Sustainability
LEED Gold Certification Point Process
The new Student Rec Center is a Gold LEED certified building.
This certification would make it only one of a handful of its type in the country and mirrors Portland State's committment to sustainability.
Below are listed some of the sustainability features of the new building and our plan to run it sustainably. In addition, our project development team has created a summary brochure that highlights some of the most important sustainable components to the building.
Feature Highlights
Pool Benches
The benches in the natatorium are made out of Ipe wood from south and Central America. Botanical name: Tabebuiaw ipe. This wood is durable and resistant to rot.
Climbing Wall
The wall is a Nicros traversing, bouldering and climbing wall. The wall is 32’ high climbing portion with belay platform, as well as a 14’ high bouldering wall. The floor surface is Surface America PlayBound Surface which is made of 100% post-consumer recycled rubber from tires.
Nicros is an environmentally conscious company that follows the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System which encourages global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices through the creation and implementation of universally understood and accepted tools and performance criteria. Nicros pre-fabricates components to keep scrap and extra shipping weight down, which conserves fuel and sources heavy materials locally instead of shipping.
Nicros: http://www.nicros.com/leed.cfm
Surface America: http://www.surfaceamerica.com/index.php
Gym Floors
The recreation center gym features three courts. Two are wood courts featuring Connor Forest Stewardship Council Certified maple wood floors. Under the wood are Conner Neoshok pad and Regupol sound Pad.
The third gym is a Multi-athletic Court with dasher boards. This area features Connor Elastiplus flooring and arena board by Becker Arena Products.
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an independent, non-governmental, and not for profit organization that was created to change the dialogue about and the practice of sustainable forestry worldwide. The FSC standards represent the world's strongest system for guiding forest management toward sustainable outcomes.
Forest Stewardship Council: http://www.fscus.org/
Connor Flooring: http://www.connorfloor.com/
Becker Arena Products: http://www.beckerarena.com/
Multi-Purpose Rooms
The Multi-purpose rooms feature Forest Stewardship Council certified wood from Connor flooring. These rooms use Conner Neoshok and Red Neoshok pads. The multi-purpose rooms utilize natural lighting and operable windows to manage temperature.
Forest Stewardship Council: http://www.fscus.org/
Connor Flooring: http://www.connorfloor.com/
Gym Ventilation
The Gymnasium features a flexible system of manually operable windows, relief vents and paddle fans that allow building operators to take advantage of the natural air currents thus minimize the need to use mechanical heating and cooling equipment.
The fans used in the Gym are Powerfoil X paddle fans manufactured by Big Ass Fans.
Big Ass Fans: http://www.bigassfans.com/powerfoil_x
Daylight Lighting
This building uses 29% less energy than a comparable code compliant building. One of the strategies to reduce energy use is utilizing daylight lighting in offices, the pool and other areas of the building. This reduces the need for artificial lighting during daylight hours. Daylight controlled electric light fixtures either dim or turn off automatically when daylight conditions are sufficient for the task or space usage.
Laundry Systems
Highly efficient washer and dryers were purchased to maximize washing capability with minimum energy use. The washers are soft-mount Speed Queen SX 55 lb Extractor. This model reaches a G-force of 418.
According to Athletic Business, highly efficient washers can save up to 50% on energy costs and use 30% less water than a normal washer. One of the features they specifically mentioned was the G-force capability. Gs in excess of 200 are responsible for low water usage and a reduction in drying time.
Speed Queen OPL Softmount SX55: http://www.speedqueen.com/comm/opl/print.asp?model=SX55
Speed Queen dryer OPL Drying Tumbler: http://www.speedqueen.com/comm/opl/print.asp?model=ST075
Natatorium
Features a 25 yard, six-lane lap pool which has a depth of three feet, six inches to seven feet. There is also a ten-person spa in the natatorium. The air flow systems in the natatorium are linked to sensors to reduce fan use when it is not needed. This area also uses a heat recovery system to pre-heat incoming water, and efficient condensing boiler.
Storm water
Stormwater management strategies include storage, treatment and reclamation. Rainwater from the roof is captured, stored and reused on site to flush water closets and in the case of emergency serves as fire suppression water. Eco-roof planters on the fifth level terrace retain and treat storm water reducing overflow from the fire water tank during winter months. Site storm water is also treated with a water quality filtration system.
ReRev
ReRev is a system that taps into the kinetic energy generated by aerobic exercise and captures in an efficient and cost effective way to convert otherwise wasted energy into productive renewable energy that feeds back into the building’s electrical system.
A typical 30-minute cardio workout produces 50 watt hours of clean, carbon-free electricity. That is enough electricity to run: a CFL light bulb for 2 hours and 30 minutes, a cell phone charger for 6 full charges, power a laptop for one hour, or run a desktop computer for 30 minutes.
ReRev: http://rerev.com/recardio.html
