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Buildings
Other resources
We spend the majority of our day inside a building. How these buildings are designed and constructed plays a vital role in our own health and productivity. Of course a building’s design also has a major role in how much energy, materials and water are consumed during its construction and operation.
The BEST Business Center can help identify ways a new or existing building can incorporate green building features that improve indoor air quality, conserve energy, support the local economy and more. Contact us for more information.
The following resources also provide important information on this topic.
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Energy Trust of Oregon: Building Efficiency Program
Energy Trust of Oregon helps businesses identify and implement energy-saving projects to improve comfort and reduce energy costs. Energy Trust provides cash incentives, energy studies, assistance with business energy tax credit applications and technical support. The program offers energy efficiency assistance for existing and new commercial facilities.
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Energy Trust of Oregon: New Building Program
High efficiency, sustainably designed buildings are good for business and the planet. Energy Trust can help make your commercial new construction or major renovation project more energy efficient and environmentally friendly with cash incentives for energy modeling, commissioning and high-efficiency equipment.
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Green Development Resource Center
The Green Development Hotline, 503-823-5431, provides information about green building strategies, resources and incentives for new and existing commercial projects. Callers can get answers to questions about green materials, strategies to reduce a building’s carbon footprint, financial incentives, renewable energy, indoor air quality, sustainable site development, construction material recycling and stormwater management. The hotline is a joint effort of the City of Portland Office of Sustainable Development, Metro, and Clackamas, Washington, and Multnomah Counties.
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Northwest Green Directory
The Northwest Green Directory helps building industry professionals and consumers find green building products and services in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. Whether it’s recycled wood products or high performance architectural design, this directory can help you find it.
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Portland LEED
PDX LEED is a tool to help Portland developers execute the LEED process. PDX LEED customizes the USGBC’s LEED Green Building Rating System by integrating local building, land use and zoning codes into the relevant LEED credit areas.
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US Green Building Council
The USGBC administers the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for new and existing commercial buildings. LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable-site development; water savings; energy efficiency; materials selection; and indoor environmental quality.
Doing nothing is not an option. The longer we do nothing, the more it will cost our region and the nation, both environmentally and economically. Protecting the environment is essential for our economy and our future
Peggy Fowler, CEO
Portland General Electric
Portland is the first City in the country to create a Green Investment Fund (GIF), which is a five-year, $2.5 million grant-based fund given to commercial, industrial or residential projects demonstrating innovative green technologies and practices.
The program really gave us the motivation to begin our own process, along the way there were tools that the BEST business center program provided to assist us in our program’s creation.
Green Team
United Fund Advisors