The goal Portland behind Portland Community College's new Workforce Training Center was to achieve a high level of sustainability, but also transparency.

The project, a close collaboration between GBD Architects and Lango Hansen Landscape Architects, was recently certified LEED platinum, which is a first for Portland Community College.

Kurt Lango of Lango Hansen Landscape Architects worked with Kyle Andersen at GBD toward an integrated design approach between building and site.

"From the beginning," said Lango, "both of us were very interested in finding tangible ways to connect students and visitors to the often complex and hidden systems that create a LEED building. During the design process we made a conscious effort to think about the design in terms of 'science on display.'"

The new facility is a three-story, 100,000-square-foot center for Portland Community College, located at the Willow Creek Transit Center. A mixed-use development, the building will contain Workforce Training, Computer Education and Community Education departments, along with many other PCC services that are currently offered at another location. PSU is also creating classroom space within the facility, which will complement the other PCC uses there.

The project was awarded LEED Platinum rating from the US Green Building Council, with the following sustainable features: rainwater harvesting, photovoltaic array, passive ventilation through common spaces, on-site storm water treatment, access to multiple modes of transit, regional and recycled materials, low- or no-VOC adhesives and sealants and sunshades.

The site is a transit center with light-rail, park and ride, multiple bus stops, bike lanes and pedestrian connections. "We felt that we needed to engage the public whether they are visiting the Workforce Training Center or speeding by on light-rail," said Lango."What is different about this project is our desire to elevate the connection between sustainable components that are often unseen with dynamic elements that become interpretive tools."

The focal point of the entry plaza are three large aluminum poles that slide down through the paving into a below-grade cistern. The cistern captures the roof runoff and is used to flush the building’s toilets. The buoy tubes, as the design team calls them, have large floats at the base of the poles, so the poles fluctuate up and down depending upon how much water is in the below-grade cistern. Pole markings provide a way to gauge how much the poles have risen or lowered on a particular day.  The overflow of the cistern during winter months flows through a water garden that lines the perimeter of the project. As the cistern fills with water to a point that it overflows, a pipe from the cistern feeds a water garden that lines the perimeter of the building’s entry plaza.

"This device creates a 'cause and effect' as a cue to the passer-by of the systems in the building." said Lango. " All of the horizontal water is treated within a highly visible series of water gardens/bioswales, which help ground the building, and soften the building site."

The sustainable elements continue inside the building. GBD designed a passive ventilation system that is connected to the building management system, which automatically opens a series of windows near the entry, and at the same time opens a series of windows at the upper level clerestory, allowing the warmer heat to rise and escape.  This movement of air using convection rather than fan energy helps create fresh ventilated space which at times may create gentle rising breezes.

There are also digital lighting controls that respond to daylight sensors to conserve energy by balancing artificial light with natural light and a 106 kw solar panel array produces 7.5 percent of the total energy used by the building.  In the lobby, there is an interactive display where students and visitors can get real time data on how the building is performing.

The monitoring of the building allows the data to be parsed into portions, so that one can understand where the electricity is being consumed and where it is being produced.  This works with the water system as well. The visitor  can understand how much water has been captured, versus how much potable water has been consumed.  All of this data can then be taken into the classroom, since the interface is web-based. This concept is being looked at on other PCC campuses as a means to model and analyze scenarios on building systems. Understanding and studying the metrics helps leverage the architecture to become part of the curriculum.