A host of local contractors this week will unveil their creations for the Kenton Women’s Village Pod Build Challenge, a friendly design-build competition to create sleeping pods for women transitioning out of homelessness.

Teams representing multiple Portland-area commercial and residential builders have spent the past eight weeks creating 21 sleeping pods for the Kenton Women’s Village transitional housing community in North Portland. Each team donated labor and materials to build a structure based on one of three proven designs by SRG Partnership, Scott | Edwards Architecture and Portland State University’s Center for Public Interest Design.

Teams were encouraged to create their own custom touches within the bounds of the original floor plan, and residents of the village will help judge the designs as part of a community celebration of the volunteer effort. Participants will be putting the finishing touches on their creations during Friday’s event, which runs from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Kenton Women’s Village site at North Columbia Boulevard and Argyle Way.

The new pods will be judged in four categories: Best Innovative Use of Materials, Most Creative Modifications, Best Craftsmanship, and Best in Show. Winners will be announced during a ceremony that begins at 1 p.m. The pods will also be available for viewing during a Portland Design Week open house event on Sunday, April 7, from 2:30-4 p.m.

The Pod Build Challenge was created by Catholic Charities in partnership with the Andersen Construction Foundation, PSU Center for Public Interest Design, the City of Portland Joint Office of Homeless Services, SRG Partnership, Home Builders Foundation, Home Builders Association, Kenton Neighborhood Association, and others. LMC Construction has spearheaded the effort to prepare the site for the installation of the pods, and has been working pro bono since last fall to install concrete pads, utilities, and landscaping.

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Portland is still on track to become the first city in the country to require deconstruction of some structures.

The Portland City Council on Wednesday heard arguments from representatives of the building industry as well as supporters of historic preservation, and in the end remained committed to an Oct. 31 implementation date for a policy that would require deconstruction of structures built in 1916 or earlier and those designated historic.

“The historic resolution adopted by the City Council is tremendously exciting for us,” said Stephen Reichard, executive director of the ReBuilding Center in Portland.

The Deconstruction of Buildings Law, sponsored by Mayor Charlie Hales, is intended to increase salvage of valuable materials, reduce emissions and landfill waste and minimize other adverse effects of standard demolition, such as dust and noise. The Bureau of Planning and Sustainability will have to report back to the council within the first six to 12 months the law is in effect.

Some people who testified at Wednesday’s rule-making session asked the council to push up the cutoff date from 1916, to include more buildings. Others from the building community said October was too soon for implementation.

Paul Grove of the Home Builders Association can accept the ordinance; however, he expressed concern about a possible insufficiency of firms certified by the city to perform deconstruction. He said the practice could also add to the cost of projects, and thus, the cost of homes.

“I think the last thing we want is to raise housing prices,” he said.

Under the , after October, some projects in Portland will require certified firms to carry out deconstruction. The city will offer training in July.

Deconstruction – i.e., taking apart a structure with an eye toward reuse of materials – doesn’t require special equipment or skills, and most demolition-focused firms can perform either process for a client. But because of the time required for deconstruction, the practice usually costs an owner thousands more dollars per project, up to 80 percent, according to the city.

So to encourage owners and help cover the gap, the city in September 2015 established a grant program divvying state Department of Environmental Quality dollars. To date, it has funded 11 projects up to $2,500 each. The Bureau of Planning and Sustainability plans to seek additional dollars from DEQ.

In February, the council approved a resolution to draft rules to get the ball rolling.

In 2015, 337 single-family homes in Portland were demolished. Of those, 30 were deconstructed. The city estimates 4,800 tons of material from those razings ended up in a landfill, and material worth $5 million was not repurposed.

A different effort by Hales to raise revenue for affordable housing by supporting deconstruction was met with harsh criticism. He planned to charge $25,000 for “one-for-one” demolitions of old homes, but the idea was sunk before a formal vote.

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