US Bancorp Tower in Portland Earns LEED Platinum

PORTLAND, OR—US Bancorp Tower in downtown has earned a rare LEED Platinum certification from the US Green Building Council, according to Unico Properties LLC. Unico Sustainability, a division of Unico Properties, provided the LEED certification services.

Located at 111 SW 5th Ave., the 1.2 million-square-foot US Bancorp Tower is the largest multi-tenant class-A office building in Oregon to earn LEED Platinum certification. In 2015, US Bancorp Tower was the largest multi-tenant class-A office building in Oregon to earn a LEED Gold recertification from USGBC.

Unico held an invitation-only LEED plaque ceremony at US Bancorp Tower earlier this month to celebrate the milestone. Kimberly Lewis, USGBC’s senior vice president of market transformation, presented the plaque to the Unico team.

“It takes effort and leadership to achieve the highest level of LEED certification, especially at the largest office building in Portland,” said Brett Phillips, Unico Properties vice president of sustainable and responsible investments.  “Earning LEED-Platinum at the most iconic class-A office building in the city’s skyline is a true testament to the efforts of our team. We’re pleased to further invest in US Bancorp Tower with our commitment to sustainable stewardship, and we’re honored to achieve this milestone that further solidifies the building’s reputation as a premier city landmark and that offers a superior corporate image for both professional services and creative and technology firms.”

Some of the key highlights that Unico achieved at US Bancorp Tower for the LEED Platinum certification: Unico added a fitness center to the amenities offered, which includes new bike storage and showers/locker facilities; Unico’s new elevator system includes new dispatch controls and high-efficiency motors; Unico’s solid waste management plan aims to recycle at least 50% of all ongoing consumable waste, 100% of all durable goods, 90% of all construction-related waste and 100% of all mercury-containing lamps and batteries; Unico implemented a multi-layered preventative maintenance plan to ensure the building is continuously operating at peak performance; several energy-saving capital projects were implemented during the last several years including refurbished cooling towers, LED lighting upgrades in common areas and exteriors, an HVAC controls upgrade and new WaterSense plumbing fixture installs.

“As a signatory to the 2030 Challenge, Unico has ambition to build and operate carbon neutral buildings by 2030,” Phillips shares. “We are acting on this by retrofitting our existing buildings to use 50% less energy than the industry average and by developing new buildings to be 80% carbon neutral today and growing to 100% carbon neutral by 2030. We are also committed to developing 100 MW of solar energy by the end of 2021.”

LEED is essentially the “organic” food label for buildings, Phillips says. Some applicable statistics:

US Bancorp Tower is using 53% less energy than the national average, surpassing the 2030 Challenge 11 years ahead of schedule. In the last year alone, it has cut gas use by 55% and its overall energy use by 18%. This energy use reduction has cut carbon emissions by 755 metric tons, which is the equivalent to burning 825,000 pounds of coal annually. And, it has implemented an aggressive Energy Management Plan using real-time data analytics to diagnose issues. With regards to water, the building has cut its annual consumption by 968,000 gallons by implementing a rigorous program of high-efficient plumbing fixtures and refurbishing its cooling tower.

“And on recycling, the building is diverting 1,000,000 pounds of waste from landfill annually,” Phillips tells GlobeSt.com. “What’s really exciting is that our work here isn’t done. The team is in the process of installing a Tesla Super Charger to promote electric driving and is piloting a number of innovative energy management projects with PG&E and Enel.”