Category Archives: sustainability

Green building questions answered

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Metro, the City of Portland, Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas Counties want to ensure you know about their joint community resource the Regional Green Building Hotline. The Hotline provides practical and impartial information about green home strategies, resources and incentives for new and existing commercial and residential projects in the region. We’ll answer your questions about ways to reduce your carbon footprint, renewable energy, indoor air quality, salvage, training workshops and more. The Hotline is a bridge to the information, programs and local resources to help you be as green as you would like to be.

Inquiries are welcomed from homeowners, renters, real estate professionals, non-profits, contractors, students, developers, business owners and design professionals in the tri-county area. It is the Hotline’s intent to inspire callers (not overwhelm!) to incorporate as many sustainable choices, either material or behavioral, into their projects as possible. The Hotline can also help callers overcome barriers and obstacles they have around green building.

A great place to start is right where you are, know which resources are available and take it one day at a time. How can you get money back on my stormwater/sewer bill? What actions can you take to save on your home energy use? Where can you tour a green home? When is the next class on rain gardens? What is the WaterSense label? How can I retrofit my house to age-in-place? Can I get a rebate for planting a tree? Call us!

The FREE Regional Green Building Hotline can help! 503.823.5431
www.buildgreen411.com
we tweet! @greenhotline
join us on Facebook: Green Development Resource Center.

Citywide Tree Project Open House on Wednesday, January 19

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From the Bureau of Planning and Sustainabillity:

Residents invited to talk with City staff and Urban Forestry Commissioners about the upcoming proposal to City Council

Open house about the Citywide Tree Project, a citywide project to enhance Portland’s urban forest through regulatory improvement and improved customer service

Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011, 4:30 – 7 p.m.
1900 SW 4th Ave., Suite 2500A
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Got Ideas? Get Money to Build Your Own Portland

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From the City of Portland:

A pool of money is available for community based projects initiated, designed and run by youth 21 and under. The Youth Action Grants Program will provide grants of up to $1,000 to any youth in Portland who want to take action that makes Our Bill of Rights: Children + Youth a reality!

CLICK HERE to view the grants guidelines & sample application.
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CRC Update

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From the Columbia River Crossing:

Portland Working Group recommends elevated Hayden Island light rail station

The Portland Working Group (PWG) has recommended an elevated station for the new light rail stop on Hayden Island.

PWG members and CRC staff discussed both elevated and street level options late last year at an open house with 85 attendees. An online survey was also used to gather input on the design of the Hayden Island station.

The PWG and project staff are now moving forward with discussion and design detail of the elevated station, connections to local businesses and the local street network. Check the CRC website for future meeting materials and agendas. PWG next meets Jan. 12 at the Jantzen Beach SuperCenter from 4 to 6 p.m..

Project Sponsors Council receives update on Bridge Expert Review Panel work

CRC Bridge Expert Review Panel chair, Tom Warne provided an overview of the panel’s work at the Dec. 10 meeting of the Project Sponsors Council. The panel was convened by the Oregon and Washington departments of transportation to re-evaluate river bridge types and configurations for the CRC in response to a recommendation made by the CRC Independent Review Panel.

The panel will analyze all applicable river crossing options, including those that may have been dropped from consideration in the past and re-evaluate project constraints. The panel is expected to have a final report in January 2011. Additional information on the bridge panel is available online.

In-water soil study concludes in North Portland Harbor and Columbia River

The Columbia River Crossing project recently finished drilling work in North Portland Harbor and the Columbia River to gather additional information on soil type and stability to help advance bridge foundation designs.

Since beginning in November, drilling work was conducted at about 20 sites. The CRC project includes a replacement crossing for the Interstate Bridge over the Columbia River and new bridge structures between Hayden Island and Marine Drive. Supports for the structures are being designed to extend through the sandy river bed to solid ground or rock.

Additional information is available online.

Columbia River Crossing contact information

Email: feedback@columbiarivercrossing.orgMail: 700 Washington St., Suite 300
Vancouver, WA 98660
Phone: 360-737-2726 or 503-256-2726
Fax: 360-737-0294

www.ColumbiaRiverCrossing.org

Local Artist Joe Ryckebosch at SCRAP’s Re:Vision Gallery

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Joe Ryckebosch: New Formations Over Old Horizons
January 10 – February 25th
Opening Reception at SCRAP, January 13th, 5-7pm

Re:Vision Gallery is pleased to present the mixed media collage work of Portland-based artist Joe Ryckebosch. Utilizing vintage design tape in bright colors, Ryckebosch superimposes geometric patterns over found images. The printed images that inspire Ryckebosch’s work result from myriad forays into thrift stores, scrap yards, re-use centers and back alleys. By reclaiming and re-forming, Ryckebosch has enlivened cultural ephemera on the verge of being forgotten, safely resurrecting them from the shadows back into the light of attention. The applied colored tape is the artist’s tool for re-interpreting the original subject of these once-discarded images. The color and patterns that emerge may have always been there, but have never been noticed until emphasized through the fresh perspective of these works. The juxtaposition of form and color provides a subtle and contemplative commentary on the ways humans see pattern in the natural world.

Re:Vision Gallery
SCRAP Creative Reuse Center
2915 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
Daily 10am-6pm Continue reading →