The Engineering Building
Portland State University's newest campus building is the recently-completed Engineering Building. Designed and constructed to meet LEED Gold standards, the building incorporates a number of sustainable features, making it a fine example of energy, water, resource, and overall building efficiency. Energy Efficiency
Water Efficiency
The Engineering Building makes use of native plantings and impermanent irrigation to create a water efficient landscape. Also contributing to the building's Resource Efficiency
Equally as important as careful and deliberate recycling and design is ensuring that the new building stays green long after construction is complete. That's why the Engineering Building houses spacious recycling and sorting facilities on every floor, serviced regularly by the PSU Recycles! recycling crew, as well as bicycle lockers and a showering facility. |
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In order to meet rigorous LEED standards, the Engineering Building was designed to use 45% less energy than a baseline Oregon Code compliant building. This commendable feat was accomplished by incorporating energy efficient features where appropriate and cost effective. These features include an innovative geothermal heating and cooling system and high-efficiency building envelope, as well as high-efficiency lighting, day-lighting sensors and occupancy sensors. The building also implements natural ventilation strategies and demand-controlled ventilation features that allow building occupants greater flexibility in shaping their indoor environment.
The design team also set ambitious goals for water efficiency, designing the Engineering Building to use nearly 40% less water than a similar baseline building. Doing so required incorporating a variety of water conserving features, as well as making efforts to educate building users and get them on the "water conservation ship" - all aboard!
impressively low water use are low-flow fixtures, dual-flush toilets and waterless urinals. In addition, the building sports a rainwater harvesting system that collects water from approximately - of the rooftop and pipes it to an academic hydrology lab located on the building's 2nd floor. There the water is stored in a 1,000 gallon storage tank, filtered through carbon, and undergoes UV sterilization before being pumped to toilets and urinals on the first floor.
Part of designing a Green building is making sure that its construction does not compromise the sustainability of previous structures. That's why over 90% of waste created during the demolition and construction process of the Engineering Building was recycled or salvaged. It's also the reason that architects and engineers specified materials with high recycled content, including steel insulation, carpeting, resilient tile flooring, interior paint, and high fly-ash concrete foundation. The Engineering Building also features locally-manufactured materials such as concrete, brick, structural steel, and wooden doors.
