Future Bend building aims for 'green' gold
Builder plans to use state-of-the-art practices in ODS/Western Title project
By David Fisher / The Bulletin
Published: July 11. 2007 5:00AM PST
The first 150 or so employees and students who start working in Bend's new ODS/Western Title building at the Wilson Avenue and Bond Street roundabout in late 2009 might not notice, at first, that they're in a pretty unique building.
Give them a year or so, though, and there shouldn't be any doubts, Portland architect Kevin Johnson said Tuesday.
They'll work in offices that are streaming with sunshine, winter and summer, yet shielded from the summer's hottest rays and warmed by the thin rays of winter.
They'll work in spaces with no hot or cold spots, with no toxic fumes gassing from glues, carpets and paints, and with regular doses of fresh air from outside.
They'll be surrounded by long-lasting materials - stone tiles, wood from sustainable forests, surfaces made from recycled products.
And on nice days, they can take breaks in the building's rooftop garden, planted heavily with native High Desert and mountain plants.
At least in theory, the people who work in the five-story, $25 million building will be sick less often, uncomfortable less often and happy more often than workers in regular old buildings that are built in regular old ways, Johnson said. And, aside from happier workers, the building's owners could end up with energy bills that amount to half the cost of running a typical building, developer and builder Bob Gerding said.
"In a year," Johnson said, "I think they will notice."
If all goes well, the building will be the fourth building in Central Oregon that is able to earn a LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council - a tough-to-meet standard that signifies its builders used most of the tools available to make their building as friendly to the environment and to their employees' health as modern technology and a reasonable budget allow.
Gerding's company, Gerding Edlen Development, bills itself as the largest builder of LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, buildings in the United States and, by extension, the world. It has built two LEED Platinum-certified buildings in Portland - the highest standard available - along with a collection of gold standard buildings scattered through Oregon, Washington state and California, Gerding said.
In Central Oregon, the standard is still a relative rarity. The Midstate Electric Cooperative Building in La Pine, designed by Bend architect Scott Steele and built in 2005, was the region's first LEED Gold building. The sales building at Brasada Ranch in Crook County, built partly with lumber salvaged from the old Ochoco Lumber Co. mill, was No. 2. Steele's own new building, currently under construction on Bend's Mt. Washington Drive at NorthWest Crossing, is likely to become the third once it's finished later this year.
The ODS/Western Title building, currently dubbed the 360 Bond building, is expected to be ready for occupancy by November 2009, Gerding said.
LEED components
So what gives a building LEED quality?
In 360 Bond's case, the centerpiece is the rooftop garden, Johnson said. The plant and soil cover will keep the section of the building that rests below it cool in the summer and insulated in the winter, he said. It also will give employees, during working hours, and the general public, after hours, a place to sit outside for lunches and breaks, or for special events, in a garden setting with spectacular mountain views.
Much of the building will be infused with natural light, which allows for the use of less artificial lighting, Johnson said. Plates hung above the windows will block direct sunlight on hot summer afternoons, but reflect sunlight into the rooms during the low-light days of winter.
All materials will be nontoxic and long-lasting, Johnson said. They will all be sourced from suppliers that are within a 500-mile radius, to reduce the fuel needed for transport. Local subcontractors and workers will be used, wherever possible, for the same reason. And anything that can be recycled from the site during construction, will be.
Multiple air circulation zones will reduce cold and hot spots for the employees within, Johnson said. They will also keep fresh air circulating in on a controllable schedule.
Other aspects of the building are as simple as grandpa's front porch, Gerding said - things like having windows that open so office workers can bring in fresh air on cool days and leave the air conditioners off.
Whether it will get photovoltaic solar panels or not is still an issue under consideration, Gerding said. The state is offering new tax incentives for businesses that install solar fixtures, and the building may still get an array, Gerding said, but he and his engineers expect the next wave of solar technology to be far more efficient and attractive than anything out there today.
Independent inspectors will check the building during construction and in the year after it opens to ensure everything is installed right and working according to plans, said Johnson, a principal with Portland's GBD Architects. Altogether, he said, the building's green features are likely to add around 2 percent to its total cost.
Financial impact
The ODS Cos., one of the building's two major tenants, was a major catch for local economic development recruiters, said Clark Jackson, regional Oregon Economic and Community Development Department director. It is expected to bring 60 employees to Bend initially, rising quickly to 70, along with up to 52 dental hygiene students at a time.
Most of the employees will work in claims and customer service for the nonprofit dental and medical insurer at wages that will run around $15 per hour, according to Andrew Franklin, ODS senior vice president and chief operating officer.
Eventually, the company could bring up to 100 employees into the Bend market, ODS President and CEO Robert Gootee told a crowd of about 40 at the building's groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday morning. On average, each employee could result in around $50,000 spent annually in the local economy, between their salaries and benefits, Gootee said, generating up to $5 million in local dollars that economists say could be spent up to seven times in the economy before leaving the area.
Still, the company's other function, the dental hygienists' school, could have as big an impact on the local culture.
The nation, particularly the rural Northwest, currently faces a shortage of dental hygienists, who can average more than $68,000 per year in income, said William Ten Pas, ODS senior vice president for dental services. Training schools are few and far between, partly because it can cost more than $40,000 per student to set one up, so the Bend campus has already attracted interest from potential students from as far away as Canada, Alaska, California and Montana.
The school expects to get about 10 applicants for every available position in the 18-month course, which is expected to enroll its first 26 students in fall 2009, Ten Pas said. Another 26 will be brought on for a round of courses beginning the following January, giving the school 52 students at any given time.
Western Title & Escrow, a Bend-based company with 250 employees in more than 20 offices around the region, will consolidate its Bend offices in the new building, bringing its 80 to 85 local employees under the same roof.
Two floors of the 78,314-square-foot building remain open for lease.
The new occupants are in for a pleasant experience, said Shelley Miesen, who has worked in Midstate Electric's La Pine building for two years.
"It's wonderful, said Miesen, assistant to the general manager. "You never smell anything. Even from day one, you didn't have any of that glue smell from the new carpet, or paint smell from the fresh paint. It's a nice place to work. Everything is clean and nice, and I feel good that we're in a LEED building. I guess we are helping the world, in a way."
David Fisher can be reached at 617-7862 or at dfisher@bend bulletin.com.
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Published daily in Bend, Oregon, by Western Communications, Inc. Copyright 2007.
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