by RENEE PATRICK Cascade Business News Feature Writer
The second annual Sustainability Awards, created by The Environmental Center, honored businesses and one individual and organization showing an excellence in environmental sustainability in Central Oregon. Out of 24 nominations, six winners were announced recently at The Oxford Hotel; the evening began with keynote speaker, Cylvia Hayes.
The awards were devised to inspire sustainable action in the community through recognition of those in the region already working towards a vibrant economy, equitable society and healthy environment.
“It’s important to tell and celebrate the positive, inspiring stories,” said Mike Riley, executive director of The Environmental Center. “We hear so much about what’s wrong, especially about the environment, and not enough about what is going right. And there is a lot of positive work being done right here in our local community, where we make the daily choices that lead us to a sustainable future.”
2011 WINNERS
Individual
Contributing to making sustainability real in the community by setting an example in personal and work life for others to follow and demonstrating a comprehensive commitment to a healthy environment, vibrant economy and equitable society.
MATT SHINDERMAN
Shinderman is the professor of natural resources at OSU Cascades: “…he goes above and beyond for his students, colleagues, and the community by leading the way with passion and dedication. Through his work at OSU Cascades, Matt is helping create a generation of Oregonians for whom sustainability is a way of life. Matt doesn’t just talk about sustainability, he walks the talk,” stated The Environmental Center.
In his work life, Shinderman serves as the co-chair of the faculty Sustainability Working Group, tasked with developing an undergraduate sustainability program at the university.
He serves on boards and committees for the Deschutes River Mitigation, Enhancement Committee and the Deschutes County Green Print Advisory Panel and Bend 2030.
His daily life reflects his ethic in that he travels by bike or foot 50 percent of the time and drives an efficient Prius. He purchases his electricity from Pacific Power’s Blue Sky renewable energy program, composts, uses native plants in landscaping and dries clothing in the sun whenever possible.
“This award is truly an honor given that it comes from the Environmental Center,” commented Shinderman. “In my view TEC has done more to mainstream the concept of sustainability in Central Oregon than any other organization. Receipt of the award is an accomplishment for our campus as many individuals (students included) have supported my work and contributed to sustainability initiatives at Cascades. Student participation in this event is a sign that they have internalized their education and are on the path to becoming engaged citizens. I’m proud to be a part of their lives.”
Small Business
Taking action at the leadership and operating level on a wide range of sustainable operating practices and engaging industry peers to do the same. Offering long-term, living wage opportunities for workers and supporting community through philanthropy, volunteerism and civic engagement.
PACIFIC CREST AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Chosen for their affordable and environmental friendly senior housing projects, “[they have]an effective business model that meets a real social need—affordable housing for seniors—with as little environmental impact as possible.
Each of their projects has been more and more environmentally responsible. Building an ultra-green building in a rural and relatively low income community like La Pine is a rare event. Their energy and water conservation numbers for the Little Deschutes Lodge in La Pine are especially impressive. PCAH is clearly a leader and innovator in their field, setting a great example for others to follow,” said The Environmental Center.
The Little Deschutes Lodge was built with a “ground source heat pump” system, a solar hot water system, low flow toilets, gray water circulation, a 24kW solar PV system that produces about 17.5 percent of building’s annual electricity, native plant landscaping and a community garden.
Large Business
NORTHWEST CROSSING
The Large Busines Award goes to NorthWest Crossing due to their leadership in, “…modeling best practices in neighborhood design that enhance livability and sustainability over the long-term, from small lot sizes to narrow streets to planning for live, work, education and play all within walking distance,” commented The Environmental Center. “NorthWest Crossing has also required all new homes to meet Earth Advantage standards, a nationally recognized third party certification for environmental performance. In addition, street design in the project is based on the ‘complete streets’ concept of enhancing mobility and quality of life for all street users: pedestrians, cyclists or motorists.”
Other features include two buildings in the Neighborhood Center with LEED-CS Silver Certification, a Land Trust ground lease model making homes more affordable for workforce families, Discovery Park Lodge – an affordable living community for residents 55 and older (developed by Pacific Crest Affordable Housing), abundant pedestrian paths, a community garden and the preservation of ponderosa pines and natural rock outcroppings.
“In NorthWest Crossing we always strive to keep sustainability and the environment at top of mind,” said David Ford, general manager for the neighborhood. “When we began the project, we started by preserving the large pine trees and natural rock outcroppings on site. This sensibility has continued into the built environment as we continue to grow.”
Organization
BEND-LA PINE SCHOOLS
Bend-La Pine Schools serves over 16,000 students and is the seventh largest school district in the state of Oregon. Between 28 schools, a fleet of buses, administrative building and satellite facilities, the Bend-La Pine School district has embraced the sustainable ethic with an organization-wide sustainability policy.
The Environmental Center stated, “The district has taken a wide range of actions to implement their plan and begun to educate its staff and students about sustainability. Bend-LaPine Schools took a leadership role in the state by receiving the first LEED Gold Certification east of the Cascades for the construction of W.E. Miller Elementary in Bend and Rosland Elementary in La Pine was built to the same standard.”
The Bend-La Pine schools have also implemented the Farm to School Program to bring fresh local food to students, launched programs to recover and compost cafeteria food waste, adopted a new cleaning system that reduces water and chemical use and transitioned many of its buses to propane which exceed current emission standards. The addition of condensing boilers reduce site emissions and most schools now use WeatherTRAK smart controllers, which prevent over watering.
John Rexford, deputy superintendent of the Bend-La Pine Schools said, “We think of our efforts as ‘practical’ sustainability. It just makes good business sense to conserve resources. Sustainability ultimately saves increasingly scarce budget dollars that may be returned to the classroom and students.”
Innovation
New to this year’s line-up of recognitions. Riley explained, “After reviewing this year’s applicants (and after reflecting back on our experience last year), we felt there was a need for an award that recognized individuals or organizations that had developed a particularly creative or forward looking solution to a pressing sustainability challenge, whether it be a new service or product…It’s not a category people apply to directly, but that we assign based on our overall review of applications received.”
SARA BELLA* UPCYCLED
Sara Bella* Upcycled (SB*U) gives new life to trash, turning plastic bags and used banners into items like wallets, tote bags and belts.
“Sara Bella* Upcycled is a great example of a creative solution to a real problem: disposable plastic bags that fill up our landfill, trash our streets and highways, and injure and poison the fish and wildlife that live in our rivers and oceans,” said The Environmental Center. “Reuse and upcycling are central to the SB*U business model—all of their products are made with at least 95 percent upcycled trash—which reduces waste and conserves energy and water. The company also dedicates substantial time to educating the community about these issues and about how to convert trash into treasure.”
SB*U offers classes, gives free talks and demonstrations, tours, lessons and reaches out to classrooms around Central Oregon with the upcycled ethic. Owner Sara Wiener also traveled to Mexico to teach the art of fusing plastic bags and through a local non-profit, village women are now producing and selling their upcycled creations.
BENDBROADBAND—THE VAULT
A Tier III certified data center offering colocation, disaster recovery, cloud computing and dedicated managed services. “Data centers consume huge amounts of energy and will proliferate across the country as the demand for cloud computing service grows. The Vault is a national model for the direction these facilities must go—highly efficient with aggressive use of renewable energy.
“The Vault transforms the high desert’s cool evening temperatures into energy-efficient cooling and our sunny days into electricity using photovoltaic (PV) panels on the roof of the facility. The Vault is also the first facility in our region that has sought to achieve carbon neutrality, using a combination of on-site techniques and off-site mitigation measures.
“The Vault is designed for extreme energy efficiency, slashing energy consumption by an estimated 20 percent compared to industry standard data centers, making it one of the most energy efficient data centers in the nation,” stated The Environmental Center.
Leonard Weitman, vice president of technical operations at BendBroadband commented, “We are proud that the BendBroadband Vault has achieved the level of environmental sustainability that warrants this recognition, while at the same time meeting the demanding reliability, security, and scalability needs of our customers. As the only carbon neutral data center in the country, the Vault provides a core regional asset for economic development. The award is a credit to the design and construction teams, and our sustainability partners.”
The honored recipients received a hand-crafted award made of found and recycled materials by local artist Hunter Dahlberg of Orion Forge.
The winners were selected by a community review committee consisting of: Jorden Swart, owner of Brilliant Environmental Building Products, Lindsey Lombard, finance director for the Bend Park and Recreation District, Bruce Abernethy, grant writer with the Bend La Pine Schools, Rhonda Ealy, owner of Strictly Organic, Diana Fischetti, commercial outreach specialist with Energy Trust of Oregon and Earth Advantage Institute, Michale LaLonde, chief operating officer and chief financial officer of Deschutes Brewery, Mark Capell, owner of CMIT Solutions, Jennifer Letz, sustainability operations specialist for the Deschutes and Ochoco National Forests and Mark Peterson, director of hospitality services at St. Charles Heath.
www.envirocenter.org, 16 NW Kansas Ave, Bend. 541-385-6908.
