Thursday, April 1, 2010, 3:19pm PDT | Modified: April 7, 2010, 1:45 PM

Portland group proposes eco-districts plan

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One of the city’s leading advocates of sustainability is floating a plan to create eco-districts that could lower power costs for businesses while protecting the environment.

The proposal, by the Portland Sustainability Institute, calls for the creation of five pilot eco-districts around the city to test the notion that community-scale planning and infrastructure can be both "green" and cost effective.

The institute’s EcoDistrict Initiative defines eco-districts as a neighborhood or city district with a commitment to sustainability, including features such as community-scale energy generation, recycling schemes and the resources to support low-carbon transportation options.

The targets for performance of the eco-districts include:

• • Community vitality based on resident well-being and built conditions.
• • Air quality benefiting from minimal carbon emissions.
• • Goal of net-zero energy use by employing efficiency and renewable energy options.
• • Access facilitated by clean and affordable transportation options.
• • The sustainable use of water.
• • The integration of natural and built environments.
• • Goal of zero waste.

Rob Bennett, executive director of the Portland Sustainability Institute said, he compares the launch of the eco-district initiative to the launch of Portland’s green building plan in the late ’90s.

“If we get good at this, if we use Portland as a sandbox, this is an expertise we can export,” Bennett said. “It’s an economic advantage.”

Bennett cited the example of Copenhagen. After 30 years of investing in small-scale energy schemes, the Danish city uses community generating systems for 95 percent of its electricity needs.

The initial five pilot eco-districts that the institute is planning include the Lloyd District, South Waterfront, Portland State University, Lents and Gateway.

The benefits of community energy generation in a dense neighborhood such as the Lloyd District is that building owners would reduce their individual energy costs while sharing the burden of paying for efficiency and renewable energy upgrades with neighbors.

Part of the eco-district plan is to set up the policy framework to support and the financing vehicles to pay for such community endeavors. The Portland Sustainability Institute recently hired Steve Gutman, former commercialization manager from the Portland office of EcoSecurities, to head up the institute’s finance program.

Bennett said he wants to get the business community involved in eco-districts, joining the companies already on the initiative’s advisory board which includes representatives from companies including David Evans and Associates, CH2MHill, Brightworks and other firms.

The EcoDistrict Initiative framework document is available for review via the Portland Sustainability Institute website. The institute is also collecting feedback on the plan via an online survey.