This will be the largest Living Building in the world

A new 58,000-sf mixed-use project will be Portland's first certified Living Building, Oregon's largest Living Building, and the largest certified Living Building in the world.

Designed to last 500 years, the building has a projected Energy Use Index (EUI) of 18.6 kBtu/SF/YR; a typical Portland office building built to code has a EUI of 40.8 kBtu/SF/YR. A 133 kW PV solar array will occupy 8,300 sf on the building's roof and another 195.4 kW PV array will occupy 10,300 sf on the roof of a partner organization.

The building will also include a 71,000 gallon cistern in the basement comprising 62,500 gallons of rainwater storage and 8,500 gallons of stormwater detention. All of the building’s water and energy needs will be produced via rainwater capture, and the onsite and offsite solar arrays.

A five-story vacuum flush composting waste system will be included as well as a urinal-to-fertilizer system that transforms waste to resource. Additionally, 70% of the building perimeter spaces can be ventilated or cooled with operable windows and 65% of regularly occupied spaces will be daylit throughout the year.

PAE Living Building interior

The building's first floor will include retail, a 40-stall bike storage, showers, restrooms, lockers, and a fitness center for building occupant use. The second floor will feature Class A Commercial Office space available for lease, while floors three through five will have office space to be occupied by PAE, the project's MEP engineer.

The project is scheduled for a 2020 groundbreaking with an anticipated completion date in 2021. KPFF is the structural and civil engineer and Gerding Edlen is the developer.

PAE Living Building exterior at night

Architectural concrete as we know it today was invented in the 19th century. It reached new heights in the U.S. after World War II when mid-century modernism was in vogue, following in the footsteps of a European aesthetic that expressed structure and permanent surfaces through this exposed material. Concrete was treated as a monolithic miracle, waterproof and structurally and visually versatile.

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