Clark Kjos/BPA/Walsh

Portland Firm to Conduct Health Study

Portland – Clark/Kjos Architects (CKA) was awarded a 2009-2010 grant from the Academy of Architecture for Health Foundation (AAHF) to research best practices in designing more effective inpatient care units for hospital facilities.

One of only two grants awarded nationwide by the AAHF, CKA’s research project for “Evaluation of Charting and Staff Collaborations Using Electronic Medical Records” will analyze how nurses work on inpatient units; identify which configurations of electronic medical record (EMR) are most effective for staff documentation and staff collaboration; and determine planning and design strategies which improve specific outcomes for patient care.

The project will rely on participation from members of the AIA Academy of Architecture for Health, a knowledge community of several hundred hospital designers who will provide evaluations of acute care inpatient unit designs to help answer the questions asked by the Clark/Kjos research team. The team is currently working to develop and distribute participation kits to gather input from architects and hospitals staff.

The final report will be complete in January 2010, with the first public presentation of the research findings to occur at the Center for Health Design’s Healthcare Design .09 Conference.

BPA Announces Major Transmission Line Project

Portland - The Bonneville Power Administration has decided to build a major new transmission project - the McNary-John Day 500-kilovolt transmission line. The $246 million project will create about 700 jobs at its peak. When energized in late 2012, the line will allow BPA to provide transmission service to more than 870 megawatts of energy, including service for more than 700 megawatts of new wind energy. Work will begin this spring.

The plans were spurred on by an additional $3.25 billion in borrowing authority for BPA from the U.S. Treasury for capital projects in a newly signed law. The increased access to capital removed a major uncertainty for BPA, helping enable the decision to proceed with this project.

The line will run from BPA's McNary Substation in Oregon, cross the Columbia River and run parallel to the Columbia River for 75 miles, mostly within existing rightsof- way, then cross the Columbia River back into Oregon and end at BPA's John Day Substation.

McNary-John Day has been under consideration as part of a larger process designed to meet load growth and facilitate renewable resource development needs. It is one of four high-voltage transmission lines BPA has proposed to meet the region's transmission needs.

Walsh Employees Move Toward Greener Company

Portland - Walsh Construction Co. /Oregon (WCC/OR) has implemented several practices in the last few months to continue to “green” its operations, both in the field and in its headquarters office in Portland. Recent activities include an in-house LEED AP exam preparation class, as well as water use reduction upgrades and solar power installation.

An eight-week intensive study class has been implemented to prepare staff for the LEED Accredited Professional exam. The class has helped increase the number of LEED Accredited Professionals on the WCC staff to 23.

In December, the company replaced existing fixtures at water closets, lavatories, urinals and sinks with low-flow fixtures. The replacement will create an estimated 81% reduction in water usage and result in roughly $320 savings per year.

WCC/OR is in the process of installing a 28.74kW solar photo-voltaic system. Once the system is fully operational, WCC/OR will harvest enough electricity from the sun to provide approximately 13% of its yearly usage. This system supplements the 100% wind power purchased by the company.

Company touts World’s Greenest Building

Independence – In the pioneer town of Independence, Ore., Independence Station is on track to become the world’s greenest building with the highest LEED® rating ever awarded for new construction. The 40 percent complete, 57,000 sq ft mixed-use structure by Aldeia, LLC will house offices, retail space, a restaurant, research facilities, a Direct Current (DC) power based data server room, classroom space and 15 residential units for 21st century pioneers who will work together to shatter worldwide energy consumption guidelines.

Independence Station’s potential rating is owed primarily to its use of renewable energy sources – mostly the sun and vegetable oil – and the means of distributing, storing and managing that energy efficiently throughout the building.

In cooler, cloudier months, the building will rely more on a biodiesel-fueled cogeneration and thermal storage system, including a retired tug-boat engine, which will serve as a backup and run on waste vegetable oil from local restaurants. Radiant floor heating and cooling, displacement ventilation, solar water heating, day lighting design, an ice-based cooling storage system, water based ground source heat pump, and extensive use of lightemitting diodes (LEDs) are some of the systems that minimize Independence Station’s “off the grid” energy consumption.

The $15 million community will include 15 distinctive one – and two-bedroom condominiums. With living space of 600 to 1,660 sq ft, the uniquely designed Smart Homes are expected to range from the $300,000s into the $600,000s.

Port of Portland Changes Plumbing to Save Water

Portland - Major facilities are particularly under pressure to make water efficiency a priority because of the massive amount of water occupants use daily. This has been true of Portland International Airport, which tracked a record 14.6 million passengers in 2007.

The toilets were an obvious target for water savings. The terminal’s 400 toilets, averaging 200 flushes apiece per day, used 3.5 gallons of water per flush. Collectively, the totals were staggering: The toilets’ 80,000 flushes consumed 280,000 gallons of water every day. The Port of Portland installed a dual-flush system which uses only 1.1 gallons per flush. The airport is now only using an average of 103,000 gallons of water daily.