Communal Growth

Earth Advantage is a green certification program run by the Earth Advantage Insitute, a freestanding nonprofit based in Portland, Oregon that spun off of from Portland General Electric. Originally designed for residential use, the program has been expanded to new commercial buildings under 100,000 square feet—an area of the market the organization deems “underserved.”

The program is similar to the popular LEED rating system, spanning five categories (energy, water, health, materials and land) and offering three levels of certification (Silver, Gold and Platinum).

According to the organization, the energy pathway can result in energy savings of 16 to 50 percent beyond ASHRAE 90. 1-2007. Neither energy modeling nor commissioning are required for certification, putting certification within reach of smaller businesses and firms.

The widespread use of natural materials tied into the administration’s desires to pursue sustainable certification. But instead of going LEED, the school chose to participate in a Portland-based program called Earth Advantage, which is already well-known in the state for its work in residential sustainability.

According to Stoller, Earth Advantage places an emphasis on energy usage, so the design of the building envelopes, electrical systems and lighting were crucial to achieving certification under the organization’s pilot commercial program. But that also presented challenges for designers hoping to maximize the school’s westward view of the Cascade Mountains. “Ideally, you want to face south because it’s easier to control the sun,” Stoller says. “East or west is more of a challenge, because the sun comes in at a much lower angle on the west late in the day.”

As a result, the design team specified high-performance glazing for the buildings to control UV rays, which helped the project gain Earth Advantage Gold certification in the process. “This glazing is quite expensive, so there is a commitment, but once you’re inside the buildings, the views are just incredible. We thought it was unique to the campus to have the ability to open up the buildings and take advantage of the view. We were very cognizant of how to capture the opportunity.”

Inside the buildings, the design team incorporated flexible instructional and multi-purpose spaces to mesh with COCC’s concept of student-centered learning, which encourages students to break into small groups for self-teaching and study. That meant creating slightly larger general purpose classrooms, so that faculty can teach in both traditional lecture modes and informal collaborative sessions. Furnishings have been specified for mobility and wall surfaces have been opened up as much as possible to accommodate more whiteboards. Classrooms have gone from 23 square feet per student up to 28.

PageBreak“It’s starting to impact not only the general instructional spaces but also the lab spaces,” Stoller notes. “The science building is state-of-the-art. It’s the caliber of any university building that we’ve been involved with—it’s just smaller in scale.”

In addition to providing a new and improved learning environment for many of the colleges’ programs, the facilities also offer a fresh face to the community, who helped fund the projects through a bond referendum. “The culinary program is a primary outreach,” says Stoller. “Central Oregon has tourism, and that program supports the restaurants and resorts as part of that effort. In the health careers, the nursing program has a relationship with the local hospital, the dental program runs a clinic once or twice a month where local dentists volunteer to come in and support those who can’t afford a dentist, and massage therapy feeds into the tourism industry.”

“It’s fun to be involved with those academic programs, knowing the relationship they have with the community and how they support it,” he adds. “It makes for a feel-good story and shows how the college gets funding and gives back, as well. It’s a partnership they have with their community.”

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