Architecture Firm:
GBD ARCHITECTS Incorporated
Completion Date:
February 2008
Project Format (not yet built / built):
Built
Project Size (sf / site acreage):
Site: 100,000 sf (2.3 acres); Building: 205,000 gsf
Project Location:
Portland, Oregon
Interior Designer:
GBD ARCHITECTS Incorporated
General Contractor:
Hoffman Construction Company
Landscape Designer:
Otak
Lighting Consultant:
Benya
Structural Engineer:
KPFF Consulting Engineers
Mechanical Engineer:
Glumac
Electrical Engineer:
Glumac
Commissioning Agent:
BEA Consulting
Air Quality Consultant:
Glumac
Civil Engineer:
Otak
Other:
Hardware: David Chaffin; Acoustical: Altermatt & Associates; Traffic: Kittelson & Associates; Signage: Anderson Krieger; Artwork: Bullseye Glass
Owner:
Owner/Developer: Gerding Edlen Development
Sustainable Sites:
The Casey condominium project captures all but one of the possible points in the Sustainable Sites LEED category; therefore, the qualities and benefits of its site are quite abundant.
The new building replaces an old abandoned and crumbling brick building and is nestled in the southeast corner of the full city block, as a modern and inviting urban infill tight against three existing locally historic buildings.
One of the most unique aspects of The Casey is that it is the only quarter-block high-rise building constructed in the Pearl District and entire NW Portland downtown district at large. In so doing, the building’s small footprint, in relation to vertical occupancy, greatly reduces the site disturbance and creates a high development density. Both qualities contribute to a positive impact on the immediate neighborhood, further extending and strengthening the well-established urban fabric of the Pearl District and Brewery Blocks Redevelopment.
Regarding the proximity to and availability of sustainably-oriented and public transportation: there is a Portland Streetcar line one block away; as well, multiple Tri-Met bus lines and the MAX light-rail and are located within a 1-mile radius. A Zipcar (flexible daily car rental service) street parking space is located immediately adjacent to the main lobby. Additionally, an abundance of secure bicycle storage racks and changing facilities are available on the ground floor for residents and visitors; public bike racks are installed on the sidewalk in direct sight of the main lobby.
Prior to starting demolition on the existing building, an extensive asbestos abatement was carried out, to assure that no further contamination of the site or surrounding environment would be affected. Furthermore, a strong effort to reduce the heat-island effect was accomplished, with on-site landscaping and more than half of total roof area as eco-roof coverage. The retail spaces and residential entrances are graciously protected by large architectural canopies, designed with integrated lighting; this keeps the ground level inviting and safe for pedestrians, shoppers and residents, while not allowing light trespass to any adjacent properties.
Toward Zero Energy:
From the exterior façade, to the core of the 61 urban homes, many strides were made to produce an energy conscious and self-powering building. Although the building’s skin is comprised of roughly 50% “clear” area, the expansive curtain wall is glazed with high-performance glass units, which are extra insulated with argon gas and (at the time of design) a new-to-market, progressively advanced low-e coating.
From the early design phase, photovoltaic (PV) panels were a high priority feature, to be incorporated into the overall green scheme. The plethora of miscellaneous mechanical and plumbing equipment that would otherwise be exposed to dwellers of the West Hills, are creatively hidden by an extensive raised canopy of PV panels, as is the tallest roof spine element. All together, the panels produce 23 kilowatts of electricity that will offset 2.5% of the building’s energy load − enough to power all lighting loads in common spaces and corridors. Product selections and the overall design for lighting further help to reduce energy with highly efficient light fixtures, generating more light with fewer fixtures, and lower wattage lamp sources that use less energy. Photocells and motion-sensing lighting control systems in the garage, stairwell and common areas were installed so that lighting automatically turns on only when needed, conserving energy while maintaining occupant safety. All of the appliances installed have Energy-star ratings or are energy efficient in their own right when compared to the baseline products on the market − even the Sub-Zero refrigerators take less daily power than a 100-watt light bulb.
The building’s use of energy consumption is further reduced via high-efficiency heat pumps, cooling towers and boilers. The building is served by a Water Source Heat Pump System in which a two-pipe closed water circuit circulates constantly throughout the building, serving each heat pump. As the main loop circuit is maintained between 65 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit, these systems achieve energy conservation, by pumping heat from warm to cold spaces whenever they coexist anywhere within the building. The individual heat pumps installed are the most efficient available on the market. Furthermore, the two condensing gas water heaters for the building are preheated off a double wall-heater exchanger connected to an HVAC condensing hot water loop system; therefore, the mechanical and plumbing heating systems capture, recycle and re-use from one another, to reduce the demand on raw energy that would otherwise be pulled from the City’s grid.
Although a ground-source heat loop system was originally planned for the project, it was a different strategy using individual equipment that proved to result in the higher sustainable savings. Likewise, each condominium is equipped with a 95% efficient Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV). This ventilator provides fresh air to each condominium, but only when one of three fans (kitchen, bathroom or heat pump) is turned on, thus conserving energy. The HRV also recovers waste heat energy from the unit exhaust. Waste heat from the trash room exhaust is recovered by a heat exchanger on the roof to pre-temper the ventilation air. This process saves on heating energy and allows for downsizing of the common make-up air system. As well, variable controls, variable flow drives and staged operations on mechanical equipment, such as exhaust fans and water pumps, respond to fluctuating demand and operate only when needed.
Local and Sustainable Materials:
It was important for designers of The Casey to make responsible material selections. The most prominent exterior materials, other than glass, are the beautiful thin pre-cast concrete panels that clad the solid masses of the building. These panels are the patented product of a local company 20 miles outside of Portland and use recycled aggregates and sand within the mixes. Additionally, many of the substantial materials were fabricated in the Northwest, within a 500-mile radius. Such materials include: structural reinforcing bars and steel framing, light-gauge wall framing and gypsum board and interior stile and rail wood doors.
Choosing wood materials used in any large project is a crucial part of building sustainably. The team was stringent on the requirement that all engineered wood flooring, FTR plywood and wood backing, and much of the millwork, come from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Certified forests.
A significant number of the interior and exterior materials also contain recycled content and/or are made from rapidly renewable sources. While the exact percentages vary between each of the materials, it typically ranges from 5% up to 30%, for both the Post-consumer and Post-industrial categories. Some of the major contributors are concrete columns and slabs, glazing system of glass and aluminum curtain wall, aluminum flashings, as well as flooring sheet goods in the residences. One note is that metal wall panels contain 85% post-consumer and composite wood backing, and wood cores have 100% post-industrial recycled material. Rapidly renewable finishes such as MDF/composite wood cores, doors with Agrifiber core and wool carpeting were used extensively throughout.
Bullseye Glass, a local glass art company, fabricated the art panels, which play a significant part in the unique character and identity of The Casey on both exterior and interior spaces. Of special note, all glass materials and products used, the fabrication and facilities, as well as all three artists and designers reside locally in Portland.
Finally, the General Contractor team was crucial in instilling an innovative and progressive construction recycling program from the start of demolition. We took extra steps on this project and sent a contractor representative to each of the distribution sites (or potential sites) to monitor exactly what was going there and how it was sorted. Detailed tracking tickets from haulers were maintained in a log, with individual categories for exactly what quantity of each material was actually recycled each month. It is anticipated that this attention to detail will lead to approximately 90% of all construction waste materials being recycled, keeping thousands of tons of waste out of landfills. Even the old growth timber beams and columns from the existing building were cleaned of asbestos, re-milled and used to build the desks and wall elements in the developer’s new office expansion.
Sustainable Water:
Domestic hot water is supplied via two 94% extra high-efficiency central boiler plants within the building, one at the roof and one in the bottom parking garage, which each respectively serve water to half the levels of the building from top-down and basement-up. This strategy reduces water loads and required pressures, therefore saving on water usage and heating costs.
Water use is minimized by the exclusive use of low-flow bath and kitchen plumbing fixtures, dual-flush toilets and water-efficient appliances throughout, allowing for water savings of a minimum 30% over a typical residence.
Storm water filtration and treatment is conducted with the installation of a 3,800 square foot eco-roof, resulting in a 26% reduction of storm water runoff for the site. The eco-roof is designed with environmentally appropriate landscaping, including native and drought-tolerant species, which do not require irrigation once established. Consequently, in combination with not using any potable water for landscape irrigation, the building achieves a 50% reduction in water usage compared to a typical building of this size and typology.
Water filtered by the eco-roof area will drain directly to the public storm system through separate drains and piping system. Non eco-roof areas will drain to the first parking level and connect to a storm filter prior to entering the public storm system. The purpose and advantage of both systems is to keep any contaminates out of the public storm water system, as well as to regulate the flow of storm water into the public system during heavy rainfall.
IEQ and Comfort:
There are no “shotgun” units to be found in this particular high-rise condo project. The Casey sets itself apart in that all but eight of the residences are truly urban homes, each open to cornered views and plentiful natural daylight, with floor-to-ceiling glass in the living spaces. Despite the significant amount of clear glazing, high performance windows, solar shading from exterior balconies and awnings reduce solar heat gain and the need for air conditioning in the summer, while allowing plentiful sunlight in during the winter. Also providing natural ventilation and adding user-controlled comfort, numerous manually operable windows are positioned in every bedroom, kitchen and living space.
The Casey also makes great strides toward ensuring a clean, comfortable and high quality Indoor Environment. Improved indoor air and health quality results from using urea formaldehyde-free composite woods (cabinetry, doors), all-wool carpeting, paints and floor finishes and more. These materials also contain low amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOC’s), which reduces off-gassing of toxic or irritating fumes, leading to a cleaner air and less chance of allergic reactions.
In addition, each residence is equipped with Heat Recovery Ventilators (HRV’s) that take heat from the unit’s exhaust stream and use it to condition fresh air, provided directly to each residence; this process contributes to improved indoor air quality. 100% fresh air is pre-tempered from exhaust heat stream and supplied to each urban home and parking garage space. Corridors are supplied with 100% fresh air but also filtered with efficient (MERV 13) filters.
All contractors follow specific guidelines on-site to contain dust and prevent contamination during construction. Residents have access to close, convenient recycling and garbage collection rooms at each of their individual floors. The homeowner and tenant manuals institute a green housekeeping program, in which residents and retail tenants are given access to green cleaning products, which are less harmful to human health.
Collective Wisdom and Feedback:
The Developer-Architect-Contractor relationship that has existed on many progressive projects such as The Casey, all start out with an “Eco-Charrette.” These sessions happen early in the schematic-to-development design phases and jump start the creative juices and sustainable brainstorming, from all trades and consultants. Specifically for The Casey, our LEED+Eco Charrette, as well as numerous pricing and idea generating meetings, produced hundreds of ideas on how to achieve a truly progressive building that is also elegant, cost-effective and achieves a LEED Platinum rating. Commissioning allows feedback on how effective some of the measurements have become. Employees from both the developer and architecture firms purchased units in The Casey, in part to help adjudicate building performance from a building tenant perspective; the daily feedback is useful on many levels.
The project team includes a collective body of knowledge, from designing and developing numerous LEED certified buildings. The General Contractor has worked extensively to educate and communicate up front with subcontractors and vendors as to the specifics of what is being included in LEED submissions, why and where it is being done and how to properly document and submit the appropriate information. This work not only streamlines the process for all parties involved but insures that important targeted credits and sustainable goals do not get missed. In addition to the above project team and processes, we also brought in outside ideas from our internal “Lessons Learned” lunch series, which focuses on how to best execute specific sustainable features. Pros and Cons of all ideas have been heavily evaluated from cost, effectiveness and usability standpoints with all processes.
Regional/Community Design:
The community is an eclectic mix of historic and new industrial buildings; the team balanced all of this by adding street activity and sidewalk covering that cannot be found in adjacent blocks.
We created a backdrop for public art, and our building invites people to enter and experience the art. The transparency of the entry and the retail spaces enhances the street experience and provides a counter balance to many of the surrounding existing older brick warehouse revival buildings, which as a majority, ignore the heavy pedestrian presence along both streets.
The Casey sales center is a built model of the residential unit and is open to the public as an educational exhibit of how our design strategies and products all come together to produce one of the most sustainable projects to date.
Since the start of construction, the O.A.C. team has engaged the real-estate, planning, development and architectural community, by conducting tours of the model sales unit and the building on site. We have had both the Urban Land Institute group of Portland as well as the City’s Office of Sustainable Development visit to get an overview of the project and discuss the strategies and features we have employed.
Since the inception of The Casey project, nothing less than a LEED Platinum building was the ultimate goal for all involved. We are embarking upon and eagerly awaiting our receipt of this certification within a very short time. As long as all of the project teams’ and consultants’ diligent efforts, creativity and willingness to think and act progressively for the sake of environmentally responsible development and rich, elegant architecture comes to fruition − that will be the ultimate contribution to the community and Northwest Region abroad. There is nothing more instrumental in continuing to push the Sustainable and Environmental movements forward than to have your actions stand as evidence that ideas and ambitions can be realized.
