Rudolph Widmann

Tuesday, July 20
Downtown Portland

We spent one full day exploring urban revitalization and sustainability strategies in downtown Portland. This comprises the confluence of visionary planning, development, and design, and in the cases we looked at was very successful. Rehabilitating old buildings so that they can serve changing needs is a successful way to ensure that cities have the necessary adaptability to meet the needs of present and future occupants while preserving the character of the past.

An area of downtown Portland that has been successfully redeveloped. It’s hard to imagine the character of the downtown area without these buildings.

One question we explored, which was teased out more as the week progressed, was the difference between green and sustainable. Green features are tools that we use in a building to make it more sustainable. Sustainability itself is a larger, more difficult question. The traditional definition of sustainability is that we can meet the needs of the present while ensuring the ability to meet the needs of the future. But what does that really mean? Is it a building that uses water, energy and resources more efficiently? Is it a building that creates its own energy, provides its own water, and converts its own waste into more usable inputs? What about a building that creates more energy than it needs, or begins to question the ecosystem services that have been lost in its creation, and begins to restore those as well?

A common green building theme of many projects was the collection of rainwater, and the use of that rainwater to flush toilets. Given the precious nature of water, and the energy required to collect, treat, and move it, it doesn’t make sense to use pure potable water to flush our toilets. Further, it makes little sense to then push our building’s runoff and wastewater out into the larger system.

Another more sophisticated green building strategy is to seriously consider the heating, cooling, and fresh air requirements of our buildings. Using heat recovery ventilators to capture the energy in the exhaust air, and to precool or preheat incoming fresh air was a common theme. In this process, the heating and cooling systems were separated from the air delivery systems. Many buildings had “chilled beam” radiant cooling panels mounted on the ceiling, which then allowed the cooled air to fall to the floor while the displaced hot air moved up to be cooled in turn. Heat was delivered in a few ways, one was through floor based radiant systems, either as radiators or radiant floor systems. Another option was low velocity raised floor plenums. This also allowed occupants some measure of control over their workstation’s temperature.

One thing that I was looking for was in which ways can some of the strategies that are being used for large buildings be employed in residential architecture. I still believe that the simplest effective strategy is the best. Most houses don’t provide fresh air through mechanical systems, but as our houses become tighter this is a consideration. Also worth considering is the best way to provide comfort to the occupants of a house, while at the same time using as little source energy as possible.

Economic and Societal discussion

One of the more intriguing events of the day was a discussion of the economics of sustainability. Our panel discussed many things, one of which was the current under-utilization of our assets. Car sharing companies are one way to try to correct this. Apparently our cars are used an average of an hour a day. For many people, cars are their largest asset, and command a significant chunk of their income for payments, for insurance and maintenance, and for fuel and other transportation costs such as parking and tolls. Cars represent, and often are, such indispensable items that we will pay significantly for them even though by many measures they are under-utilized. Additionally, typical suburbs have 9 parking spaces for each car. Think about the cost implications, the land use implications, not to mention the roads and other infrastructure requirements, and the general waste that each car represents becomes staggering. Thoughts like this make me think that the electric car is not going to solve the problem, and we might not be asking the right questions.

The AIA Portland building is a cool little building, with many green features. One of the things I liked the most about it is that is reuses an existing but not so relevant old building. The interior space was simply finished, and provides for maximum flexibility. The building was designed to treat all its own rainwater and reuse it to flush toilets (this was a very common theme in Portland; I guess the rumors about Portland rain are true).

How can we convert our populace from a nation of consumers to a nation of stewards, of citizens? What role can concepts like eco-districts, or eco-blocks play? We saw buildings that process greywater, blackwater, and storm runoff on site, and generate electricity through turbines, solar panels, or even biogas. Many use green roofs to minimize the heat island effect, to have a small garden, and to reintroduce habitat. One roof we saw was covered in bees. Often these systems level strategies are difficult to employ at the scale of one building, but there should be a way to bring other buildings into the mix and pool resources. Office buildings and residential buildings often have inverse occupancy times, surely there is a way to leverage that temporal flux.

How can we put a value on what are typically considered economic externalities? In order to continue to thrive, our cities and our buildings are going to have to include the costs, and hopefully begin to replenish ecosystem services. Can we begin to place real value and / or costs on things like: Rainfall, Sewage, Pollination, Clean Air and Water, Animal Corridors and Habitat? These are the things that we have either taken for granted, subsidized, or not even considered, and these are the things that will define whether we can continue to have rich and meaningful lives.

One of the systems I think about in Berkeley is storm drainage. All of our impervious surfaces, coupled with the minimization of the natural creeks and watersheds along with the city requirement that all rainfall be diverted to the streets has created a big problem when we have rains. It is a problem for the city’s storm drains to handle this, it is a problem for the bay to accommodate all that runoff, especially with all the contaminants. What if we could do something simple, like have our street parking spaces incorporate permeable paving? Integration and consideration of larger systems should be a big part of our planning and zoning, as well as our public works decisions.

One of the best pieces of advice at this panel discussion was that we all need the courage to act on our analysis. If we think the system isn’t working yet we do nothing to alter it then we haven’t acted with courage.

Tanner Park
Tanner Park is an urban park. The metaphor of the park is that it shows, in one block, a cross section of the vegetation that existed in the area before intensive human settlement. The park is nicely designed, with a more traditional lawn and park at the uphill side through the native plants then to a wetland, culminating in a water feature that doubles as a containment pond. The site collects and processes its own rainwater by circulating it through the vegetation on site. The sunken nature of the park allows a brief respite from the urban noise and visual chaos. Apparently some of the osprey have taken to patrolling the pond on the off chance that someone has tried to introduce goldfish / carp to the pond.

Revitalization of historic buildings
The University of Oregon committed to downtown Portland by converting a few historic but dilapidated buildings into a fine example of rehabilitation.

Many people have heard of the 2030 building challenge, with the goal of having our buildings be fossil fuel neutral in 20 years. Another goal is the Living Building Challenge, which extends this concept not only to energy, but to water and materials. The buildings in this framework collect all their own water, even drinking water, and process waste on site. Materials are to be sourced locally, within a certain radius. There is even a provision for bridging the current gaps in feasibility so that perfection doesn’t become the enemy of the good.

UofO discussion
One question that many architects are now asking is how do our buildings interact with the larger systems in the region, including water, energy, transportation, and human. Can we tell, just by looking, what city our buildings are in? And how can we build in adaptability and flexibility with respect to these systems over time. We often make an attempt to respond to our regional climate, but this is guaranteed to change over time. The typical office building strategy is to neutralize the existing factors and to make a building that ‘fights’ its climate. A glass box with shaded windows and a beefy air conditioning and heating system is not easy on resources and is not a pleasant place to be. The varied climates that we all live in have tremendous value, and if we can design our buildings to work with and leverage the climate then perhaps we can begin to repair some of the disconnection that our buildings have from the natural world. That disconnection filters through society. I’m always surprised when I return to Florida to visit my family that everyone has the air conditioning set to 65 degrees. I always pack my summer clothes but then wind up needing a sweater.

An interesting question to ask ourselves is whether, or even how much, the environmental degradation we’ve all witnessed over at least the past 50 years has resulted in a loss of meaning, or a lack of care. Does the conversion of farms and wilderness to undifferentiated suburbs create places that we just don’t care about? If so, what effect does that have on us as members of society, as stewards of the land, and as parents of children. The concept of civic ecology is the idea that we are all responsible for the care of not only the structures we inhabit, but for the spaces between and for the larger decisions that our communities make. We are all responsible for the society that we’ve created, and for how our values are handed down to our children. The concept of cultural capital is that value exists in a healthy and vibrant community, and that this value is not dependent on material wealth. We discussed 5 principles that a vibrant community possesses:

Consideration of whole systems
Focus on Place
A New Social Contract
Adaptive Frameworks
Dynamic, responsive to Constant Change

It is becoming clear that, as important as specialization is, seeking the inputs of others is also important. What can biologists teach us about buildings? How can we get city bureaucrats to become part of the solution? How can we refine the questions that we are asking?

The architecture studios are on the top floor, under these trusses. Not a bad studio space.

An example of how we are not always asking the right question is looking at how we design our mechanical heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. The typical solution is to ‘force’ air at the desired temperature through ducts. More advanced systems separate out the systems so that each can do its job better. Placing radiant panels in the ceiling where they can function as sound panels and also carry cool water allows the dynamics of convection and radiation to work effectively. Conversely, providing heat low in a room allows the heat to effectively mix through all the air. Even more savvy systems can carry undesired heat from one part of a building to a cool part of the building that needs it, in a way thinking of the entire building as having its distinct microclimates and planning for that.

Mercy Corps

We ended the formal day by touring the Mercy Corps building. A beautiful new building was added to a beautiful old building. The old building was preserved as a historic piece of architecture, and the architects did a great job blending the new with the old. Each stands separately, yet they feel like parts of the whole. Mercy Corps is an incredible organization, worth exploring further.

Day One [Part II]

The Port of Portland

We ended the day by looking at the Port of Portland’s new building at the airport. Conceived as a way to bring together the scattered branches, the new building is well designed and employes many green building strategies, such as extensive daylighting, design for interaction, geothermal heating and cooling, a green roof, and a living machine. The living machine treats all the wastewater, including storm runoff, that the building generates. Comprised of 5 tanks, the final three are in the lobby of the building, showing off the pride of the system as well as proving its effectiveness. Portland public buildings require that 1% of the budget is spent on art, which is a great idea and besides producing lively aspects of the building has larger repercussions in the greater community.

Themes

Some common themes began to emerge by the end of the day. One is that there are some very small scale ideas and moves that are easy to incorporate and not very costly, and in some cases these can work better than larger and more complicated ideas. Another is how do we make sure that our cities remain (or become) more equitable, and provide benefits to all citizens, not just those who can afford it. Finally, the question was raised of how do we design for the occupants, the users, and how do we solicit their input, and then incorporate it? Buildings and cities that people can’t use, or don’t like, or that prescribe ways of occupation rather than inviting inhabitation and community have limited use at best, and are a tremendous waste of resources at worst.

Day One [Part I]

Urban Growth Boundary / Orenco Station

We began our exploration by looking at the greater Portland tri-county urban growth boundary as a tool to preserve both cities and farmland, and how it can function as a vibrant, adaptable tool. We examined some edge cities and how they are trying to create a sense of place while incorporating ideas about sustainability. Orenco station used some New Urbanism strategies to increase density and try to form a center while connecting to transportation lines. Interestingly the predominant connection is to an auto arterial, while the light rail station is many blocks away. The western edge of Portland is more wealthy, and includes large companies like Intel and Nike.

Gresham

The eastern edge of Portland is a region that is busy accommodating a migrating population that has been displaced as a result of inner Portland’s increasing property values (and resultant costs). In Gresham, much effort has been made to put into place a framework to accommodate this migration, and to preserve an urban fabric as well as connection to transit. The urbanism on this side of town was more small scale, individual, and in my opinion more alive and inclusive. While the town planners are limited in their resources they have created a town park, and it feels like their efforts at placemaking are working.

Gresham’s Digester

Any solution that makes our cities more sustainable has to include all the systems that are in play. Gresham’s wastewater treatment facility has installed a digester that effectively processes the town’s sewage, turning it into energy, cleaned water, and compost that can be used for silage. The biogas provides 50% of the energy needed to run the facility, and they have installed solar panels in an attempt to cover the rest. They have the ambitious goal to be net zero energy, and the only question I have is why aren’t all cities doing this? The digester apparently had a three year payback, and the solar array leverages tax incentives and a form of feed in tariff.

Went to the ribbon cutting ceremony of the new Bikestation location. This is a huge upgrade from the old cage located in the BART station. Thanks to all the groups that made it happen.

I stumbled upon these amazing images of cities by Eric Fischer. It’s hard to stop looking.  From what I understand these are the tracks left by photographers who use geotracking. More at Eric Fischer’s Flickr, and at Burrito Justice.

Just went to visit a project that is under construction, and it is looking great. The existing building had a poorly executed addition attached to it, with a host of problems. It looked bad, had a leaky roof, was slipping down the hill, had a water intrusion problem at the door, and had rotting siding, not to mention a very awkward floor plan. We solved all of those problems by carrying the existing porch over to the addition, continuing the roof overhang and rhythm of posts. This extended porch roof was allowed to form the new roof for the remodeled portion. A vastly simplified floor plan, and an interior connection to the main building helped the layout problems.

The shortcomings of the old building are apparent (inset).

Plenty of natural light, volumed spaces, and new windows enliven the new (old) rooms.

Some amateur photos (mine) of a recently completed kitchen remodel and family room addition. The clients initially wanted to just add the family room, and along the way decided to upgrade their old kitchen as well (I’ll see if I can dig up some before photos). The trick with the family room is that it had to accomplish two conflicting goals. On one hand, it serves as a short term guest room, and on the other it is the transitional room between the kitchen and the backyard. We strove to better connect the kitchen to the yard beyond by making the openings as big as we could, and then tucked some pocket doors between the kitchen and the family room. We also tucked a desk area in (below the window in the photo above), helping the rooms to flow together while retaining their ability to be separate. The interior transom allows the space and light to flow between the rooms, furthering the feeling on continuity.

The family room above maximizes the opening to the backyard. The transom windows, which echo the interior transom windows, allow more light and also maximize the ceiling volume in an effort to make the room feel bigger as it is has fairly modest proportions–roughly 12′x12′. The clients couldn’t be happier, and the family room has already served its intended function effortlessly. They report that they also feel much more connected to their backyard, that the kitchen is much easier to cook in, and that they eat many meals at the peninsula.

This project was very ably built by Zander Brennan and the fantastic crew at Zanderbuilt (including cabinets). The clients were helped with their color selections by Angelisse Karol.

I had lunch here a few times last week, and very much admired the space. There are many things to like, the stately mint building, the nicely understated paving, the well executed grade changes. The best thing for me was the simplicity. Apparently this used to be a small street, and it is now very much an urban plaza. During the week it was filled with people having lunch. The bright orange chairs are a deft move–they are nice bright spots, they don’t feel too cheap, and they are such an easy solution to providing flexible seating. It was pretty cool to walk through after the lunch hour and see the echos of all the impromptu groups that formed, had a social moment, then disbursed, leaving only the footprint of the bright orange chairs.

The details were kept to a minimum, but were very well done. A nice spot for people to occupy.

I’ve long admired this building on the Cal campus. The scale of the columns is impressive, especially how it relates to the busy street opposite. The space created underneath the stadium seating is also wonderful, and in my opinion represents a missed opportunity. Currently being used to store equipment, I can imagine a space like this being used for a farmer’s market, or a flea market or something similar. I’m sure there are many reasons why this is impossible; insurance, bureaucracy, etc., but it’s still fun to imagine. There is actually room for a small public square on the site. The current open space is badly designed, contains a parking lot (of course), and is home to one of the worst buildings on campus.

From a family visit to South Florida. At first this seems like another ironic photo from the economic meltdown, and maybe it is. It was a bit spooky to drive around in Florida, to see all of the vacant businesses and strip malls. Worse than the vacancies were the crumbling and abandoned buildings like this one. But maybe this is an optimistic sign–someone is industrious enough to have bought this building, and has planted their sign, their hope for the future.