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Building Trends in 2011

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with Hokanson Realty & Jared Realty Group

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It's obvious to anyone who has set foot in Portland, Oregon that the city and its residents are passionate and support green living and environment sustainability. The city's layout and size make it ideal for cycling and walking its small blocks, locals and tourists are just a short bus ride away from the parks, gardens and arboretums.

When completed in 2015, Portland will be home to the Oregon Sustainability Center, the first living building. The office building will produce 100 of its own energy and will be place in the downtown area. The building will reuse its water resources and  40% of its energy will come from the solar panels installed on the roof. The remaining 60% will come from efficient heating and cooling systems with the caveat that the residents must be willing to endure cooler winters and warmer summers while indoors.

 

According to the Institute, the top trends in 2011 will include:

 

* Energy labelling for homes and office buildings - More accurate energy rating systems for homes and office spaces, similar to the miles-per-gallon ratings for cars

* Building information modelling (BIM) software - The continued evolution of CAD software for building design has produced new add-on tools with increasingly accurate energy modelling as well as taking into account energy properties for many materials

* Buy-in to green buildings by the financial community - Lenders and insurers have come to see green homes and buildings as better for their bottom line and are working to get new loan products, insurance packages, and metrics into place

* Carbon calculation - With buildings contributing roughly half the carbon emissions in the environment, the progressive elements in the building industry are looking at ways to document, measure, and reduce greenhouse gas creation in building materials and processes

* Net zero buildings - A net zero building is a building that generates more energy than it uses over the course of a year, as a result of relatively small size, extreme efficiencies and onsite renewable energy sources such as wind, solar or geo-exchange systems.

 

 

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