Planned $360 Million Hospital Reaches for LEED Gold

PORTLAND, Ore. — Plans are in the works for a new $360 million Kaiser Permanent hospital complex that will meet some of the worlds strictest environmental standards. Health care system officials predict the Kaiser Westside Medical Center in Tanasbourne — between Beaverton and Hillsboro — will qualify for LEED Gold status, making it one of just 36 health care facilities in the world to reach that designation.

While LEED-certified buildings are becoming common, achieving LEED certification in the medical building world has thus far been uncommon.

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Going Gold in Oregon

HILLSBORO, Ore. – The 600-student K-6 Rosedale Elementary School achieved LEED Gold certification in March, making it the first LEED-certified school in the Hillsboro School District.

 
The $15.9 million school was completed last fall and uses the latest in energy efficient features to save 30 to 50 percent of energy per year compared with an equivalent-sized school building without efficiency enhancements. The two-story, 74,100-square-foot facility saves the district close to $28,000 per a year in energy costs.

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Sage Seeks LEED for Historic Hotel Project

PORTLAND — Sage Hospitality Resources is seeking LEED certification for a $118 million, environmentally sustainable conversion of the historic Meier & Frank department store.

The Denver-based hospitality company is renovating the upper nine floors of the 1908 building to create The Nines — a 334-room hotel, which will become part of Starwood’s luxury collection hotels.

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New GBI Software Can Compare Hundreds of Design Alternatives

PORTLAND, Ore. – The Green Building Initiative has developed a new life cycle assessment tool that it says will make it easier than ever for designers to take into account a proposed building’s potential impact on the environment during its lifespan. The tool can assess embodied energy, solid waste, air and water pollution, and global warming potential.

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OSU Facility is First Gold Certified Academic Engineering Building

CORVALLIS, Ore. — The Kelley Engineering Center at Oregon State University is the first academic engineering building in the United States to receive LEED gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.

The $45 million, four-story center opened in fall 2005. The building is designed to have a minimized environmental footprint.

The 153,000-square-foot structure is home to the university’s school of electrical engineering and design, and it provides a research laboratory, classrooms and office space for more than 450 people.

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First LEED Gold Hospital In U.S. Opens in Oregon

NEWBURG, Ore. — The recently completed Providence Newberg Medical Center here is the first LEED gold certified hospital in the United States. New Jersey-based contractor Skanska USA Building Inc. estimates that the “build green” portion of the $70 million project will take 14 months to amortize, and that the facility will save nearly 26 percent in annual energy costs.

The contractor provided additional value to the hospital owner through construction-related techniques that included:

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