Portland Developer Probes Future of Sustainable Construction

Jun 13, 2024

Portland Business Journal

A Portland developer is scrutinizing the leading edge of sustainability for buildings and sharing her findings.

Leveraging an Energy Trust of Oregon grant, a team led by Anyeley Hallová of real estate firm Adre recently completed research into so-called district systems as they might be used in the under-development Williams & Russell project in historic Albina. District systems basically act as a way to centralize energy, water and waste processes to make them more efficient and, in the case of energy, less reliant on the power grid.

Project leaders haven't made any decisions on using district systems at the 1.7-acre Williams & Russell site, which will include affordable housing, for-sale homes and a Black business hub. But the Energy Trust-funded research offered a chance to look at district systems through the lens of practical application. Hallová presented findings in Bend earlier this week and is sharing insights again in a Thursday webinar. Her report is also posted online.

There are challenges associated with implementing district systems on-site, the report said, but these systems represent "the future in resilient development."

The research is "making it much easier for people to come after us who might want to do this, too, and they don't have to start from scratch," Hallová said.