Independence Station Aims Highest LEED Rating

A project in Independence, Ore., is taking the ideas of both “green” and “mixeduse” to a whole new level.

By Amy Rose Davis

Slated for completion in 2010, IndependenceStation is currently on tap to achievebetween 64 and 66 LEED points and attainboth a platinum rating and bragging rightsfor the title of highest LEED rating in theworld.

Independence Station will try to capture the most LEED points of any building in the world, to date. (Image courtesy of Chuck Miller Construction)

Developer Steven Ribeiro of Aldeia Development of Portland, says he didn’t set outlooking to achieve such a feat; in fact, hehadn’t even heard about the LEED ratingsystem when he took his vision of a mixedusebuilding to a designer in 2004. He did,however, have sustainability in mind. “I’m anadvocate of earth stewardship,” says Ribeirosays. “I’m a certified energy efficiency nut.” Iwanted to develop something that washighly energy efficient.”

Ribeiro purchased approximately a halfblockarea in the small town of Independence,Ore., and began building in 2004, butconstruction halted in 2005 when he hit asnag with funding. The town, close to Salem,Ore., marks the end of the Oregon Trail,which pioneers used to travel across thecountry on the journey West.

By the time he found a new fundingsource, the vision for the project had grownand evolved, and he engaged AnkromMoisan Associated Architects of Portland todesign the project from where it stood atthe time to a finished product.

The project was stalled when financing fell through, which gave the developer more time to search for green options. (Image courtesy of Chuck Miller Construction)

Scott Thayer, Principal at Ankrom Moisan,says that the status of the project when hejoined in the fall of 2006 did pose some challenges.“The structural frame of the buildingwas actually built,” he said. “The basicdesign was established. We paused andreevaluated and then completed the design.We couldn’t radically change the design, butthere is a lot one can do in the selection ofmaterials and systems. Sustainability canstill be addressed.”

When completed, Independence Stationwill offer 15 condominiums priced between$300,000 and $600,000 on the second andthird floors of the three-story building. Thefirst floor of the the 57,000-sq-ft square footbuilding will house 13,000 square feet ofretail space, a virtual wine mall, communityclassroom space, and a biodiesel laboratorythat will be used by students and faculty ofOregon State University.

The estimated budget for the building is$15 million. The general contractor for thebuilding is Johnson Controls of Seattle.,Washington; the other owner’s representativeis Chuck Miller of Chuck Miller Construction,located outside Boise, Idaho.Engineering services are being provided byBalzhiser & Hubbard Engineers of Eugene,Oregon.

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The building team also includes severalgreen building partners and consultants,who offer their expertise, including MacDonaldEnvironmental Planning and Green BuildingServices, both of Portland. MacDonaldEnvironmental is providing greenwall consulting,and Green Building Services is actingas the LEED consultant on the project.

The project is integrating a variety of sustainableand “green” technologies. Thebuilding will operate almost entirely on acombination of solar energy and biodieselfuel, actually feeding the power grid duringpeak times from the 110KW solar- panel systemand operating on recycled vegetable oilfrom area restaurants during non-peak sunlighthours. Two 4,500 gallon cisterns and a72,000-gallon underground reservoir willreclaim rainwater and filter it to nearpotablestandards for use in toilets, laundry,and irrigation systems on the green roof.The building also features radiant heatingand cooling, concrete construction, highperformancewindows, reclaimed lumber,and a green roof and living wall.

Mark Penrod, Vice President and MechanicalDepartment Manager at Balzhiser & Hubbard Engineers, in Eugene, Oregon, saysthat integrating the sustainability feature ofIndependence Station was a matter of“hunting for synergies” in the systems andtechnologies. “The result is often more thanthe two elements,” he says. “It was a matterof incorporating multiple technologies thatare trying to fulfill the same operationalfunction on different levels.”“There’s nothing in this building that isn’trelated to something else,” says Penrod.“This is a first for me, and I’ve worked onabout 350 projects.”

Ribeiro has a vision for the project thatcontinues beyond the completed building.On the two properties adjoining the building,he envisions year-round food productionand an engineered wetland with a possiblepark for the city, but no plans are on thedrawing board as yet.

Ribeiro also plans to offer tours of thebuilding to anyone interested in sustainabledevelopment, by bussing in tourists andbuilding professionals from Portland andSalem. He wants the building to be a showcasefor green retailers as well as for thetechnologies and systems within the building.

“This building will never be ‘done,’” hesays Ribeiro. “As new things come out, we’llswap out the old things.” Ribeiro’s vision isto have a building that is continually improvingand integrating new technologies.

Condo Owners will be ‘21st Century Pioneers’ in Sustainability

To occupy the 15 one- and two-bedroomcondos at Independence Station, Ribeiro islooking for people who share his passion forenergy efficiency and independence.

“I’m looking for 15 21st st Century pioneers,”he says, citing the fact that Indepen-dence, Oregon is the historic end of the OregonTrail.

Future residents of Independence Stationwill find condos equipped with a number ofefficiency features and green technologies.Condo kitchens, for example, will featureinduction cooktops, which work with metalalloy pans to create an electromagnetic fieldthat heats only the pan and its contentswhile leaving the cooktop cool to the touch.The induction cooking method keeps heatcontained to a small area, so it doesn’t heatup the kitchen as a regular cooktop might. Inaddition, induction cooking offers a range ofheat control more accurate and responsivethan even a gas cooktop, boiling water morerapidly and cooling down almost instantly.

Another feature in the kitchen will be inunitcomposting machines. Residents will beable to compost waste in their condos odorfree. “You can leave a whole salmon skin inthese units and you won’t smell it,” saysRibeiro says. He envisions that residents willone day be able to use the compost in thefood production on adjacent properties,once they are developed.

The condo units will also take advantageof all of the energy- saving technologies andsystems present in the building. Ribeiro citesstatistics from the 2000-Watt Society basedin Switzerland that say the average personin the United States uses 12,000 watts ofenergy per day. He estimates that residentsof his building will be able to use about 17%of that amount, or 1,440 watts of energy perperson per day, far surpassing the 2000-Watt Society’s goal of 2,000 watts per day.

Interconnected, Related Energy Sources will Create a Highly Adaptable Building

Part of the vision for Independence Stationis to create a building that adapts to theweather and environment throughout theday and seasons. With the degree and varietyof energy initiatives in the building, singlingout one technology or system asdistinctive is virtually impossible.

The building stands near the end of the Oregon Trail. (Image courtesy of Chuck Miller Construction)

“The number of energy sources and theinterconnection and interrelation betweenthem is far and away more than anythingI’ve seen, especially on a project of thissize,” says Scott Thayer of Ankrom MoisanAssociated Architects.

Owner’s representative Chuck Milleragrees. “This project is so innovative andcutting edge that I don’t think anyone cansay they’ve worked on something like thisbefore,” he says.

The Energy for the building comes from avariety of sources. On the roof and side ofthe building, two photovoltaic solar arraystotaling 110 KW combine to provide solarenergy during peak hours of sunlight. Duringpeak hours, the arrays will feed power backto the grid and the building will operateindependently.

“The PV system is basically large enoughto produce all of the power requirements forthe building,” owner’s representative saysMiller says.

In off-peak hours for the PV arrays, thebuilding will be powered by a biodiesel generatorthat will run on recycled vegetable oilfrom local restaurants. During these nonpeakhours, the generator will recharge batteriesand produce back-up power asneeded.

In addition to the PV arrays and biodieselgenerator, the building will also be suppliedwith heat by a groundwater heating andcooling system. Because the building itself isdesigned to capture waste heat and maintaina fairly consistent temperature, anyIndependence Stationsmall heating and cooling needs can beaddressed by the radiant flooring system ona space by space basis. The exterior panelsof the building are designed with tubing tohold waste heat and, if necessary when thebuilding has no need for this stored heat,discharge the waste heat to the exterior ofthe building.

“Most buildings are thought of as staticentities,” says Mark Penrod. “The humanbody isn’t that way; you’re going to feedyourself or dress differently depending onyour environment.” He says that althoughbuildings don’t move around like people,they are similar in the sense that “theweather moves past them. Having a moredynamic building makes sense. This buildingcan react outside normal conditions.”

Dave Patterson, Regional General Managerat Johnson Controls, says there is abroader message at Independence Stationas well. “Sometimes in the focus on sustainability,people see only the green side, notthe energy independence side,” he says. “Ifthis design were incorporated across thecountry, we become more energy independentand less dependent on foreign energy.”