Portland-based InkBuilt Design is an architecture firm rooted in sustainability and resilience. Specializing in residential, commercial, and community projects, the firm integrates Passive House principles and prefabrication to enhance energy efficiency and long-term durability.

InkBuilt’s portfolio includes projects like the Beaverton Shelter, which provides 24-hour, year-round emergency housing, and the Timber Ridge development, offering intergenerational affordable housing. The firm also played a key role in the renovation of Heartwood Commons, supportive housing that prioritizes community and sustainability.

Driven by the belief that architecture should serve both people and the environment, InkBuilt’s designs emphasize adaptability, affordability, and high performance. The firm’s deep expertise in sustainable building practices helps clients reduce energy consumption while creating spaces that remain functional and livable for generations.

InkBuilt collaborates with nonprofits and community groups to advocate for equitable housing and responsible development. Their work on the Josephine, a mixed-use residential building in a historic district, exemplifies their approach to balancing innovation with practicality.

As a woman-owned firm, InkBuilt emphasizes design-build collaboration, focusing on efficiency, affordability, and performance. Through projects like these, InkBuilt Design continues to explore new ways architecture can address housing challenges while promoting sustainability and community well-being.

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Tillamook Row, a 16-unit community with shared amenities in Portland is now leasing. Developed by BCMC Properties, and designed and built by Green Hammer, Tillamook Row is the first Zero Energy multifamily project in Portland to serve renters. It includes five buildings and has a mix of owner and renter units oriented around a central courtyard. All five buildings were designed using and modeling to meet Zero Energy goals. Here’s a photo gallery from the project site. And check out the 91视频 print edition for the full story on Aug. 13.

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When the first phase of the Orchards at Orenco affordable housing development opened in Hillsboro last year, it was built to stringent 鈥� and expensive 鈥� passive house standards. But the developer, REACH Community Development, didn’t think it would be possible to do the same for the second phase because of higher construction costs.

Yet thanks to lessons learned during the first phase and assistance of a national passive house nonprofit, the second phase of Orchards at Orenco not only was completed for less money than the first phase, but also achieved passive house certification.

To meet passive house standards, according to Michael Bonn, a senior associate at Ankrom Moisan Architects, which designed the second phase, a building 鈥渕ust have super insulation, super-efficient HVAC and be super airtight.鈥�

The decision to shoot for passive house certification, Bonn said, was made early in the design phase at the urging of Katrin Klingenberg, co-founder and executive director of the Passive House Institute US (PHIUS). The organization also provided financial help.

No money was budgeted for a passive house consultant on the project, Bonn said, but during the schematic design phase, PHIUS officials ran tests for passive house through their software and filled in as low-cost consultants.

鈥淭hey really stepped up to help support the passive house campus as an example of what could be done,鈥� Bonn said.

PHIUS was able to provide consulting services 鈥渇or a nominal fee鈥� because it had received a MacArthur Foundation grant to encourage more affordable housing construction featuring passive house standards, according to Mike Steffen, vice president and general manager of Walsh Construction, the project’s general contractor.

By applying what it had learned in phase one, Steffen said, the phase two team was able to reduce the cost of meeting passive house certification requirements. The total cost of the first phase was $14,565,874, while the cost of the second phase was $13,641,339.

The main cost-saving design change that allowed pursuit of passive house certification was in building orientation and shape. The first phase was an L-shaped building with one wing running east to west and the other running north to south, Steffen said. For the second phase, the massing was changed and the shape simplified.

鈥淚n phase two the building is wider and shorter 鈥� a simple rectangle shape,鈥� he said.

The newer building is oriented completely east and west, which improves energy efficiency and helps reduce solar loads, he said.

A more efficient design has allowed more units per square foot: 58 apartments per 49,000 square feet area in the second phase, compared to 57 apartments per 57,000 square feet in the first. Bonn said that was possible because the building’s shape allowed for narrower and deeper units without a reduction in floor area.

Space was also saved because the second phase didn’t require a large community room, as the first phase did. Slightly smaller lobbies and entrances at each floor saved even more space.

Because the building’s shape improved the skin-to-volume ratio, Bonn said, less insulation was needed under the slab. Also, exterior wall framing studs could be reduced to 2 inches by 8 inches, from 2 inches by 10 inches in the first phase, and less exterior insulation was needed.

鈥淔or the same reason, the walls could be a couple of inches thinner,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e reduced the cost premium by 8 percentage points, just under $1 million savings while still achieving passive house.鈥�

In addition, a less expensive roof design was used for phase two, Bonn said, even though that made airtightness more difficult to achieve. A flat roof with a parapet was used in the first phase, while a standard, sloping truss roof was used in the second.

That made the project much harder for the contractor, Steffen said, and took a lot of effort.

鈥淚t was a real challenge for us when the decision was made to go for passive house,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was tricky construction and took a lot of quality control and special inspections with infrared cameras and heat and pressurization.鈥�

To keep in line with passive house standards, triple-pane windows and an HVAC system similar to the one used in the first phase were used in the second, Bonn said. But the better orientation and shape of the second building resulted in more efficiency.

Both buildings feature heavy timber deck framing and American Craftsman-style-inspired sun shades over the windows, three different patterns of shingles and lap siding, Bonn said.

The second Orenco at Orchards building also includes many amenities, including exterior decks on the second and third floors, common laundry rooms, a fitness room and an outdoor playground. Like the first building, it also will have displays in the lobby so that tenants can track their energy use.

鈥淲e’re wrapping up installation right now so they can compare, and we hope it creates positive peer pressure,鈥� Bonn said.

A third phase for Orchards at Orenco is being planned, said Ben Sturtz, REACH Community Development’s housing development project manager. Plans call for 19 three-bedroom units in two buildings joined by a sky bridge. Because of that design and the need for bigger apartments, it is unlikely to be built to passive house standards.

鈥淥ur goal is to try to continue to build (to) passive house standards,鈥� Sturtz said, 鈥渂ut it will become more of a challenge in the future.鈥�

Orchards at Orenco II

Developer: REACH Community Development

General contractor: Walsh Construction

Architect: Ankrom Moisan Architects

Landscape architect: Walker Macy

Civil engineer: Humber Design Group

Structural engineer: Stone Wood Design Center

Mechanical engineer: PAE Engineers

Third-party certification: Earth Advantage

Owner’s representative: Housing Development Center

Total cost: $13,641,339

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Local building professionals will be able to learn about designing and building to lower energy loads at a conference slated for March 10 and 11.

Tad Everhart, board member of the Passive House Northwest nonprofit trade association based in Olympia, Wash., said the passive house method of construction, developed in Germany, consumes 80 to 90 percent less energy than most new construction.

The conference, sponsored by Passive House Northwest, will take place at the Ambridge Event Center at 333 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. For more information and to register, visit .

Everhart said Oregon took an early lead in passive house construction for homes, but it is becoming used more in tall buildings. One of the speakers, architect Lois Arena of Steven Winter Associates in Atlanta, will talk about a 26-story passive house building she’s designing.

More than a dozen speakers from around the country will give presentations, Everhart said. Some topics will include case studies of passive house construction, strategies for building, resiliency modeling and meeting the carbon challenge.

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Hammer & Hand will receive a 2015 Housing Innovation Award from the U.S. Department of Energy.

The award is in recognition of Hammer & Hand’s energy consulting and construction work on the Pumpkin Ridge Passive House in North Plains last year.

Zach Semke, Hammer & Hand’s director of business development, said this is the first time his company has received a DOE award.

The design for the Pumpkin Ridge house includes a 9.9-kW solar array, large exterior overhangs, sliding exterior panels, and 15-inch walls filled with cellulose materials, mostly newspapers.

鈥淚t’s a fusion of contemporary Northwest design with high-performance building techniques,鈥� Semke said.

Semke contributes the recognition for the Pumpkin Ridge project in large part to an early collaboration for the project between Hammer & Hand and Scott | Edwards Architecture.

鈥淲hat that process allowed was an end product where passive features and performance features are actually expressed in the architecture,鈥� Semke said.

The DOE award will be presented at the Energy & Environmental Building Alliance’s Excellence in Building Conference in Denver on Oct. 6.

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For the past 15 years, thousands of housing units have popped up around Orenco Station in Hillsboro, but they have been out of reach for people who earn $30,000 a year or less.

That situation is about to change with the opening of the first phase of Orchards at Orenco, a 57-unit affordable housing project that owner and developer REACH Community Development says is on target to become the largest multifamily passive house building in the country.

The decision to design and construct Orchards’ first phase to achieve one of the highest benchmarks of energy efficiency in the building world was about more than a title. In addition to filling a much-needed housing gap for those who earn 50 percent or less of median income for Washington County, where the project is located, pursuing an actual passive house project has given REACH a foundation for creating highly energy-efficient buildings that the organization will be able to implement on future affordable housing projects throughout the Portland-metro area, according to Laura Recko, REACH’s director of fundraising and public relations.

It also offered some valuable lessons for the construction firms that worked on the project, starting with general contractor Walsh Construction Co.

Students become teachers

Before joining the Orchards at Orenco project, Walsh had been introduced to the high standards of passive house while helping another organization study the feasibility of converting an existing building to meet passive house standards, said Mike Steffen, Walsh’s general manager聽 and the company’s principal in charge of the Orchards project. Even so, the general contractor faced a learning curve when it joined the Orchards project team, a situation that Steffen says was eased by the collaborative environment and the fact that Walsh was involved in the project from the earliest stages.

Walsh soon found itself passing the lessons it learned on to project subcontractors, few of which had ever been involved in a passive house project.

鈥淲e did the education 鈥� as part of the bid process,鈥� Steffen said.

Throughout construction, the company also provided subcontractors with reminders that a passive house project requires flexibility and a new way of thinking about the building process.

A Walsh foreman, for example, posted a cup next to a sign with a message: 鈥淣ormal does not exist here.鈥� Each time someone working on the project said, 鈥淭hat’s not how we normally do it,鈥� he or she was required to place a dollar in the cup.

鈥淭hey learned not to say 鈥榥ormally’ very quickly,鈥� Steffen said.

Education about the project is extending beyond just those who helped build it. Tenants who will live in the building also need to be taught a whole new way of interacting with their living environment.

鈥淲e’re really engaging our residents in new ways,鈥� said Ben Sturtz, REACH’s housing development project manager.

Something as simple as how residents treat the triple-paned windows in their apartments, for example, is critical.

鈥淭he windows are crucial to (the residents’) indoor air quality and their comfort,鈥� Sturtz said. 鈥淏ut also, if we’re really going to make this (project) energy efficient, how those windows get used is crucial.鈥�

Tracking how residents interact with the energy-efficient features of their units will be boosted by an energy monitoring system installed in the lobby area, Recko said. The flat-screen television will show how much energy is used in each unit throughout each month.

While the screen will allow residents to engage in a friendly competition to save energy, the monitor also will let REACH determine which residents need more help understanding how to obtain the best performance from the energy-saving features in their units.

鈥淚f we see hot spots, that will show us that we need to do more education and will allow us to offer incentives to reward those who are doing well,鈥� Recko said.

Planning for the future

Units in Orchards at Orenco already are in high demand, Sturtz said. Part of the draw is the opportunity for renters already watching their budgets to save money with lower utility bills. But another part of the attraction is a simple matter of supply and demand.

Sturtz estimates that there’s a need for approximately 19,000 living units in Washington County for residents who earn at or below the 50 percent median income level. But REACH and other groups that focus on affordable housing are only able to bring a total of roughly 150 units online each year. Surtz doesn’t see the imbalance improving in the future.

鈥淎s Portland becomes more unaffordable, it becomes an even bigger challenge,鈥� Sturtz said.

Recko, Sturtz and others at REACH consider their foray into the world of passive house a success. But while future phases of the development 鈥� as well as REACH projects throughout the Portland-metro area 鈥� will likely be 鈥減assive house inspired, they won’t be designed and built to pursue official designations, Sturtz said.

Finding the funding to cover the extra costs that came with the decision to pursue a designation for phase one, which Recko estimates increased the project cost by 10 percent to 11 percent, required stitching together money from several sources, which likely won’t be available for future phases. A $500,000 grant received for the first phase of Orchards, for example, was a one-time opportunity.

鈥淲e made a pitch to Meyer,鈥� Recko said. 鈥淲hat they did was over and above what they would typically invest. They were investing in (research and development).鈥�

Ground will be broken this month on a second phase of Orchards, near the first. Its 58 units of workforce housing are expected to be ready for tenants around June 2016.

A third, final phase is further down the road. REACH is considering possibly locating that development near an elementary school and including two- and three-bedroom units to serve families, according to Recko. But right now, planning is still in the early stages.

鈥淲e’re at the point where we’re starting to seek out financing,鈥� she said.

If you go

What: Orchards at Orenco phase I grand opening

When: June 29, 10:30 a.m.

Where: 6520 N.E. Cherry Drive, Hillsboro

More information: call 503-231-0682
Orchards at Orenco Phase 1

Owner/developer: REACH Community Development

Architects: Ankrom Moisan Architects (of record), William Wilson Architects (design)

General contractor: Walsh Construction

Construction manager: Housing Development Center

Passive house consultant: Green Hammer

Special limited partner: Washington County Housing Authority

Funding partners: Enterprise Community Partners, Community Housing Fund, Energy Trust of Oregon, Meyer Memorial Trust, NOAH, Oregon Housing and Community Services, NeighborWorks America, Washington County Office of Community Development, Wells Fargo

The post Atypical affordable housing appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

When Eric Lemelson and his development team started to brainstorm the idea that would grow into One North, they knew they wanted the project to serve as an example of what could be accomplished by almost any other developer in the Portland-metro area.

The East and West buildings of the three-building office and retail development north of Fremont Street between North Williams and Vancouver avenues in Portland’s Boise neighborhood were designed with Passive House principles in mind. But no actual certification or designation will be sought for One North.

Instead, the goal for the development is to find systems and approaches that could serve as examples and inspirations, the project team members say. As with any pioneering attempt, though, some parts of the project worked out better than others.

鈥榃ood’ you, could you?

Finding a source of timber for the extensive cedar siding on the West and East buildings required more than a little brainstorming, according to Cory Hawbecker, an associate and sustainability coordinator at Holst Architecture who is acting as project architect for the West and East buildings in the One North development.

The developers didn’t want to use old growth wood, which meant the siding would have to come from second- and third-growth timber, Hawbecker said.

The project team came up with a list of traditional sources for the wood, but Lemelson and his team rejected those options. The majority of the Forest Stewardship Council-certified wood used in the region comes from British Columbia. The development team was concerned that the wood is sometimes taken from First Nation native Indian land and that often only large companies benefit financially from harvest and sale.

The project team was able to find First Nation suppliers out there that benefit the native communities, but the could not provide the quantities needed for the project. So the team began looking instead for small private landowners in our 鈥渂ackyard鈥�.

General contractor R&H Construction took on the task of finding such a provider, Hawbecker said. After an extensive search, R&H found a small co-op of private landowners that used sustainable logging practices in Washington state.

鈥淭he owner said he wanted to be able to shake the hand of the guy who cut the trees,鈥� Hawbecker said. 鈥淲e actually went up (to Washington) and met the guy cutting the trees and saw his operation.鈥�

Working directly with the source providing the timber offered other benefits for the project. Wood from second- and third-growth timber often comes with knotholes and imperfections, Hawbecker said. By working with the co-op, the project team members were able to handpick what they felt were the best pieces for the project as well as specify which portions they did or didn’t want to use.

Lessons learned

One of the project’s unique sustainable features that was mentioned most often during the earliest days of planning for the One North development is no longer being considered as an operating component of the finished development.

A unique heat reclaim system would have transported heated water resulting from the cooling process for freezers at a nearby New Seasons store through a series of underground pipes. The heated water would have traveled up to the roof of the West building, where it would have been used to heat the building.

While heat reclaim, or heat waste, systems make sense in large structures 鈥� i.e., hospitals, data centers and universities 鈥� the project team realized that getting the system to be profitable on a smaller project like the West building would require additional equipment and money, according to Grayson Hart, who is serving as McKinstry‘s project preconstruction manager, and development team member Owen Gabbert.

The decision to step away from the heat reclaim system wasn’t made lightly. McKinstry, which is handling mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering and building for the East and West buildings, and the development team tried to make the system pencil out in a number of different ways; it even took a look at whether a nearby hospital could be looped in.

The developers also took several factors into consideration while evaluating whether the heat reclaim system should stay or go. New Seasons was already using some of the heated water from the cooling of its freezers to heat its own offices, Gabbert said, and the current low cost of energy combined with features included in the designs of the East and West buildings were already helping the buildings reach high energy efficiency.

In the end, they decided that investing additional money to finish the system would defeat the overall goal of the project.

鈥淲e could have spent the money,鈥� Gabbert said. 鈥淏ut the goal of the project is to say, 鈥楬ere are some systems and concepts (any project) can implement.’

鈥�(One North) is not some ivory tower research project. On our building, we’re getting returns that would be attractive to other developers, and we’re using concepts that can be applied anywhere in the metro area.鈥�

One North’s noteworthy green features

鈥� A variable refrigerant system, or VRF, did not provide only a budget-conscious option; it also meshed well with the project’s design aspects. Holst Architecture created a design that highlighted heavy wood beams in the buildings. Using the ductless VRF system allowed the team to reduce the amount of sheet metal ductwork needed in order to place the visual emphasis on the design.

鈥� Cavity insulation is composed of cellulose, 鈥渨hich is basically ground-up newspaper with a stabilizer to make it flame retardant,鈥� according to project architect Cory Hawbecker.

鈥� By designing and building in accord with Passive House principles, estimates indicate that the East and West buildings will use about half of the energy used by buildings designed and constructed traditionally.

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A contractor and an architecture firm tied to Portland recently received national recognition for contributions to the Karuna House project in Newberg.

Hammer & Hand, which has offices in Portland and Seattle, and Portland-based Holst Architecture were on the Karuna House project team that earlier this month earned a Beyond Green Merit Award during Building Innovation 2015: the National Institute of Building Sciences annual conference and expo in Washington, D.C. The award, one of four given by the institute’s Sustainable Buildings Industry Council, recognized the home as a superior example of high-performance green building.

The $2.4 million Karuna House was completed in 2013, and has received several green building certifications, including Earth Advantage platinum, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design platinum and Passive House. The Beyond Green awards jury praised the project team for providing valuable lessons to the industry by pursuing several green building certifications.

Portland-based Imagine Energy, a solar, heating and air conditioning company, was also recognized as a member of the Karuna House project team.

The Bullitt Center in Seattle received the top prize in the high-performance buildings competition. 鈥� Inka Bajandas

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Seven Portland homes built to passive house standards will be open to the public this week for the 11th annual .

Free tours of the homes will take place Friday through Sunday during the event intended to publicize the European green building technique. Sponsors include the International Passive House Association, Passive House Northwest and the North American Passive House Network.

Passive house standards aim to reduce buildings’ energy consumption through thick insulation, draft elimination and mechanical ventilation. The building technique is mainstream in Europe, but slowly gaining momentum in Portland and other parts of the U.S.

More information and the latest list of Portland homes that will be open for tours during the event is available on the .

The current list of homes that will be open for tours are:

33 N. Beech St. #201 (apartment)

Open: Sunday, 2 to 4 p.m.

Contact: Brooke Budy, 503-438-8301 or brookebudy@gmail.com

134 N.E. 72nd Ave. (new single-family home)

Open: Sunday, 2 to 4 p.m.

Contact: Amanda Caffall, 503-893-8708

2515 S.E. Ankeny St. (townhome)

Open: Sunday, 1 p.m.

Contact: Dylan Lamar, 503-704-0387

539 S.E. 59th Court (retrofitted single-family home)

Open: Friday, by appointment only between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m.

Contact: Maria or Tad Everhart, 503-239-8961

4237 S.E. 37th Ave. (community building in Kailash Ecovillage)

Open: Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Contact: Maitri Ersson, 971-219-1813 or gardensong3@gmail.com

2145 S.E. Brooklyn St. (new single-family home)

Open: Friday, 1 to 5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Contact: Matthew or Kathy Bradburn, 503-381-0134

4400 N.E. Skidmore St. (single-family home)

Open: Saturday, 10 a.m. to noon

Contact: Jeff Stern, 503-957-3172

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Walsh Construction is building a highly efficient, transit-oriented workforce housing project in the Orenco Station neighborhood of Hillsboro for owner/developer REACH CDC. The 57-unit project, designed by Ankrom Moisan Architects, is the first phase of the development, which over the course of three phases will total approximately 150 units.

The $14.5 million project is being built to Passive House standards with the goal of reducing tenants’ monthly energy bills. Green Hammer is serving as a consultant on the building, which will be the largest multifamily Passive House project in the country when completed. Work on the 12-month project is slated to wrap in June 2015.

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