Wilsonville, OR— The union contractors of the Associated General Contractors Oregon-Columbia Chapter recently donated $10,000 to AIA Portland, a chapter of the American Institute of Architects, to help construct the chapter's Center for Architecture.
The CFA, housed in the Pearl District in Portland, is a model of sustainable construction and design, employing off-the-shelf sustainable technologies to raise awareness and educate the public at large.
"Sustainable design and construction practices are a sure way to improve the quality of life and the quality of the environment," Said Pat O'Brien, vice-chair of the union contractors of AGC and owner of O'Brien Constructors LLC. "The AIA Portland has proven its sincerity to the cause by leading the charge in the Center for Architecture building." O'Brien explained that contractors regularly incorporate aspects of sustainable design and construction into their various projects, but said the CFA serves as a great teaching tool to tie it all together.
The CFA is a working model of green technology and sustainable strategies. The AIA Portland's vision for the CFA was to reach LEED Platinum and meet the goals of the 2030 challenge, a global initiative stating that all new buildings and major renovations reduce their fossil-fuel greenhouse gas-emitting consumption by 50 percent by 2010. The goal is for all new buildings to be carbon neutral by 2030. With the addition of an integrated solar system, the CFA will meet the 2030 goal by 2009.
The building of the CFA was an integrated committee process involving more than 250 companies that donated materials, money or service to support the sustainable design and construction process.
"Not only is the CFA a working public resource of the 2030 model for sustainability, it continues to exceed our expectations for a flexible and high performance demonstration space to support our membership and community," added David Partridge, president of the board of directors of the AIA Portland and principal of Ankrom Moisan Associated Architects.
