Excerpted and quoted from the Willamette Week’s cover story dated November 24, 2010 by Nigel Jaquiss.
Courtesy of GBD Architects and SERA Architects
Known certainly for its green qualities, whether they be of the eco-conscious variety or just the actual color of the state with its density of foliage and evergreen population, Portland, like several other cities, is making its presence known in terms of its green downtown architecture and sustainable buildings. But these efforts don’t come cheap, and the next great question worth entertaining, at least within the context of debate, is who should pay for the efforts which might ultimately benefit all of us?
If developers, city planners and — well — the public at large — have an agreement worked out, then “Portland will soon become home to the world’s tallest ‘living building,’ [with the addition of] a revolutionary structure that will generate all its own electricity, capture and process its own water and leave no carbon footprint,” according to this week’s Willamette Week paper. With more than 24 months worth of planning already behind it, the project hit a more aggressive clip in recent days, with “Gerding Edlen Development [...] due to award the construction contract Wednesday, Nov. 24, for the 132,000-square-foot building—and [...] to break ground next summer.” Continue reading
