BUILDING THE GROUNDWORK FOR REST OF OREGION?
Developed by the Portland Office of Sustainable Development (OSD), the High Performance Green Building Policy would be the first of its kind in the nation according to the OSD. If passed this fall by the Portland City Council, the initiative would require all new or substantially remodeled homes to exceed current Oregon energy efficiency standards by 15% or incur a fee. Those who exceed the standards by 30% or more would receive a refund. On the commercial side, any new construction must exceed current state energy standards by 30% to avoid the fee and 40-45% to receive the rebate.

According to Michael Armstrong, deputy director of OSD, the emphasis of the initiative’s policies will be focused on new construction, adding that the city will accompany the legislation with an educational outreach to target home owners undergoing minor remodeling to encourage voluntary green building upgrades.

Sara Patton, who has more than thirty years experience working on clean energy policies (including codes) and is the executive director of NW Energy Coalition and a NEEA Board member, believes the initiative’s combination of incentive and regulation will serve as an interesting model for other cities, adding that such unique perspectives on energy efficiency are needed right now.

“Energy efficiency is the foundational building block to meet our climate goals,” she said. “The Power and Conservation Council’s carbon footprint report is a wake up call to us all. Not only do we need to meet all load growth with energy efficiency and renewables by 2025, but our goals have gotten higher. To meet already adopted climate goals we will have to decommission some old coal plants and we will need even more energy efficiency and carbon free generation to replace that power.”

She added, “We’re basically going to have to achieve energy efficiency that goes beyond what we’ve done in the past. We must be creative and make efficiency the most economical choice.”

According to Patton, energy efficiency also plays an important role in meeting individual consumers’ needs, especially those within the low-to-middle income brackets.

“(The proposed initiative) is almost inevitably going to be good for low-to-moderate income families when that housing stock becomes available to them because their bills are going to be lower and more affordable than in a home that didn’t meet these standards,” Patton said.

CITY TO SEEK HELP FROM EXISTING ORGANIZATIONS
While Patton thinks the initiative could be groundbreaking, she believes one of the biggest obstacles the city will face is enforcement and implementation.

According to Brendan Finn, chief of staff to Commissioner Saltzman, the city will likely look to organizations like NEEA to help the city overcome these obstacles.

While the specific procedures are still in the development stage, Finn says the city will refer citizens to established organizations like the Energy Trust of Oregon (ETO), which provides program incentives for citizens implementing efficiency upgrades, and NEEA which partners with ETO to provide the training, tools and guidance on efficiency upgrades through its Northwest ENERGY STAR and BetterBricks initiatives. As the proposed legislation stands, any building that meets current ENERGY STAR, Earth Advantage or LEED certifications will automatically pass the new efficiency standards.

“We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel, Finn said. “We know there are organizations out there that are already (working to promote green building construction) and we want to promote them. We want to help get those people who are on the fringes and bring them into the fold.”

Finn, who recently had his home ENERGY Star certified, believes Portland is up to the task.

“It’s within Portlanders’ mantra to be environmentally conscious,” Finn said. I have complete confidence we’ll get a resounding thumbs up from the community.