Opus Northwest teams with energy dept. for green building initiative

Development firm Opus Northwest was recently tapped by the United States Department of Energy to participate in its Net-Zero Energy Commercial Building Initiative. The initiative will explore ways to lower energy consumption in commercial buildings.

The Opus Group, a national firm with an office in Portland and 27 other cities, was one of 21 U.S. companies chosen by the U.S. Department of Energy. Opus Northwest Vice President Brian Owendoff believes his firm is positioned to take the lead on the initiative, due to Portland's reputation as a leader in developing and promoting sustainable technology and techniques.

"The goal ... is to have real-life data on the savings," Owendoff said. "Some of the information that's out there is kind of best- guess, no-hard-facts stuff done around the country."

In order to gather the hard facts, Opus will take advantage of U.S. Department of Energy laboratories and resources to possibly develop a new building using new techniques - an opportunity that's valued at $15 million.

In the likeliest scenario, Owendoff said, Opus will construct a new building, either on speculation or as a project for a specific company. And the initiative will be ongoing, lasting for two to five years.

The development firm is negotiating with potential companies right now to see if any would be interested in participating, but Owendoff would not say which companies.

The hope is that energy savings far greater than the current norm will entice a company to participate.

In 2007, buildings accounted for 18 percent of carbon emissions and 19 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. Like most Portland developers, Opus Northwest markets itself as a leader in sustainable development. Its current major project, Ladd Tower, a 21-story apartment building, will be using sustainable building techniques in an attempt to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold certification.

The Department of Energy will act as a guiding influence for the new project.

"When we (finally) have a project, we will bring it before the Department of Energy," Owendoff said, describing it as a case-by- case basis. "And we'll have access to the U.S. Department of Energy's laboratories."

The main laboratory is located in the Pacific Northwest and will be used to build, operate and track the energy consumption of the new building as well as a retrofitted old building. The laboratory will be looking to reduce energy consumption by 50 percent for the new building and by 30 percent for the retrofitted building.

Aside from the development of sustainable techniques and technology, another reason for the initiative is to promote green- building techniques across the country, according to the Department of Energy.

Other commercial real estate firms tapped by the Department of Energy include ProLogis, based in Denver; Regency Centers, based in Jacksonville, Fla.; and the Ryan Companies, based in Minneapolis.

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