Airport building pushes green limits
New headquarters to unite Port staff, expand PDX parking.
Could there
be anything less sustainable than an airport parking garage?
According
to a story by Pamplin Media Group , 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 LEED gold standards, the
second-highest sustainability level set by the U.S Green Building Council.
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.
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