital Inc. of Sausalito, California, and PACE Equity of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

“Honestly, the sky’s the limit in terms of outside capital,” Nagy said.

Prosper Portland’s dollars are restricted to projects inside urban growth boundaries, but the other two partners have no such restrictions.

The program could be most beneficial for relatively small groups that have yet to seismically upgrade their buildings, said Susan Steward, executive director of the Building Owners and Managers Association of Oregon.

“It seems to me to be smart to go out and do the small buildings, the mom-and-pops, where (upgrading) is not even on their radar,” she said.

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