PSU gets an ‘A’ for its green efforts

Portland State buildings, business school earn high marks

By Eric Bartels

LocalNewsDaily.com, Sep 12, 2006, Updated Oct 30, 2009

©2006 DAVID PLECHL

Professor David Ervin and sustainability coordinator Dresden Skees-Gregory say the Broadway’s green roof absorbs rainwater and lowers heating and cooling costs for the university.

There is a tiny patch of ground in the sky above Portland State University, and it’s helping to keep all of us green.

High atop a 10-story building known on campus as the Broadway, PSU students assisted in giving a barren rooftop a striking makeover two years ago. Now it represents the pinnacle of a larger effort that is helping to boost the school’s once-faint national visage.

Across the country, colleges and universities are stretching budgets, earning prestige and inspiring students with hands-on experiments in sustainability, and Portland State is no exception.

This year has seen the university recognized for its efforts. In May, the city’s Office of Sustainable Development honored the school with a BEST Award for including sustainability criteria in its contract with the food and facilities company Sodexho.

Before that, Portland-based Salmon-Safe, a regional organization dedicated to protecting watersheds, identified PSU as the nation’s first “Salmon-Safe” university for its work reducing storm-water runoff.

And the World Resources Institute, in its most recent rankings, placed Portland State 13th among American business schools for embracing social and environmental stewardship.

The awards help enhance the profile of a university – once regarded as a unglamorous commuter school – as a leader in sustainable practices.

“I think we’re in the upper tier,” says David Ervin, a professor of environmental studies and coordinator of academic sustainability programs at PSU. “There are definitely some areas where people are ahead of us, but knowing that helps us know where to go next. I think we’re doing pretty darn well.”

“We really think this is a big part of our future,” sustainability coordinator Dresden Skees-Gregory says. “This is a place where we can become a true national and international leader.”

Building runs on sun, rain

The school’s growing commitment to responsible practices has become highly visible. On the school’s “Sustainability at PSU” Web site are job postings, news of research project funding and information about a rigorous, six-course graduate certification program. Senior officials from China’s Ministry of Land and Resources will be in Portland this week as part of a training program sponsored by the university.

A ceremony announcing the Salmon-Safe award this summer took place alongside Epler Hall, a showpiece of sustainability efforts on the school’s 47-acre downtown campus. At 68,000 square feet, the building houses dorm rooms, classes and a large common area.

The structure was built using salvage timber and low-toxicity “finishes,” meaning carpeting and paint. It has no air conditioning, relying instead on natural ventilation, and is designed to maximize available natural light.

Perhaps most significant, rainwater runoff that is not channeled into natural areas is collected, treated with UV rays and put to use flushing ground-floor toilets in the building. The practice saves real dollars for the university and reduces volume in the city sewer system.

“We estimate that this building is saving 62 cents per occupied foot per year,” Skees-Gregory says.

Not far from Epler Hall is Peter Stott Field, where the women’s soccer team plays on artificial turf fashioned from ground-up sneakers.

Nearby, a thicket of grasses grows almost comically from the roof of a small information kiosk.

1 | 2 Next Page >>

Facebook	Digg	Del.icio.us
Newsvine	Stumbleupon	Reddit