(Photo courtesy The Environmental Center)
What does a 100-year-old farmhouse in Redmond have in common with a Living Building-certified home in Bend, an affordable homeownership community in Prineville, and the City of Bend’s new Public Works Campus?
They’re all part of the 23rd Annual Green Tour, happening Saturday, September 26, from 10am-4pm.
Hosted by The Environmental Center, the self-guided tour gives Central Oregonians a chance to step inside innovative homes and buildings, talk directly with homeowners and building professionals, and see ideas they can borrow for their own homes, projects and communities.
“This tour is really about making solutions tangible,” said Lindsey Hardy, Climate Solutions Program Director at The Environmental Center. “You can read about heat pumps, better insulation, solar, smart infill or high-performance construction, but it’s completely different to stand inside a building, see how those choices came together and talk to the people who actually made them happen.”
“One thing I love about the Green Tour is that you don’t have to know anything about green building before you show up. You can walk through the door, ask the questions you actually have and talk to someone who has already tried it.”
This year’s tour stretches across Central Oregon and includes residential and commercial projects ranging from new construction to deep retrofits, affordable homeownership to high-performance custom homes.
Among the projects featured are River Sol, a Bend home that earned Living certification through the Living Building Challenge, the highest achievement possible, and produces its own energy while incorporating innovative water, materials and biophilic design strategies; Rooted at 19th in Redmond, where a 100-plus-year-old farmhouse was preserved and upgraded and new zero energy homes were built as part of a new affordable homeownership community; and Solace at Iron Horse in Prineville, where high-performance features such as solar, triple-pane windows, upgraded insulation and efficient electric equipment are being incorporated into permanently affordable homes.
Tourgoers can explore the City of Bend Public Works Campus, a 35-acre campus featuring mass timber construction, passive shading, radiant heating and cooling, solar shade canopies and other strategies designed to support the City’s Path to Net Zero goals.
Other stops showcase a DIY “barndominium” built with an 11-inch double-stud wall system and reclaimed materials; a 1971 manufactured home transformed into an Earth Advantage Platinum home; and an eight-home cottage cluster demonstrating how thoughtful infill can create more housing within an established Bend neighborhood.
“The projects are intentionally very different from one another,” Hardy said. “Green building isn’t one kind of house or one expensive technology. Sometimes it’s a highly innovative new building, and sometimes it’s keeping a 100-year-old house standing and making it more comfortable and efficient. Sometimes it’s figuring out how to fit more homes into an existing neighborhood. We deliberately want to challenge the idea that green building has one look or one price point.”
Schedule:
10am-4pm: Start at The Environmental Center (16 NW Kansas Ave.) in Bend, where participants can pick up a tour guide, grab coffee from Strictly Organic and plan their self-guided route before heading to sites.
1pm: Bend Bikes will lead a guided bike tour from The Environmental Center to three Green Tour sites, covering approximately 5.5 miles before returning to the starting point.
The Environmental Center will also serve as an education hub throughout the day. Programming includes a session exploring what makes a home healthy and how homeowners and buyers can advocate for better indoor environments, followed by The Housing Game, an interactive exercise led by Stacey and Rachel Stemach of Stemach Design + Architecture that explores the many forces shaping what gets built in Bend—from land and construction costs to parking, infrastructure, taxes and development requirements.
Visitors can otherwise build their own route and explore sites at their own pace throughout the day.
Tourgoers will also be invited to vote for the Green Tour Big Idea Award, answering one question: Which site inspired an idea you’d like to borrow for your own home, work or community?
“That’s what I hope people leave with—an idea,” Hardy said. “You don’t need to walk away ready to build a Living Building. Maybe you learn something you want to do during your next remodel. Maybe you discover a career you didn’t know existed. Maybe you see a housing model you want more of in your community. The point is to get inside these places, ask questions and leave, seeing what’s possible a little differently.”
https://envirocenter.org/programs/the-energy-challenge/green-tour/
