A Green Building Grows In Portland

Portland, Oregon — The Mercy Corps Action Center and Mercy Corps' Global Headquarters, opening in summer 2009, will not only be an innovative space for education and action regarding global poverty, but it will also stand as an example of sustainable green building practices.

Mercy Corps' new headquarters will feature a variety of energy efficient features and integrated design strategies that will help the building to achieve an LEED Platinum Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council – the highest of its kind.

To help us attain that goal, Mercy Corps has received generous grants from The Kresge Foundation, The Lemelson Group and the City of Portland's Green Investment Fund, all of which will be used to help us design and create an environmentally sustainable facility.

All of this begins with the construction process, which will be overseen by Green Building Services (GBS), a Portland-based consulting firm that is aiding Mercy Corps in our goal of creating a green building. According to GBS Principal Ralph DiNola, the construction will bring in recycled materials to the building and will recycle as much of the unneeded material from within the building as is possible.

Also planned for the building will be a green roof, a layer of soil and vegetation that will cover a portion of the existing roof structure. The green roof will aid in reducing stormwater run off, filter pollutants out of the air and reduce heating and cooling load on the building.

The green roof will be combined with an array of photovoltaic cells that will aid in regulating the temperature of the roof as well as helping to recycle solar energy for use in the building. This combination is the first of its kind and will be used as a test case for further expansion of this type of green technology. These same types of photovoltaic cells will be integrated into the entryway of the building, shading the entrance and again reusing the solar energy.

Visitors to the Mercy Corps Action Center and the new headquarters building will be able to learn more about these and other green aspects of the building through an interactive learning display. This touch screen module will use the building as a way to connect environmental conservation with hunger, poverty and sustainable resource use around the world.