Airport building pushes green limits
New headquarters to unite Port staff, expand PDX parking
JONATHAN HOUSE / PAMPLIN MEDIA GROUP PHOTO
Facade of the new Port of Portland headquarters at Portland International Airport features ample windows to channel ambient light into the parking structure.
Could there be anything less sustainable than an airport parking garage?
They encourage people to drive cars to catch flights on airplanes — both of which emit significant amounts of greenhouse gases.
So it may seem odd that construction crews are erecting what may be the world’s greenest parking garage at Portland International Airport. It’s part of the new headquarters for the Port of Portland, which operates the airport.
The building, scheduled to open in 2010, will include seven floors of public parking topped by three floors of office space — all designed to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold standards, the second-highest sustainability level set by the U.S Green Building Council.
“We are committed to incorporating green building techniques into all of our projects, and the headquarters building is the most ambitious one yet,” says Bill Wyatt, the port’s executive director.
Airport visitors can spot the 10-story building under construction as they approach the terminal, east of the short-term parking garage, next to the flight control tower.
The building is among the greenest projects ever attempted at any airport in the world, says Daniel Gilkison, the port’s lead engineer on the project.
“We did a lot of looking around as we were designing this project,” he says. “You have to look far and wide to find any office building or parking garage at any airport with this level of sustainability.”
To meet this goal, cutting-edge technologies are being installed in both parts of the building — beginning with the ground underneath it. Before the foundations were poured, 200 wells were dug 300 feet deep for geothermal heating and cooling. Water will be continuously circulated through these wells, with the temperature differences tapped to provide heat in the winter and cooler air in the summer.
Water will circulate within the building through radiant heating and cooling panels in the ceilings above employee workstations. Looking like small radiators behind stainless steel screens, these allow the warm and cool air to be concentrated where workers spend their time, not in hallways or other underused areas.
The most innovative feature is a Living Machine, a wastewater treatment and recycling system developed by Worrell Water Technologies of Charlottesville, Va. It cleans wastewater through a series of holding tanks, many of which replicate the ecological processes in natural tidal wetlands. The cells alternatively fill and drain, moving the water through specially treated rocks containing microorganisms and plants.
The process is so natural that 10 of the cells will appear to visitors as lush plant gardens. Six will be in the lobby at the first-floor entrance, and four will be just outside an adjoining wall. Based on the experiences at Living Machines installed in over a dozen other buildings around the world, it’s unlikely that visitors will ever suspect the cells are treating water from the building’s sinks, showers and toilets for reuse in toilets.
Having an open part of a wastewater treatment system in the building lobby might sound risky. But the manufacturer promises that visitors will not notice any offensive odors.
“The Living Machine is really a very diverse ecosystem that deals with this problem. No methane is released at this point (in the process),” says Will Kirksey, Worrell’s vice president of engineering.
Other green features planned for the building are: a 10,000-square-foot eco-roof; daylighting glass prisms for the office and garage areas; dual-flush toilets; and low-flow showers for employees who bike to work. Structures to accommodate future solar panels also are being built.
Port officials say these features will cut water consumption close to 80 percent compared to a conventional office — from 1.1 million gallons a year to a mere 250,000 gallons.
Heating and cooling costs for the office portion are projected at $186,000 a year, compared to $288,000 for a conventional building. For the enclosed areas of the garage, annual costs are projected at $24,000 a year, compared to $108,000 for a conventional garage.
Lighting costs will be reduced about 30 percent for the office and garage components, according to port officials.
The port decided to build a new headquarters to unite the 240 employees at its Old Town headquarters with the 238 employees in the airport terminal building. The project also will add 3,500 parking spaces to meet projected demand.
The building was designed by Zimmer Gunsul Frasca and is being built by Hoffman Construction. Architectural renderings show the garage portion will be partly enclosed by an arched wall of glass panels and ceramic tiles. The office portion also features large glass walls, allowing sweeping views of the Columbia River that runs along the northern border of the airport.
Total cost of the project is $241 million, including $10 million for sustainability features. The port offset part of the cost by selling its Old Town headquarters for $29 million to Washington Real Estate Holdings LLC.