The world’s largest commercial Living Building recently opened in Portland, Ore. The PAE Living Building, a five-story, 58,000 sf mixed-use structure, is also the first developer-driven Living Building. The Living Building Challenge (LBC) is the most stringent green building certification process that exists today, according to a news release from ZGF Architects, the building’s design firm. “The building uses less energy, water, and material than comparable buildings while delivering superior levels of occupant comfort and productivity,” the release says.
The PAE Living Building is one of the first buildings in Portland to install a PV-powered battery storage system and uses just one-fifth as much energy as a comparable building. It is projected to operate up to 100 days off-grid. Onsite and dedicated offsite solar generate net positive energy. A connection to the city grid enables the structure to give back surplus energy.
To meet LBC standards, all the building’s water needs are met via rainwater capture and treated onsite. A 71,000-gallon cistern holds rainwater, and a multistory-vacuum-flush toilet system transforms waste into a nutrient rich resource. It produces liquid fertilizer and agriculture-grade compost onsite.
Construction included healthy material selections using 100% Red List Free materials. A mass timber structural core reduces the project’s embodied carbon emissions by 30%. The design features daylighting, biophilic elements, and ventilation strategies to support a productive, low-carbon workplace. The fifth floor features a “deckony,” (a term coined by the project architect) occupying 1,500 sf in the southeast corner, giving users year-round access to an open-air lounge area.
Over the next 12 months, the building will record, track, and report its performance data. The project is expected to earn a full Living Building Challenge certification in the summer of 2023.
The PAE Living Building, designed to last 500 years, was privately developed and funded as a speculative office building through a partnership between Downtown Development Group, PAE, Edlen & Co., ZGF Architects, Walsh Construction Co., and Apex Real Estate Partners. “Its success shows the private sector that meeting the highest sustainability aspirations for new buildings is truly achievable in a developer-driven model,” the release says.
“Developer-driven and market-rate, the PAE Living Building demonstrates that similar projects are not only technically possible on a dense urban site, but they are also financially viable opportunities for private investors,” said Jill Sherman, Co-Founder, Edlen & Co. “Our early investor commitments helped mitigate the risk for the third-party cash investors who could have viewed this project as too risky during the initial phase of financing.” The team projects a 10% internal rate of return over a 10-year hold and a 10% rent premium.
Building Team:
Owner and/or developer: Developer: Edlen & Co.
Design architect: ZGF
Architect of record: ZGF
MEP engineer: PAE
Structural engineer: KPFF
General contractor/construction manager: Walsh Construction
Related Stories
| Sep 13, 2013
Insurance expert: Managing green liability risk not so different from 'normal' risk mitigation
Worries about legal liability have long dogged the sustainable building movement, but insurance expert Karen Erger says sustainability lawsuits are caused by the same types of issues that have always prompted clients to sue AEC firms.
| Sep 13, 2013
Video: Arup offers tour of world's first algae-powered building
Dubbed BIQ house, the building features a bright green façade consisting of hollow glass panels filled with algae and water.
| Sep 11, 2013
New design for Chinese science park aims for zero-carbon footprint
A new design for Jinshui Science and Technology Park in Zhengzhou, China is aiming for a zero-carbon footprint.
| Sep 4, 2013
Smart building technology: Talking results at the BUILDINGChicago/ Greening the Heartland show
Recent advancements in technology are allowing owners to connect with facilities as never before, leveraging existing automation systems to achieve cost-effective energy improvements. This BUILDINGChicago presentation will feature Procter & Gamble’s smart building management program.
| Sep 3, 2013
Grand Junction, Colo., courthouse aims to be first net-zero building on National Register of Historic Places
After a two year renovation, the 95-year oldWayne S. Aspinall Federal Building and Courthouse in Grand Junction, Colo., is being evaluated for LEED Platinum status and may become the National Register of Historic Places’ first net-zero-energy building.
| Aug 27, 2013
College of the Desert in Palm Springs to produce more energy than it consumes
A 60-acre solar farm next to the College of the Desert in Palm Springs, Calif., along with a number of sustainable building features, are projected to help the campus produce more energy than it uses.
| Aug 19, 2013
Integration of solar panels in building skin seen as key net-zero element
Recent high-profile projects, including stadiums in Brazil for the upcoming World Cup and Summer Olympics and a bank headquarters in the U.K., reflect an effort by designers to adopt building-integrated photovoltaics, or BIPV.
| Aug 14, 2013
Green Building Report [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Building Design+Construction's rankings of the nation's largest green design and construction firms.
| Aug 12, 2013
New York’s first net-zero school will be a sustainability lab for city school system
An elementary school on Staten Island will be the first net-zero energy school in New York City and the Northeast. The school is designed to use half the energy of a typical New York public school. Construction will be completed in 2015.
| Aug 8, 2013
New green property index could boost REIT investment in more sustainable properties
A project by the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT), the FTSE Group, and the U.S. Green Building Council to jointly develop a Green Property Index could help REITs attract some of the growing pool of socially responsible investment money slated for green investments.
