Green Building and Development

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Industry Overview
Green Building and Development by the Numbers
Cluster Strengths
Cluster Challenges
Recent Accomplishments
Key Initiatives
Cluster Contact
 

Industry Overview

Oregon is developing a reputation as a national leader in sustainable design, planning, and construction. Green building industries are concerned with increasing the efficiency with which buildings and their sites use and harvest energy, water, and materials. Green building also uses environmentally responsible materials and processes to ensure that human health is protected along with the environment, throughout the building life-cycle (which includes siting, design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation and deconstruction). A group of cluster representatives has been meeting since early 2007 to accelerate the growth of green building and development in Oregon and to strengthen Oregon's competitiveness in the global economy. The Oregon Business Development Department, the Portland Development Commission, and the City of Portland have all provided organizational and institutional help along the way.

Green Building and Development by the Numbers

Source: BLS, QCEW data based on cluster definition from2005 Cogan Owens Report for OBDD

 Cluster Strengths

• Oregon's collaborative culture means that connections between industry, government, and community organizations work together to promote the growth of the cluster.
• Available natural resources like water, wind, waves, and biomass support building in a sustainable way.
• Oregon has a sustainability ethos and strong appreciation for a healthy and environmentally-conscious lifestyle.
• Lower costs for professional services, electricity, and housing keep us competitive relative to neighboring green building regions like the Bay Area and Washington.
• State political leadership and government support green building and development at the state and local levels.

Cluster Challenges

• Energy analysts and modelers often must be recruited from out state, as our education and workforce programs do not provide sufficient employment in this sector
• Oregon has smaller scale venture capital and angel investing in green building than other regions.
• A good deal of time and money are required to get regulator approval of new green building materials and processes, which can hinder the cluster's expansion.
• The current economy is slowing down or halting some new construction projects altogether, and forcing others to turn to cheaper, less sustainable materials and processes.

Recent Accomplishments

• The Portland + Oregon Sustainability Institute (PoSI) has found a home at the Market Center Building and has hired an Executive Director. POSI will lead the city's EcoDistricts Initiative, which will develop strategies to accelerate neighborhood-scale sustainability.
• The 2009 legislative session saw Governor Kulongoski's Energy Efficiency Working Group work with a number of participants from the Green Development Cluster to debate a number of recommendations and green building initiatives.
• Portland was once again ranked #1 in SustainLane's sustainable US city rankings. The category rates cities on the per capita number of LEED-certified buildings with additional points given for higher levels of LEED certification.

Key Initiatives

• Build the Oregon Sustainability Center to serve as both as a technological model and a hub for sustainable practices, policy, education, research and entrepreneurship.
• Support the Portland Sustainability Institute and City of Portland's EcoDistricts Initiative to create neighborhoods with a commitment to accelerate neighborhood-scale sustainability.
• Build a Green Innovation Park to showcase net zero energy and low carbon homes built by local, regional and international firms and serve as a test-bed for cutting edge residential green building techniques and technologies.
• Adopt a state policy platform, similar to the 2030 Challenge, which will continue to push the envelope for green building and will maintain the state's position as a leader in this sector.
• Require energy performance certificates, similar to mpg ratings for vehicles, as part of the sale of homes and buildings so that prospective owners understand the relative energy performance of properties.
• Support a mechanism (policy, funding, etc.) that facilitates energy efficiency retrofits of existing buildings.

Cluster Contact

Portland Development Commission - Green Development
John Tydlaska