in progress

SITEWORKS CREATES OLUKAI'S TRADE SHOW BOOTH AT OUTDOOR RETAILER

2012-01-31T09:47:00.000-08:00

Siteworks worked with Greenspace to create OluKai's trade show booth at this years Outdoor Retailer Winter Market event in Salt Lake City.

The booth became a secret gateway to real Hawaii, creating OluKai's new hale (Hawaiian home), and referencing hawaii's rich Paniolo (Hawaiian cowboy) and Upcountry history.

HOPWORKS RECEIVES INCENTIVE CHECK FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY UPGRADES

2012-01-31T08:55:00.000-08:00

Christian Ettinger of Hopworks Urban Brewery receives an incentive check from Energy Trust of Oregon for energy efficiency upgrades to their brewery operations. Siteworks replaced an out of date chiller, installed a heat recovery system, and added new fermentation tanks which will allow Hopworks to triple their brewing capacity. We are proud to be a part of the Hopworks story.

ISITE SHOWCASED IN SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS OREGON

2012-01-26T13:32:00.000-08:00

Gallery: A look inside ISITE's sustainable space

By Christina Williams
Sustainable Business Oregon

Web design firm ISITE Design christened its new Northwest Portland office last week with a party, showing off a spiffy new space replete with bike racks, reclaimed wood details and a gas fireplace.

The build out of the office, completed by Portland-based design-build firm Siteworks, also features some futuristic sustainability features worthy of note.

ISITE, which has just over 40 employees in Portland, purchased the 18,000-square-foot building near Northwest Pettygrove and 20th and overhauled it with financing help from the Portland Development Commission.

Jean-Pierre Veillet, the principal of Siteworks and the brains behind EcoFlats, a net-zero apartment complex that opened last year, took photographer Cathy Cheney and I on a tour of ISITE's new digs.

Reclaimed shipping containers house an airy conference room. ISITE Creative Director Patrick Craig said the rusty finish was inspired by the patina of a fire-damaged shipping container.

ISITE Design worked with Siteworks to create an office space that is homey and conducive to collaboration. Reclaimed wood from Viridian Wood Products provides accents throughout the space.

Daylight and ventilation is a key attribute of the office. Cubicle walls are covered with natural felt — "That's what goes under saddles," says Siteworks' Jean-Pierre Viellet — a sound absorber. The soft floor was installed by the gym that used the space before ISITE moved in.

The fireplace is especially attractive on a chilly January afternoon.

Interior offices feature their own skylights to let in more natural light. The custom-built LED light fixtures above each desk are wired so that the light level can be adjusted with the click of a mouse.

A bright hallway leads from ISITE's offices to a cafe space and additional office space on the south side of the building.

Siteworks' Jean-Pierre Viellet shows off the doors from the shipping container which lead into the Brainstorm Room where 14-foot ceilings and a magnetized white board facilitate big ideas.

http://www.sustainablebusinessoregon.com/articles/2012/01/gallery-a-look-inside-isites.html

RESIDENTIAL ARCHITECT MAGAZINE FEATURES ECOFLATS

2012-01-24T17:04:00.000-08:00

wheelhouse

a green mixed-use building serves cycle commuters.

by: bruce D. snyder

Located on a major bicycle thoroughfare in Portland, Ore., the ecoFLATS project taps a rental market that was hiding in plain sight. “Three thousand bikes are going by every day,” says Jean-Pierre Veillet, design principal at Portland-based Siteworks Design | Build, who aimed the project at bicycle commuters—the “20-to-40 demographic of hip Portland people dedicated to a live-simple lifestyle.” Working backward from market-rate rents, Veillet’s firm produced what he refers to as “a resourceful building, a highly efficient infill building that’s transportation oriented.”

A cycling-oriented brew pub occupies one of two commercial spaces at street level, where the residents’ entry vestibule provides secure bike storage. The building’s 18 units open onto a three-story loggia, promoting natural ventilation and daylighting. Passive cooling freed budget dollars for roof-mounted photovoltaic and solar thermal panels, which, along with LED lighting, reflective roofing, and an efficient hydronic heating system, put net-zero energy use within reach. (A monitor in the vestibule delivers a real-time readout of how much energy each unit is consuming.) And while there’s no off-street parking, Veillet points out that there are “two Zipcars out front for weekends or going to the mountains.”

Good green vibes notwithstanding, securing bank financing also required solid income projections, Veillet explains. “If we wanted to do a solar array, we had to save elsewhere. It had to make business sense; that’s how we sold it to the bank.” Selling the concept to the public, however, was easy. “Pro cyclists, bike builders, bike commuters—they just dove on it,” Veillet notes. And with Nike and other outdoors-oriented employers located nearby, “the people are here,” he says. “We could do this again and again and again.”

http://www.residentialarchitect.com/multifamily/wheelhouse.aspx

ISITE DESIGN COMPLETED

2011-12-22T09:28:00.000-08:00

Design and Construction has wrapped up for ISITE Design's new headquarters in NW Portland. Here are some wonderful shots taken by Scott Gerke of the finished space.

Scott Gerke has been a lifelong photographer, currently focusing his career on architectural portraiture. His clean yet striking style brings spaces alive, and Scott works hard to document the spirit and intent of architects, builders, and interior designers. Scott also spends a great deal of time running the visual marketing department for his family's publishing business called the Moira Press. In his role, Scott takes photographs, provides visual images for business cards and web developement, and manages design jobs. In his spare time, Scott spends time with his family at their houseboat on the Columbia River, works on his 1974 Dodge Dart, and teaches photography classes at Oregon College of Art and Craft. Scott and JP both attended Pacific NW College of Arts in the late 90s, and it was there that they developed a mutual respect for each other's artistic strengths. Throughout the years, as JP has developed SiteWorks, Scott has been instrumental in documenting his visionary creations. Scott has enjoyed the satisfying experience of creating beautiful shots, borne from such glorious architectural models as these.

SCOTTGERKE

Photographer

Location Scout

PO Box 17613

Portland, OR 97217

503.222.7222

scott@scottgerke.com

www.scottgerke.com

ECOFLATS SHOWCASED ON PORTLAND ARCHITECTURE

2011-12-18T09:58:00.000-08:00

EcoFlats: bike-friendly and ultra efficient on Williams Avenue

EcoFlats (photo by Ben C. Gray)

BY BRIAN LIBBY
Recently I toured the EcoFlats mixed-use apartment building, along North Williams Avenue in Portland with its co-developer, Jean-Pierre Veillet of Siteworks Design Build.
Williams Avenue, once the heart of a thriving African American community, is today well known as a popular bike route as well as a burgeoning retail area of restaurants, cafes and shops. The building deliberately aspires to cater to the cycling community and demographic. On the ground floor of the building, for example, is Hopworks Bike Bar. “Some 3,000 riders a day pass by Mr. Ettinger’s new brewpub,” the New York Times’ Linda Baker writes of Hopworks in a recent feature about the neighborhood and catering to cyclists. “It has racks for 75 bicycles and free locks, to-go entrees that fit in bicycle water-bottle cages, and dozens of handmade bicycle frames suspended over the bar areas.”
There are no automobile parking spaces for tenants, but the 18-unit building has storage for 30 bikes. “Cyclists are a great potential market for businesses that want people traveling at human-scale speed and will stop and buy something,” Roger Geller, the city’s bicycle coordinator, also told Baker.

Hopworks Bike Bar on the EcoFlats ground floor (photo by Scott Gerke)
Eco Flats is one of 15 building projects aiming toward net-zero operations through a pilot program launched in 2009 by Energy Trust of Oregon. Co developed by Doug Shapiro, it was designed to use approximately 60 percent less energy than a building constructed to code stipulations. Veillet says actual savings have been higher, approaching 80 percent. In the ground-floor entry to the apartments via elevator, a flat-screen TV affixed to the upper wall conveys in real time the amount of energy being used by each unit as well as how much energy is being generated by a rooftop array of solar panels.
“It took two years to convince the bank, but it was filled with tenants in 30 days,” Jean-Pierre Veillet says. “This isn’t a political statement. It’s something easy we can do now that saves 80 percent of the energy.”
The building’s architect is Works Partnership, the Portland firm that has won a slough of design awards and acclaim over the past decade for both new buildings like bSide6 and renovations like the Eastbank Commerce Center. (Rick Potestio, another of the city's top architects, also contributed early in the project.) Curiously, though, you won’t find the EcoFlats in Works Partnership’s website portfolio. This doesn’t seem to be because Works has washed its hands with its client or that there was friction. It’s a successful project economically, and I would argue aesthetically as well. But Veillet (whose work includes the expansion of Portland restaurant Genoa as well as a pop-up store in Manhattan for clothier Nau, also featured in the Times), is a blend of builder and designer, more so than just the contractor-led method the name Siteworks Design-Build would indicate.

Ecoflats (photos by Brian Libby)

“I respect Bill and Carrie as a architects. Bill is very dynamic with his design sensibility and capturing a building in the larger built environment. Carrie is brilliance in a bottle,” Veillet says of the relationship. “But EcoFlats is not a project that was fully under their control. I had the role of main contributor of funds, was heavily involved in design, ultimately responsible to the construction, and the promoter to the banks and PDC to gather their support. They are not a stamp-providing architecture firm and this one is a tweener. I provided the seed, they all helped it grow, then I trimmed the bush.”
From a visual, aesthetic point of view, EcoFlats looks just like what it is: a handsome although maybe not outright beautiful building that resembles Works projects like bSide 6 in the three dimensional quality of its façade, yet perhaps lacks the detail and rigor of a full-fledged Works Partnership piece of architecture. Yet this wasn’t something Veillet and Works fell into; at least from Veillet’s point of view, it was an intentional, pragmatic move that has resulted in exceptional efficiency yet reasonable rental rates.

EcoFlats (photos by Ben C. Gray)
What’s more, although the EcoFlats look is not a rigidly pristine one, it has a slightly rough-and-tumble quality that is not unsuccessful. The more I got to know the building, the more I came to like it. That’s in part because of materials such as reclaimed timber used in the upstairs walkway, or ceramic-coated siding, a Japanese import that modulates the building’s temperature swings by absorbing heat or cold and ventilating it before the building core absorbs it.
I also particularly enjoyed the metal-mesh screens on the front facade and how they appear almost like drapery only more industrial. The facade here seems reminiscent to my eyes not only of Works' bSide6 but also Holst Architecture's celebrated Belmont Lofts.
And you can’t talk about the building of the EcoFlats without considering the timing: a so-called Great Recession in which government and nonprofit incentives exist for green projects but banks have been extraordinarily reluctant to lend. That Veillet was able to line up support and collaboration from the Portland Development Commission, the Energy Trust of Oregon to make his project both pencil out and receive funding is no small feat.

EcoFlats interior and back courtyard (photos by Ben C. Gray)
In the end, there are buildings that win awards for their sculptural quality, and others which find their prestige being certified by LEED or other green building rating systems, but both are a small minority of what gets built. I think of the EcoFlats as an efficient building like those with green certifications, and more than hinting at the kind of design presence on the street that turns heads, be they of passers by or design juries. If it’s more of a DIY version that wears its pragmatism on its sleeve, the EcoFlats also delivers ample helpings of both function and form, all at a time when the wheels of the building machine have been grinding at their slowest time in a generation. It’s hard not to hoist a mug of beer or pipe a bike wheelie in response.

http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341c86d053ef0162fde865a9970d

CAN BIKE COMMUTING SAVE THE WORLD?

2011-12-16T08:46:00.000-08:00

By Christina Williams
Sustainable Business Oregon

In Denmark, the average person cycles some 600 miles per year.

That was the fun fact that jumped out in the review of an article from the English newspaper The Guardian that made the case for biking as a way to take a meaningful bite out of Europe's carbon emissions.

If the entire European Union boasted average cycling miles like Denmark's the region's emissions would drop by 25 percent. This according to the European Cycling Foundation.

But a cool infographic from a Northwest coalition of health care management advocates also points out the health benefits of bike commuting. For example: The average worker will lose 13 pounds in their first year of biking to work.

New Years resolutions anyone?

The group also posits that Portland's investment in bike-commuting infrastructure will save the city millions in health care expenses.

Check out the graphic to learn more:

Created by: Healthcare Management Degree

http://www.sustainablebusinessoregon.com/articles/2011/12/can-bike-commuting-save-the-world.html?ed=2011-12-15&s=article_du&ana=sbo

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

2011-12-14T10:04:00.000-08:00

ISITE DESIGN HEADQUARTERS NEARS COMPLETION

2011-11-29T17:44:00.000-08:00

We are putting the finishing touches on the remodel of an old fitness center into the new headquarters building for ISITE Design. Here is a sneak peek at the finished space.

south elevation

corridor to office spaces

container conference room

workstations w/ felt panels & custom LED lighting

looking north to brainstorming room

brainstorming room entry

director's office exterior

open office area looking northeast

workstations w/ director's offices beyond

corridor with clerestory above, looking north

ISITE'S SHIPPING CONTAINER CONFERENCE ROOM ARRIVES

2011-10-17T11:25:00.001-07:00

ISITE Design captured the arrival of the first shipping container that will create the main conference room in their new headquarters building. Check out the video!
Also included is a photo montage showing the history of the containers as they make their way to ISITE.

ecoFLATS ARTICLE IN RESPONSIBLE DEVELOPMENT MAGAZINE HIGHLIGHTS CREATING A LASTING MODEL FOR SUSTAINABLE MULTI-UNIT HOUSING.

2011-09-26T12:47:00.000-07:00

What makes a company successful? For many, the answer is fairly simple: it results from the hard work of those who want to see it succeed the most. For Siteworks Design Build, based in Portland, that person is founder and president Jean-Pierre Veillet. Veillet, who has an educational background in sculpture, started Siteworks Design Build in 1994 as a small operation and focused on doing construction for other designers and architects, however, the company was soon branching out after its creation. Says Veillet, “[Siteworks] hired our own staff and began to see the efficiency of connecting design to construction for the client.” Siteworks now does both commercial and residential projects, but values both equally. “Commercial has tighter time lines, but a clear vision from experienced individuals. Residential is more home spun—like working with a friend,” he explains.

Throughout the company’s continued expansion, one thing is clear—Veillet has always been very much on board with green building. “Every single project of ours has been about being [sustainable].” He also encourages other builders in their green endeavors. “I feel like we need to address the rest of the people and encourage green building at every level of construction, especially because many things are basic enough that every project could be doing it if they had the tools and connections,” Veillet adds. He is so passionate about green building; Veillet even goes as far as to offer a list of reasons—that any company can use—why going green is valuable to the bottom line of a project (see sidebar).

The green revolution that Veillet is a huge part of is clearly evident in Siteworks’ many projects, all of which are now tied to LEED standards and guidelines. In fact, the company completed one of the original LEED projects in Oregon in 2001—the ODE to Roses Building for architect and owner Kevin Cavenaugh. “The [ODE to Roses Building] was a pioneer project that combined the challenges of small budgets, sustainable practices, and design,” explains Veillet. “It was successful on all fronts.”

LEED has clearly become a must for green building, and Veillet says that everything the company does going forward will somehow be tied to it. However, Siteworks excels by going beyond the point systems of LEED, as well as addressing other issues prevalent in design and building. “We still go beyond the point system in many ways that LEED does not quantify,” Veillet says. He adds, “With that said, there are several other non-LEED issues we are addressing in the community, such as affordability and transportation.”

One of Siteworks’ latest projects is the North Williams project, a LEED Platinum mixed-use commercial building, which will include an apartment complex and restaurant space. According to Veillet, one of the goals of the North Williams project was to create a sustainable development model. “It is a no-parking building with bike lockers at the main entry so you can put your bike away before you go up to your [energy] efficient 600-square-foot apartment. We will generate 21 kilowatts of electricity on site with solar [panels]. Our restaurant tenant will be engaging the urban farm principals as well as working with the surrounding community to create jobs and job training. We will be able to grow vegetables and herbs on site,” says Veillet.

So, how does Siteworks market itself? According to Veillet, it is mostly by word of mouth, web advertising, and small ads. However, it is clear that Siteworks’ commitment to the work and the customer is what makes them so successful in a very cut-throat industry. Says Veillet, “The clients need to be able to get what they want and can afford…This is why [Siteworks] is doing so well now. It is less expensive to the client, it is faster to do, and it represents the ability to make every project unique and creative.” He adds, “There is a sense of warmth and comfort to what were doing.” And this definitely equals success for Siteworks Design Build.

President and founder of Siteworks Design Build Jean-Pierre Veillet lays out guidelines out that connect sustainability to the bottom line.
The Bottom Line for Going Green:

• If energy is a concern for the future we need to start building highly efficient building now. The cost of living is not just in the sale price or rent; energy counts every day to the bottom line.

• Design for efficiency and durability to save on maintenance costs therefore saving in the future.

• Save construction cost by not having unnecessary items, such as conditioned common areas.

• By removing an elevator and planning ADA units on the ground floor, you can save construction costs, energy consumption and ADA requirements on the upper floors which saves costs normally passed on to tenants and buyers. Therefore, you are more affordable.

• Giving plenty of daylight to save electricity and making the space more livable save energy and can be more affordable.

• Use concrete floors for durable and dependable lasting structures and finishes. This saves cost on carpeting, replacement and maintenance.

For more information visit: Siteworks Design Build online
by: Megan Cotugno

http://responsible-development.com/?p=1110

DJC ARTICLE SHOWCASES ISITE DESIGN RENOVATION

2011-09-21T08:59:00.000-07:00

Web design firm moving to Northwest Portland warehouse

POSTED: Friday, September 16, 2011 at 03:16 PM PT
BY: Sam Tenney, Daily Journal of Commerce

An 18,000-square-foot warehouse building in Northwest Portland is being fully renovated by Siteworks for Web design firm ISITE Design. The building will feature an open-office design, and will also contain 10 directors’ offices, a brainstorming room, kitchen/break room, restrooms with showers for bicycle commuters and a private room for nursing mothers. The building will also contain a community room for use by local residents, a café and incubation space intended to draw a startup tech business. Work on the project began in June and is expected to be completed in December.

ecoFLATS FEATURED IN NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE

2011-09-20T14:26:00.000-07:00

Developers Cater to Two-Wheeled Traffic in Portland, Ore.
By LINDA BAKER
Published: September 20, 2011
PORTLAND, Ore. — Christian Ettinger, the owner of Hopworks Urban Brewery here, is a longtime bicycle enthusiast. He grew up riding around the Portland suburb of Lake Oswego, and now owns six bicycles — ”two if my wife is asking” — and races in cyclocross events. So when he decided to open a second brewpub this summer, he settled on a location that reflected his passion: North Williams Avenue, one of the most-used commuter cycling corridors in a city already mad for all things two-wheeled.
Enlarge This Image
Daniel Pasley for The New York Times
Jean-Pierre Veillet, the developer of the EcoFlats complex.
Enlarge This Image
Daniel Pasley for The New York Times
An indoor bike rack at EcoFlats.
Some 3,000 riders a day pass by Mr. Ettinger’s new brewpub, which he calls the Hopworks BikeBar. It has racks for 75 bicycles and free locks, to-go entrees that fit in bicycle water bottle cages, and dozens of handmade bicycle frames suspended over the bar areas.
Portland is nationally recognized as a leader in the movement to create bicycle-friendly cities. About 7 percent of commuters here travel by bike (the national average is under 1 percent) and the city has an ambitious plan, adopted last year, to increase that proportion to 25 percent by 2030.
Until recently, Portland’s bike initiatives focused on improving the transportation infrastructure, said Roger Geller, the city’s bicycle coordinator. But as businesses awaken to the purchasing power of cyclists, “bicycle-supported developments” are also beginning to appear around town, Mr. Geller said. These are residential and commercial projects built near popular bikeways and outfitted with cycling-related services and amenities.
“The change is coming from the private sector,” Mr. Geller said. “Cyclists are a great potential market for businesses that want people traveling at human-scale speed and will stop and buy something.”
The North Williams business cluster, about two miles northeast of downtown, is the most prominent example of this type of development. In addition to the BikeBar at 3907 North Williams, a two-block stretch of the street houses the United Bicycle Institute, which teaches bike repair and frame building, at No. 3961; the Friendly Bike Guest House, a hostel that caters to cyclists, at No. 4039; andEcoFlats, an 18-unit rental apartment building with a 30-unit bicycle rack in the lobby but no dedicated vehicle parking. The BikeBar is on the ground floor of the EcoFlats building, which also has a shower for commercial tenant commuters. At No. 3901 is Pix Patisserie, featuring an on-street bike parking corral, one of 67 that have been installed by the city, typically at the request of businesses owners.
”The vision is businesses oriented toward bicycles,” said John Baxter, the administrator of the United Bicycle Institute.
But not everyone is unreservedly enthusiastic about the district’s new orientation. Located in a historic African-American community, the North Williams businesses are almost exclusively white-owned, and many residents see bicycles as a symbol of the gentrification taking place in the neighborhood.
“North Williams has grown to be a bike neighborhood out of gentrification,” said Debora Leopold Hutchins, the chairwoman of the North Williams Stakeholder Advisory Committee, a group helping oversee proposed traffic changes. Ms. Hutchins, who organizes an African-American women’s cycling group, said she loves cycling. But, she said, “The process has not been inclusive of the people who live there.”
A proposal this summer to remove a lane of automobile traffic for bikes on North Williams set off an outcry from residents. That proposal has been tabled while the city conducts more outreach with the neighborhood.
And as businesses and developers around the city jump on the bicycle bandwagon, other concerns about the fledgling bike-friendly projects are emerging: namely, that there is a bit of “bikewashing” going on as cycling becomes a marketing tool in a city where the vast majority still get around by car.
“People say: ‘I own piece of land. I want to build a bike building,’ ” said Jean-Pierre Veillet, the developer of the $3.4 million EcoFlats complex, which was fully leased within a month of opening last March. “Well, you can’t just throw up a building; you have to go where the bikeways and the people on bikes are going to be.”
Located in North Portland, an area that has one of the highest rates of biking for work trips, North Williams Avenue parallels Interstate 5 and is one of the area’s flattest cross-town bike routes. As a result, “the bike traffic is just phenomenal — it’s just one cyclist after another going by,” Mr. Baxter said.
Mr. Ettinger said he was so taken with the mass of cyclists that he installed a sidewalk bar so patrons could watch what he calls “Cat 6 commuter racing.” (Amateur bicycle racing in America is divided into categories, with Cat 1 events for the elite riders and 5 for beginners.)
Christopher Frick, a Portland real estate agent, said the number of cyclists helped persuade him to convert a duplex he owned last year into the Friendly Bike Guest House, a 2,025-square-foot space that includes indoor bike parking and a 500-square-foot “repair area, bike lock and gear dump.” The guest house is aimed at students enrolled in the United Bicycle Institute.
Other new developments around Portland are acknowledging the city’s bicycle craze. Two miles northwest of the North Williams Avenue district isKillingsworth Station, a 60,000-square-foot mixed-use project built by the Winkler Development Corporation that has alcoves for bike parking on each floor and a bike lobby with a hard floor surface, access to a repair station and easy bike entry. ”You hit a button and the door opens,” said Shawn Sullivan, the development manager for Winkler.
And in Southeast Portland, the national homebuilder D. R. Horton is building a 29-unit condominium complex advertised on city buses as “a whole new kind of neighborhood,” with a picture of a bicycle substituting for the final syllable.
Some view these projects with a critical eye. “Have you seen the ‘Portlandia‘ sketch ‘put a bird on it’ ”? asked Kirsten Kaufman, a real estate agent, referring to the IFC cable show that pokes fun at Portland life. “Well, this is a case of ‘put a bike on it.’ ”
Ms. Kaufman, who has carved out a niche showing clients homes by bike, said the Horton complex lacked sufficient bike storage, especially “for people with cargo trailers who want to run errands on their bike.” The project is located a few blocks from a popular bikeway, the Clinton Street bike boulevard.
Jessica Hansen, a Horton spokeswoman, declined comment.
In addition to the bike amenities, Killingsworth Station includes 57 car parking spaces — one for each housing unit. “It’s an ironic twist,” said Mr. Sullivan, adding that the spaces were a concession to neighbors who did not want residents or visitors at the condominium parking in front of their homes.
As the city presses forward with more ambitious bike transportation projects, some of the contradictions associated with the current crop of developments may be resolved. Ten years ago, Portland pioneered the return of the streetcar, an effort that has since helped generate several billion dollars in private development, including office space, condos and affordable housing. That kind of deliberate “transit-oriented development” has yet to be replicated with bicycles, Mr. Geller said.
But, he said, the city’s Bureau of Transportation is now considering working with the Bureau of Planning on such bicycle-oriented developments, possibly connected to “cycle tracks” — physically separated bike lanes that have some of the permanence of a streetcar line.
Mr. Veillet, of EcoFlats, said the developments on North Williams were a step in that direction. “The bikeway started exploding,” he said. “It was the perfect place for a bike building."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/21/business/portland-ore-developments-cater-to-bicycle-riders.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

HOPWORKS BIKE BAR FEATURED IN NY TIMES ARTICLE

2011-09-01T09:19:00.000-07:00

36 Hours in Portland, Ore.

By FREDA MOON

Published: August 25, 2011

Photographs by Leah Nash for The New York Times

4 p.m.
8) BREWS CRUISE
Start your pedicab brewery tour (Rose Pedals Pedicabs; 503-421-7433; rosepedals.com; $60 per hour, one or two people) with a sour beer tasting at Cascade Brewing Barrel House (939 Southeast Belmont Street; 503-265-8603; cascadebrewingbarrelhouse.com). Next, stop in at the tasting room at Upright Brewing (240 North Broadway, No. 2; 503-735-5337; uprightbrewing.com) before taking the North Williams “bike highway” to the brand new Hopworks Bikebar (3947 North Williams Avenue; 503-287-6258; hopworksbeer.com). Opened in June, the cycle-centered organic brew pub has 75 bike parking spaces, bike tools and energy-generating exercycles. For sober sightseeing, Rose Pedals also offers tours of the Willamette waterfront.

The following is an excerpt from an article in the New York Times Travel section.To view the article in it's entirety please click on the following link.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/08/28/travel/36-hours-in-portland-ore.html?nl=travel&emc=tda1

ecoFLATS HIGHLIGHTED IN NAU NEWSLETTER

2011-09-01T08:55:00.001-07:00

click to view email online

ISITE'S CONSTRUCTION FEATURED IN THE OREGONIAN

2011-08-30T15:34:00.000-07:00

Small-business loans back on the upswing in the Portland area

Published: Monday, August 29, 2011, 9:20 PM Updated: Tuesday, August 30, 2011, 9:26 AM

Molly Young, The Oregonian

View full sizeBenjamin Brink/The OregonianSasha Rotecki, an electrician with Ochsner Electric Co., works on the future headquarters of Isite Design. The company plans to move into the Northwest Portland space after securing a $3 million loan from Wells Fargo backed by the Small Business Administration.

Correction appended
Space and time were running short last fall at Isite Design's headquarters in Old Town. The growing company needed more space for new workers and its lease was coming due.

The digital strategy and design agency decided to buy permanent digs. "We're expanding and we're going to continue to expand," said chief operating officer Kevin Mackie as he stood in the Northwest Portland warehouse that will become the company's headquarters.

To finance the deal, Wells Fargo lenders helped the company land a $3 million loan backed by the Small Business Administration.

It's the kind of strategic move companies across the region make all the time -- but only if they have access to capital. Credit to small businesses has been in short supply over the last couple of years, since the beginning of a recession blamed in part on lax bank lending standards.

View full sizeBenjamin Brink/The OregonianCables run from boxes piled in a Northwest Portland warehouse that will become the headquarters of local web agency Isite Design. The site, on Northwest Overton Street between 21st and 22nd avenues, will house the company's 45 Portland employees when it is finished in November.

In the Portland area, at least, things seem to be opening back up. Small businesses are borrowing more, and banks are approving larger applications.

The average loan backed by the SBA's most popular program has grown nearly 70 percent this fiscal year, according to the office's most recent statistics. Borrowers are walking out the door with approvals averaging $330,000 this year, up from $195,000 the previous year, which ended in September 2010.

The numbers are driven up in part by high-dollar real estate and equipment purchases, said Tom Taylor, Wells Fargo regional vice president in charge of its business banking division.

"Businesses are starting to feel better about expansion," he said. "For the last three or four years, business owners didn't feel that great about expanding."

The Associated PressKevin Mackie, chief financial officer of Isite Design, walks through the Northwest Portland construction site that will eventually be the company's headquarters. Mackie said the company's $3 million Small Business Administration loan made purchasing the building a viable option for the company.

The 7(a) loan, the SBA's most broad and popular option, helps finance expenses up to $5 million, such as expansion, property and working capital. The program backs between 75 and 85 percent of that risk up to $3.75 million. Borrowers, in turn, get lower rates and longer terms than the conventional market offers.

Banks see the SBA as a way to backstop their risk in a flatlining economy. Congress views it as a vehicle to drive spending. Among other provisions, the Small Business Jobs Act, passed in September, increased 7(a) loan limits from $2 million to $5 million.

The change has opened a vein of financing for companies considered safer bets: businesses with steady revenue, growth and vision. Those borrowers are taking advantage of low labor and property costs and lining up larger loans, said Jennifer Baker, spokesperson for the Portland district SBA office.

"There are definitely a lot of opportunities that stemmed from the economic downturn," Baker said.

Demand for small business loans started picking up in October, said Dan Mogck, KeyBank's vice president of business banking in the Portland district. The SBA has backed a quarter of its regional business loans this year, he said, a higher than usual share. The bank added a second SBA specialist to its Portland market handle the demand.

"In the economic environment we're in," Mogck said, "SBA becomes a real viable option."

KeyBank's 7(a) loan volume jumped from $3.9 million last year to $15.2 million through the first 10 months of the fiscal year. The loans went to 74 borrowers.

Find out more about Small Business Administration lending programs in the Portland area.

In all, banks have approved 638 loans worth a total $210.6 million in the region. That total is on track to beat the previous three years' tallies.

Isite Design expects to grow 20 percent this year, said Mackie, as he walked through the shell of its future home, on Northwest Overton Street near 22nd Avenue. The firm, which has offices in Boston and Los Angeles, brought in $6.9 million in revenue in 2010, he said.

The company plans to hire 10 people in the next year, nearly filling the new 18,000-square-foot space. The 45 current Portland employees are on track to move into the new space in November.

Mackie credited the SBA's 25-year payback terms with making the purchase fit into the company's long-term financial model. The company also secured a $100,000 loan from the Portland Development commission in June.

"Loans are never pain-free, but I can't imagine it going better for us," Mackie said.

This story reflects a correction that will be published in Tuesday's paper. Kevin Mackie serves as the chief operating officer of Isite Design. A story in Monday's paper misstated his job title.

--Molly Young; Twitter

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2011/08/small-business_loans_back_on_t.html

HOPWORKS URBAN BREWERY RECEIVES ENERGY TRUST INCENTIVE

2011-08-29T09:44:00.000-07:00

Hopworks Urban Brewery recently received their cash incentive for installing energy efficient mechanical and lighting systems at their new BikeBar restaurant on N. Williams Ave.
Nicole Hillis, Outreach Manager for Energy Trust of Oregon New Buildings Program at PECI, is shown handing Christian Ettinger a check for a job well done.

TRANSITIONS CONSTRUCTION UPDATE

2011-08-29T09:15:00.000-07:00

Transitions Professional Center is nearing completion.
Here are some photos of the new space with the curved walls and skylights finished.

ISITE CONSTRUCTION UPDATE

2011-08-19T17:20:00.000-07:00

There has been lots of progress with construction at ISITE Design's new headquarters building in NW Portland. We have been working diligently to create a really interesting interior corridor; the new HVAC units are arriving; and most of the interior walls have been sheet rocked.
Here are some photos of the work in progress. Enjoy.

Hopworks Pickathon signs

2011-08-05T14:56:00.000-07:00

Hopworks Urban Brewery will be serving their award winning beer at the Woods Stage Beer Garden for the Pickathon music festival in Happy Valley. Here are some custom signs that we made especially for this great event.

Transitions P.C. update

2011-08-05T14:38:00.000-07:00

The drywall is up at Transitions Professional Center, and the space is really starting to come alive. Painting is scheduled for next week, and the flooring and finishes are right around the corner.

Hopworks Construction Update

2011-07-22T11:05:00.000-07:00

Work is moving along with the energy efficiency upgrades at Hopworks Urban Brewery. Siteworks is finishing preparation for the new chiller system to arrive at the beginning of August.

Siteworks Cargo Bike complete UPDATE

2011-07-18T14:40:00.000-07:00

On Friday, July 22nd, Jean-Pierre introduced the newest member of the Siteworks family.
Welcome home......

Metrofiets is currently putting the finishing touches on our new cargo bike. Here is a sneak peek.

Framing up at Transitions P.C.

2011-07-08T12:42:00.000-07:00

Construction continues to move along at the South Waterfront for the offices of Transitions Professional Center. The framing for the curved walls are going up as we speak, here is a sneak peak.

Construction underway at ISITE

2011-07-08T12:31:00.000-07:00

Construction for ISITE Design's new headquarters building is underway. Here are a few shots of the space. Enjoy!

Looking South before skylights are cut in

Artwork discovery during demolition

Looking South after skylights are installed

ISITE project featured in DJC

2011-07-06T15:05:00.000-07:00

Siteworks Design | Build was recently featured in the Daily Journal of Commerce for the remodel of the old L.A. Fitness building on NW 20th & NW Overton into the new headquarters for ISITE Design.

Siteworks: ISITE Design office space

Rendering by Siteworks Design | Build

POSTED: Tuesday, July 5, 2011 at 09:07 AM PT
BY: Angela Webber
Tags: ISITE Design, Jean-Pierre Veillet, Siteworks Design Build

ISITE Design, a digital advertising agency, has operated out of buildings around Portland since 1997, but it decided a couple of years ago that it no longer wanted to rent commercial space.

“We’re not a law firm; we’re not a bank. The space we’re in needs to add the inspiration we give to our clients,” ISITE Chief Operating Officer Kevin Mackie said.

Rendering by Siteworks Design | Build

ISITE’s new offices, designed by Siteworks Design | Build, will be housed in a renovated warehouse and an addition formed out of a cargo container. The 18,000-square-foot space is designed for inspiration.

“These are people who are sucked into their computer screens eight to 10 hours a day,” said Siteworks designer Jean-Pierre Veillet. To “balance the equation,” Siteworks designed a soft space with wood finishes, and even a fireplace.

“We want something that’s a little rougher, warmer and unpredictable surrounding them so they remain at the top of their game,” Veillet said.

Siteworks will update the 63-year-old building’s HVAC systems and building envelope and bring more daylight into the space. At each desk in an open office area, ISITE workers will be able to adjust efficient LED lighting.

Though most of the ISITE team will be in an open office, there will be “phone booth” areas to accommodate private conversations, and conference and brainstorming rooms.

The goal is to have freedom of movement and collaboration, Mackie said. “We don’t want people to feel like they are tethered to a desk,” he said.

For the directors who work in private offices, Siteworks designed a scheme so that offices will not be identified by room numbers, but by animals and characters who may relate to that director’s personality.

The ex-warehouse at 2025 N.W. Overton St. also will create a connection to the community. The building, which most recently housed an L.A. Fitness gym, is missing street-level windows. But the renovation will add space for a café, a community bulletin board and a room that can be rented for community meetings and events.

Grummel Engineering was part of the design team. The Siteworks Design | Build team included: Andy Leritz, project coordinator; Mike Kwaskie, senior project manager; Ellen Cusick, designer; and David McLaughlin, modeler.

The original article can be found at:

http://djcoregon.com/news/2011/07/05/siteworks-isite-design-office-space/

ecoFLATS screens painted

2011-06-29T09:09:00.000-07:00

The metal perforated screens at ecoFLATS got their finishing touches last week with their final coat of paint. The resident garden planter boxes are also installed in the back yard. Here are some photos of the finished product.

Hopworks Urban Brewery is expanding brewing capacity with the help of Siteworks

2011-06-28T15:54:00.000-07:00

The first new fermentation tanks are now in at Hopworks Urban Brewery, with more to follow soon. Siteworks is assisting HUB in tripling their annual brewing capacity by expanding their brewery operations as well as giving the brewery an energy efficient upgrade. More beer for everyone!

Hopworks BikeBar now open!

2011-06-23T08:39:00.000-07:00

Hopworks Urban Brewery's new restaurant 'BikeBar' is up and running in the ground floor of ecoFLATS, located at 3947 N. Williams Ave. This Siteworks designed & built project was also featured on the BikePortland.org website.

Christian and JP toast to BikeBar's opening

Open just a week, 'BikeBar' on N Williams already a hit

Posted by Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor) on June 14th, 2011 at 3:54 pm

Inside BikeBar on Williams.

(Photos © J. Maus)

Hopworks' new BikeBar on North Williams Avenue seems to be an instant hit. The small restaurant in the ground floor of the Ecoflats apartment building between N Shaver and Failing, is just the latest new bike-centric business to spring up on what Hopworks' owner Christian Ettinger calls the "Williams bike highway."

"We've had a great response from the neighborhood so far, business is about 10% better than we expected for the first week."

— Christian Ettinger, owner

Ettinger told me today that even with a very quiet opening, he's thrilled with the response so far. "Business is about 10% better than we expected for the first week." A bike racer himself, Ettinger said about 25 people from the Short Track mountain bike races out at PIR last night came straight from that event to the pub.

From the BikeBar name to the ample bike and the row of Oregon-made bike frames that hang over the bar, Hopworks owner Christian Ettinger leaves no mystery who he's trying to appeal to.

Here's a list of the "bike friendly features" as listed on the front page of the menu:

A bike frame canopy over the bar featuring frames by members of the Oregon Bicycle Constructors Association
75 bike parking spaces (combined with staple racks on Williams and two large ribbon racks out back)
A place to fill water bottles near the main entrance
Loaner bike tools
"Bike friendly take out specials"
Loaner U-locks in case you forgot yours
"Plug Out" exer-cycles that you can spin and generate electricity while you wait for your order.

I swung by last week and the place was buzzing. Check out the photos below for a look around...

Photos from Jim Golden (which you'll recall from our post back in April) adorn the walls...

You can spin while you wait and generate electricity with these "Plug Out" exercycles (Ettinger says each RPM generates one watt of power that goes back into the building)...

The front is lined with staple racks...

And there's plenty more bike parking in the back...

And a closer look at those gorgeous, Oregon-made frames above the bar...

Hopworks has planned a "HUB to Pub" grand opening event tomorrow (6/15). An organized ride (led by Portland Bicycle Tours) from the original Hopworks location (2944 SE Powell Blvd) to 3947 N Williams is set for 5:00 pm. Show up for free bike check-ups and $2 beers.

At the event, people will be encouraged to donate to local non-profit bike shop, North Portland Bikeworks. A $10 donation will get you BikeBar gear and two free beer tickets. More details at HopworksBeer.com.

The original article can be found at:

http://bikeportland.org/2011/06/14/open-just-a-week-bikebar-on-n-williams-already-a-hit-54820

Transitions Professional Center underway in the South Waterfront

2011-06-22T12:28:00.000-07:00

Siteworks Design | Build has just started construction on a 1,900 S.F. office space build out for Transitions Professional Center http://transitionspc.com/

Located in the eastern ground floor retail space of the Ardea Building, Transitions Professional Center will provide Palliative Care, End-of-Life, and Loss & Bereavement psychological services for those who are facing life-threatening illness, terminal illness, or who are facing the loss of a loved one.

Jean-Pierre to speak at the APWA Sustainability Conference

2011-06-16T10:23:00.000-07:00

Energy Trust New Buildings Program

Tuesday, June 28, 2011
1:30:00 PM - 2:30:00 PM

Room Galleria North

The Energy Trust of Oregon is a third-party non-profit company that gives energy incentives (cash) to residential, commercial, industrial, public sector, and non-profit customers. Funded through a small charge on the investor-owned electric and natural gas companies, Energy Trust also offers outreach and technical assistance. In response to Oregon's new energy code, Energy Trust has developed enhancements to its program. As public works professionals are responsible for the specification, contracting, monitoring and inspection of public construction projects, insight into the Energy Trust's best practices and performance measures will be of great benefit to you.

Learning Objectives:
By attending this session, participants will be better able to:

Identify potential energy-efficiency and renewable energy improvements that could be implemented by your agency.
Select energy savings projects that will have an immediate effect on operating costs and bring a return on investment.
Demonstrate your good stewardship of taxpayer dollars by adopting performance measures for your energy-efficiency strategies.

SPEAKERS:

Elin Shepard
Outreach Manager, Energy Trust New Buildings Program, Portland, OR

Jean-Pierre Veillet
President, Siteworks DESIGN BUILD, Portland, OR

To Learn more about the conference including registration, please visit the link below:

http://sites.apwa.net/sustainability/2011/Home/home.aspx

Grizzly Tattoo Grand Opening June 3rd

2011-06-02T12:01:00.000-07:00

Please join us for Grizzly Tattoo's Grand Opening this Friday June 3rd @ 7pm. Grizzly Tattoo is located in the ground floor of ecoFLATS at 3949 N. Williams Ave. See you there!

Hopworks Bike Bar opening soon!

2011-06-02T11:54:00.000-07:00

Hopworks Urban Brewery is set to open their second restaurant location in the ground floor of ecoFLATS at 3947 N. Williams Ave. The new Hopworks Bike Bar will open the weekend of June 4th. Here are a couple drawings of what to expect in the new space. Please come experience the real thing soon!

Keetsa Featured in Retail Design International

2011-05-10T14:52:00.000-07:00

Keetsa, located in SoHo New York, was recently featured in Retail Design International magazine.
Here is the article:

Another DJC article for ecoFLATS!

2011-04-25T10:27:00.000-07:00

First net-zero apartment building fills up quickly.

POSTED: Thursday, April 7, 2011 at 02:23 PM PT
BY: Angela Webber

In Portland, green buildings can be attractive – especially if the price is right.

Apartment tenants are in the process of moving into ecoFLATS, a Siteworks Design | Build mixed-use building at 3951 N. Williams Ave. The $3.2 million project could become the nation’s first net-zero apartment building, according to the project leader. That will depend on how energy is used in the building’s two retail spaces and 18 apartments, which are all leased, and much sooner than projected.

The recently completed ecoFLATS building, which contains 18 residential units and two retail spaces, aims to be the country’s first net-zero apartment building.
“Almost without exception, the people who contacted us about living in ecoFLATS wanted to live there because it was green, and they cared about that,” said Susan Stratton, president of NBS Multifamily Management.

The secret, according to one of the project developers, Jean-Pierre Veillet, is to offer sustainable living at an affordable price. No bells and whistles are necessary, he said.

“A lot of developers still make a fatal error in their design, in terms of what people want for finishes,” Veillet said. “Here, they aren’t stainless steel appliances; they’re Energy Star appliances. Instead of ceramic sinks, we have IKEA sinks.”

Also, the units’ light fixtures and curtains were designed by students at the Pacific Northwest College of Art.

To keep lease rates down for the building, which has a $200,000 solar array on its roof, Veillet said his team performed a lot of vetting on each decision in regard to affordability and energy efficiency.

Tenants pay approximately $1,000 for a 594-square-foot, one-bedroom apartment or $1,550 for a 770-square-foot, two-bedroom apartment, Stratton said.

Floor plans in ecoFLATS apartments are open to provide better circulation for energy efficiency. Entrances to the units are on the outside of the building: The absence of interior corridors means less area to light, cool and heat, Veillet said. Even with these energy-efficiency measures, net-zero status will depend on the tenants.

Each apartment’s energy usage will be monitored on a screen in the building’s lobby. Veillet also plans to encourage energy conservation by offering incentives – such as a coffee shop discount – to residents.

“It’s a challenge, but it’s a good challenge,” said Sean McGuirk, an ecoFLATS resident. He worked with Veillet on a green building project for Nau, where McGuirk works in marketing. When Veillet started working on ecoFLATS, he offered McGuirk a chance to get involved and become an on-site manager.

“Sean is helping to create community,” Veillet said. McGuirk will help foster what Veillet calls the “social aspect” of net-zero energy.

McGuirk predicts that the sustainability-minded residents of ecoFLATS will “all about” achieving net-zero energy usage. However, there are no provisions written into tenants’ leases about energy consumption, Stratton said.

Veillet said he may consider taking on another green apartment project, but not until ecoFLATS wraps up. Apartments are completed, but some parts of the project are still in progress.

The ground-floor retail units, which will be occupied by a tattoo shop and Hopworks Urban Brewery, are still being finished.

A community garden space will be created, and the energy monitoring system still needs to be set up.

“We didn’t expect to need it until absorption was complete, and we didn’t expect that to happen within 30 days. The bank told us it would take a year,” Veillet said.

The ecoFLATS project was developed by 3935 N. Williams LLC, under the direction of co-managers Veillet and Doug Shapiro. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold certification is being pursued for the building. The quick success of the project is drawing attention: Veillet said he is giving tours of the facility once or twice a week to developers, researchers or government officials. His hope is that the project could be duplicated on a larger scale.

The original article can be found here:
http://djcoregon.com/news/2011/04/07/keeping-it-cheap-for-the-first-net-zero-apartment-building/

Earth Techling features article on ecoFLATS

2011-04-25T09:51:00.000-07:00

Portland Apartments Go Green In EcoFlats

by Nino Marchetti, April 1st, 2011

When you consider Portland, Oregon, as a model of sustainability, one thing that always stands out is its well established biking community. Bike friendly roads dot the city, with several major roadways in particular acting as major commuting arteries for Portland’s cyclists each day. It is on one of these roadways that developer JeanPierre Velliet has opened EcoFlats, a very green focused apartment building that is geared towards the lifestyle of those who cycle on by.

EcoFlats, which just recently became available for rentals, is Velliet’s vision of what a green building should be: built in an urban renewal area, designed to net zero energy standards, sporting solar panels on the roof and making use of an array of green building technologies. To find out more about EcoFlats, we recently visited with him on site as construction was being completed.

image copyright EarthTechling

EarthTechling (ET): What is your background when it comes to
sustainable development?

JeanPierre Velliet: I have spent most of my adult life in the mode of resourceful sustainable design build. I was formerly trained in sculpture, but even there I was and continue to only work with found objects. My company Siteworks was begun on a bicycle with a trailer, crafting Japanese tea houses and landscape hardscape, to support my art habit. I grew from that and later connected larger design concepts to building, first in homes and eventually in the commercial world. When LEED came to town I began to figure out with everyone how to put these projects together, and I completed an early development project for Kevin Cavenaugh here in Portland named “Ode to Roses”.

The last 10 years have mostly been spent in the commercial world focusing on green retail design for Portland companies Like Nau, Lizard Lounge, Keetsa, and several sustainably minded restaurants/ breweries like Hopworks, Genoa, Accanto, Andina, Taqueria Nueve, as well as office structures like Urban Works, and several more in the works.

ET: Talk a little about the EcoFlats development. What makes it particularly interesting?

Velliet: EcoFlats is a low energy consuming project that connects people to simple guilt free, transportation oriented living. The central location allows that most needs are reachable by bike, while Zip Cars are available out front at a discount to inhabitants. One person can accomplish more for their environment by living in this way. EcoFlats as a building that consumes 65% less energy, plus renewables. I like that the technology is socially engineered, and that ideally the population works together as a community towards positive goals of even less energy consumption. EcoFlats increases the quality of life through design, and tames the individual’s draw on our resources.

ET: Explain more about some of the green technologies present in the development, including the solar power system.

Velliet: Nature already is beautiful, sustainable, and efficient by design. This is the basis of the concept, we do not need gizmos to make us more efficient – we need people to participate. Where we are geographically is important, as Oregon is a temperate climate.   The first realization is that we do not need to heat and cool common corridors all day, everyday so I eliminated that. I pushed the apartments to one side, and the entries to the exterior of the building. The comfort is easily achieved using the natural ventilation available from the operable windows on both sides of the units, then added simple fans to move air, and in doing so eliminated the cooling load entirely. The siding is self ventilating to keep the building from over heating too. These techniques work great in our geographical location.


image copyright EarthTechling

Further we used Energy Star appliances, LED lighting, day lighting, solar shading, and large doses of solar thermal and PV. The solar piece drove a lot of the building design because of its expense and necessity. I wanted to afford the largest solar array possible while still being able to deliver to the apartment community for the rents available there. We ended up with a 200K solar array, so that meant we had to accumulate a savings of 200K in other areas of the building. Mostly the elimination of internal lighting and AC equipment was the trade off.   The PV portion is a grid tied 21 KW system.

The thermal portion is what you see up higher on the trellis and it is able to generate 2 gallons of 180 deg hot water per minute. We have 500 gallons of glass lined storage on the roof top ready for the domestic use. The boiler controls the heat only hydronic loop that runs through the building, requiring very efficient and easily serviceable heat to the entire building. Low flow water devices are at every fixture, and the re-sawn and reclaimed timbers from the building we removed can be seen in the exterior walk ways and solar trellis.

image copyright EarthTechling

ET: Why go for apartments and not condos on the EcoFlats project?

Velliet: Apartments are accessible to a larger community then condos.
If we are going to make real change we have to involve the majority
of people. It also is not enough to do one apartment building, it has to
become a paradigm shift resulting in a new way of doing things on a
larger scale. Currently our entire civilization stands to be looked back
upon by our future civilizations as the most destructive to have
inhabited the earth, mainly for how we have been wastefully using
energy, food and water on the colossal scale. Ancient cultures whom
over harvested their resources themselves were lost, now that the
larger world is connected in the process the consequences are
interconnected and devastating.

We need to look at larger populations to make change, and by that I mean
the majority of the people that have a more direct need to consumption.

ET: Why is it so important, in your opinion, for projects like EcoFlats
to try to be able to exist at least partially off the grid?

Velliet: The grid is aging and I like the idea of investing the expected
trillions to rebuild it into self sufficient buildings with solar, wind
turbine and other means. EcoFlats is grid tied now and I enjoy the
fact we do not have to employ batteries, but I am hoping for a better
solution on that front in the next 10 years.

I like the idea of a limit to available energy consumption as a way to
regulate our needs.   We are still learning what the tipping point is
between quality of life and availability of energy.
I have a hunch that given a defined amount we are more conscious
and better served as a whole.

To view the original article please visit:
http://www.earthtechling.com/2011/04/portland-apartments-go-green-in-ecoflats/

ecoFLATS perforated metal screens

2011-02-07T10:45:00.000-08:00

The perforated metal screens are going up at ecoFLATS. Here are some night images that showcase the transparency of the screens. Great work Deform !

More press for ecoFLATS! featured in Cascadia GBC's quarterly magazine Trim Tab

2011-01-28T12:06:00.000-08:00

"The Path to Net Zero: Oregon's Story"
by Sara Feldman

ecoFlats, slated for occupancy in spring 2011, combines
eighteen apartment units with ground floor retail space
on North Williams Ave, within Portland’s Interstate
Urban Renewal Area. Developer Jean-Pierre Veillet,
owner of Portland design/build firm Siteworks, and
his partner Doug Shapiro set out to reinvent an underutilized
property as a model for sustainable, community-
orientated and affordable high-performance design.

On track to achieve a net-zero energy standard for the
residential portion of the building, the project encompasses
energy-saving and power-generating tactics,
including a common hydronic heating system, a 20
kilowatt solar electric array, an energy-efficient building
envelope, ample day-lighting and thermal collectors
to provide hot water for the entire building. The
apartments are also accessible from an exterior loggia,
which helps avoid the high heating and cooling costs
typically associated with internal circulation spaces.

While the building exemplifies sustainable living, one
looming variable keeps the partners up at night: the
future residents. Will they operate as a community
to do, as Veillet says, “what’s right,” in terms of meeting
the net-zero energy goal? Betting on peer pressure
to encourage responsible energy use, Veillet plans to
install a visual energy monitoring system inside the
main building entry. Each unit will be monitored individually
against a baseline energy goal, with every
unit’s usage visible to all. Along with the power of peer
pressure, the partners are considering an incentive system
to reward those who meet energy goals, as well as
individual energy consultations for those who want to
slash their energy use but are not sure how.

“If we truly want to decrease energy use, we have to
target buildings. But we can not just focus on machines
and technology, the individual has to participate,” says
Veillet. “It’s this social piece and getting people to work
together that will make the building a success. This
is a prototype for other designers and builders to get
people to participate in the pursuit of a common goal,
which is simple, guilt-free living.”

To view Trim Tab online, please click on the link below:
http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/18e229e7

ecoFLATS featured in Sustainable Business Oregon

2011-01-28T10:18:00.000-08:00

Eco Flats: net-zero apartments nearing rent-ready

by Christina Williams
Sustainable Business Oregon

Apartments at Eco Flats will start renting this March, the culmination of a groundbreaking project to build a multi-family building to net-zero standards.

But beyond building green, Jean-Pierre Veillet, owner of Siteworks Design Build, has plans in place to make sure the building, located at 3395 N. Williams Ave., runs at maximum efficiency even after the tenants move in.

Eco Flats is one of 15 building projects aiming toward net-zero operations through a pilot program launched in 2009 by Energy Trust of Oregon.

"It's one of the furthest along of the projects," said Becky Walker, program manager for Energy Trust's Path to Net Zero pilot. "It's one of only three multi-family projects and the only one renting to tenants."
Path to Net Zero recruits developers willing to aim for buildings that are 60 percent more efficient than Oregon building code requires.

Veillet, who had experience with LEED building and was featured in the New York Times in 2009 for his eco-friendly work on a pop-up store for Portland-based Nau, set out to build a net-zero apartment building with the idea that the less of the building there was, the more efficient it would be. The building's common areas are outside, allowing for more natural light inside the building and reducing its carbon footprint from the outset.

"The best way to save energy is to eliminate the need to consume it," Veillet said. "For thousands of years we didn't have gizmos to regulate the environment. A lot of the building is proper for the geography that we’re in."
Sitting on the North Williams bike corridor, the building trades bike storage for a parking garage. Zipcar will stage two cars at the building. The 18-unit building features an ultra-efficient heating system and will use rooftop solar panels to heat the building's water.

Tenants will pay a monthly bill that includes all utilities and will be able to earn rewards — such as beer at the Hopworks brewery location moving in on the ground floor of the building or meals at local restaurants — for energy efficient habits. Veillet said the rents will be comparable to others in the neighborhood — building a highly efficient building at standard costs to keep it affordable was built into the Eco Flats plan from the beginning.

“If you can build for standard cost, you can charge standard rents,” he said.

The project was 50 percent bank financed with 25 percent coming through Portland Development Commission financing — Eco Flats is in the Interstate Corridor Urban Renewal Area — and the final fourth of funding came from a combination of Veillet’s own backing and a private investor.

Siteworks' next projects include an expansion of the Hopworks Urban Brewery on Southeast Powell Boulevard, aiming to triple its brewing capacity, and a headquarters project for Web agency iSITE Design. The company has nine employees and after two flat years, Veillet sees business heating up in 2011.
As he puts it: "It's back to 2007-style."

christinawilliams@bizjournals.com | 503.219.3438
link to original article:
http://www.sustainablebusinessoregon.com/articles/2011/01/eco-flats-net-zero-apartments-nearing.html

ecoFLATS featured in Portland Monthly Magazine

2011-01-24T08:56:00.000-08:00

Future Flats

A buzzing bike boulevard sprouts ambitious eco-apartments

By Georgia Perry

Illustration: Rendering by Jean-Pierre Veillet

"Back in 1997, when young art-school graduate Jean-Pierre Veillet worked out of a studio on N Williams Avenue, the area was so desolate he recalls feeding roaming dogs in the junkyard next door.
Today, that junkyard is home to a new apartment building that could help bring green building to the masses. ecoFLATS, developed by Veillet’s Siteworks firm with other partners and investors and slated to open March 1, aim to be Portland’s first net-zero apartment building. That means meeting residents’ power needs through conservation and generation, with the ultimate goal of drawing no wattage from the grid. Built for standard costs (about $3 million total), the ecoFLATS will rent for between $1,000 and $1,200 per month for units of 650 or 750 square feet.

Veillet hopes the design becomes a prototype. “We can spend trillions to rebuild our grid system,” the 39-year-old developer says, “or we can make buildings that actually exist off the grid.” Here are a few ways the ecoFLATS try to redefine apartment living.

1

Solar power and water conservation

Rooftop solar collectors will heat the ecoFLATS’ water supply, while aerators on faucets and showerheads, low-flow toilets, and dishwashers (more efficient than hand-washing!) could cut daily water usage to half the Portland average.

2

No air conditioning

Instead, units feature windows on opposite ends, creating cross-ventilation. Ample sunlight will reduce lighting demand, while a sun screen along the east-side exterior corridors will filter rays to keep units cool.

3

Radiators

Baseboard radiators, made of sleek aluminum and copper, will distribute heat provided by the shared boiler. “This isn’t new technology,” Veillet says. “It’s just much more efficient technology.”

4

Bike-centric

With no auto parking, but located on one of the city’s busiest bike corridors, the building features ample bike storage and a dedicated maintenance room.

5

Exterior corridors and common areas

Outdoor communal spaces demand no heating and less lighting. Rick Potestio, an architect who collaborated with Veillet on the original concept, borrowed from 17th-century Italian loggias.

6

Peer pressure

A monitor in the lobby will show how much energy each unit is using and how close the whole building is to meeting its net-zero goal."

To view the original article, please click on the link below:
http://www.portlandmonthlymag.com/home-and-garden/articles/ecoflats-apartments-0211/

Tesla test drive

2011-01-21T15:12:00.000-08:00

"I have been to the Future, and it is good!"
- Jean-Pierre Veillet

ISITE Design

2011-01-21T09:43:00.000-08:00

Siteworks is currently working with ISITE Design on the conceptual design of their new office space in NW Portland. Here are some teaser images of what we are working on:

reusing old shipping containers for innovative office cubicals

Hopworks coming to ecoFLATS

2011-01-21T08:39:00.000-08:00

As stated in the recent article from bikeportland.org, Hopworks Urban Brewery is planning on adding a second restaurant location in the larger ground floor commercial space at ecoFLATS. We are proud and honored to have Hopworks become a member of the ecoFLATS family.

Hopworks plans new location on N Williams Ave

Posted by Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor) on January 18th, 2011 at 10:37 am

Hopworks would occupy a street-level spot in this new building on N. Williams. (Photos © J. Maus)

"Nearly a year after we first noted the bike-oriented development, taking place on N Williams Avenue, the trend is as strong as ever. Today we confirmed that, while the ink's not quite dry on all the paperwork, Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB) plans to be the latest bike-friendly business to open up on the street (thanks to PDX Eater for the tip).

The banner is already flying.
I caught HUB owner Christian Ettinger on the phone this morning. He said he's still working out some details, but it's "pretty much guaranteed" that they're moving into a spot in the new "bike-centric" EcoFlats building that is currently under construction between N. Failing and Shaver streets. HUB will be neighbors with Queen Bee Creations and United Bicycle Institute.

EcoFlats is notable because developer Jean-Pierre Veillet is aiming to make it the "first mixed-use residential building in the nation to achieve a net-zero energy status," according to the Daily Journal of Commerce. The building will also be oriented to tenants who use a bicycle as their primary mode of transport.

For Ettinger — one of the nation's premier craft brewers, a bike racer, and a major supporter of the local bike scene — the location on Portland's best bike street is a natural fit. "For us, it's just such a great fit to be right next to UBI, on the bike highway, in a net energy zero building. It makes sense on many levels."
Like his current location on SE Powell Blvd near 29th, the new HUB on Williams will feature many bike-centric touches.

Ettinger behind his 'Bike Bar' at the
2009 Oregon Handmade Bicycle Show.

Ettinger says he's building a bike canopy over the bar which will feature Oregon-made frames donated from members of the Oregon Bicycle Constructors Association. "Imagine 30 frames worth $3,000 over your head." (The Southeast HUB has a bike canopy, but it's made out of free-pile bikes.) There will be parking for 50 bicycles in the back of the restaurant and Ettinger says he's building something called, "the pulpit" facing the sidewalk. "We'll have a drink rail along the sidewalk where you'll be able to sit and watch bikes go by on Williams."
Ettinger is currently looking for an kinetic sculpture artist who can help him make a bike-powered sculpture that people can power while they're at the bar or waiting for a table.
The lease on the new location is expected to be finalized in the next few weeks. The building is nearing completion and construction is expected to be completed by this spring. Stay tuned for more details once opening day gets closer."

To view the original article please click on the link below:
http://bikeportland.org/2011/01/18/hopworks-plans-new-location-on-n-williams-ave-46202

ecoFLATS featured in Solar Oregon

2011-01-19T10:30:00.000-08:00

A recent article by Linda Barnes of Marryman Barnes Architects, highlights ecoFLATS' 21 kW pv array, 500 gallon solar thermal system, and it's goal of achieving a net-zero energy standard.

"ecoFLATS, Portland - the First Net Zero Apartments in the U.S."

By Linda Barnes
Architect, Marryman Barnes Architects, Inc.
Solar Oregon Board President

"Jean-Pierre Veillet, owner of Siteworks, a Portland design-build company, has high expectations for his first development project. ecoFLATS, their new building on North Williams is designed to be the first mixed-use residential apartment building in the nation to achieve a net-zero energy status. The four story building contains 18 apartments and a roof top array of PV panels and a roof trellis with solar thermal panels. Between the 21 kW PV system, the 500 gallons of solar thermal collection, and the energy efficient features, the total energy needs of the building’s residential and commercial tenants should be met on an annual basis.

The project started with the goal of being a net zero building and also aims for a LEED gold rating. From the start, the design was fine tuned to be energy efficient and responsive to our mild northwest climate. Each floor of apartments has a covered logia entry instead of the typical central hallway. This old design with wonderful modern design features means heating less building area and that the individual apartments can have cross ventilation and better day lighting. Combined with higher ceilings, external/internal shading for the east and west sun exposure, and ceiling fans, the need for cooling has been reduced saving the cost of installing air conditioning systems. With all the shared walls, the heat loss has also been minimized. Compared to a typical apartment, the design features alone result in a project that uses 1/3 of what a typical apartment would. Adding to the low- energy design are energy efficient appliances, lighting, and gas water heaters. A high efficiency gas boiler operates the common hydronic heating system. Future improvements may include flue gas heat recovery and vent hood heat recovery for the new first floor restaurant tenant.

Selected as one of the 15 projects in the Energy Trust’s Path to Net Zero pilot program, the building aims to achieve far more than the 50% reduction to Oregon’s Building Code program goal while attempting net zero energy use for apartment dwellers. Designing net zero for tenants focused the design team on the psychological and social aspects that can help make residents more energy knowledgeable and incentivize positive behavior. The feedback will come in the form of monitoring and information panels at the building entrance tracking everyone’s energy and water use for each individual apartment and monitoring the energy production of the solar systems. The psychological push of being compared to all the other tenants will be augmented by tenant training and a creative rewards system.

Veillet worked with Imagine Energy for the solar design, engineering, and installation from the beginning of the project. Solar thermal was the no-brainer – it was the cost-effective best solution for energy production for the

apartments with their high water usage. The system is designed to provide all the domestic hot water needs for the apartments. Veillet feels that solar makes sense now and is a technology we need to invest in. He feels that market- rate rents should include energy efficiency and renewables.

As one of the few solar thermal projects, Veillet feels it is not something you can walk in and do right now. There aren’t good models out their yet and the incentives are complex. His advice to other developers is to be very strategic about your incentives. He negotiated the loop holes and pit falls working with George Hughes, of Hoffman, Stewart & Schmidt, an accountant who is specifically geared to working with Oregon and Federal energy incentives

Situated in the vibrant N. Williams Corridor, with mass transit, retail, and popular restaurants, ecoFLATS is designed to appeal to the demographics of the bike-centric neighborhood. Some of the 3,500 bicyclists who use the N. Williams corridor each day may find a convenient home and society with compatible values at ecoFLATS. The building was designed to foster bicycle riding and has no associated parking. Secure bike lockers, a communal shower, and a bicycle maintenance shop are features planned to encourage non-auto transportation modes. And, with the net zero energy and other sustainable features, the building goes a long way towards assisting tenants in lowering their own personal carbon footprints.

Veillet sees ecoFLATS as a model for net zero apartments, a low-energy design utilizing basic technology and good design common sense that could also be applied to student housing, workforce housing, and off-grid agricultural housing.

Leasing for ecoFLATS starts in March of 2011. Soon Siteworks will be finished with the construction of this project and on to their next exciting project– the most energy efficient brewery in the U.S."

To view the original article, please click on the link below:

http://solaroregon.org/news/ecoflats-portland-the-first-net-zero-apartments-in-the-u.s.

Solar Thermal up and running at ecoFLATS

2011-01-17T11:14:00.000-08:00

The Solar Thermal panels have been mounted and installed at ecoFLATS. These thermal collectors will generate ALL domestic hot water for the 18 apartments. The wood trellis is constructed out of reclaimed beams that came out of the original single story building. Great job Image Energy!

Solar Array Ceremony at ecoFLATS!

2010-11-29T10:03:00.000-08:00

On Monday, November 29th, 2010 we celebrated a milestone by bringing the Solar Array online at ecoFLATS. We are now producing clean, sustainable electricity and will soon be feeding power back to the grid. Please watch the video below to view this exceptional accomplishment. Special thanks to Imagine Energy and all those who enabled this vision to come to life.

ecoFLATS wrapped up

2010-10-19T10:43:00.000-07:00

The windows, doors, and weatherproofing membrane are now installed at ecoFLATS, with siding being installed as we speak!

ecoFLATS images

2010-10-06T11:38:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of ecoFLATS inching closer to completion, here are some renderings of what the finish product will look like. Enjoy!

east elevation

perspective at exterior walkway

1 bedroom unit

2 bedroom unit

Work Underway at the South Waterfront

2010-09-16T10:40:00.000-07:00

Siteworks has begun construction on over 9,000 sq ft of ground floor retail space in the Sidecar building of The Ardea. Our work is featured on Urbanworks Real Estate website:

"Upcoming Developments:

With seven letters of intent currently in negotiations, Kennedy Associates has given the green light to local design build firm Siteworks to bring 9,400 SF of ground floor retail space to a warm shell conditions for future tenants at the Ardea. Retailers will have the opportunity to lease move in ready spaces complete with solid hard wood floors and roll up garage doors."

"Despite the tough economic climate, 2010 is starting to show a glimmer of what is to come at the South Waterfront. The number of residents and OHSU employees is steadily climbing.

Current building occupancy numbers show that the dust is settling at the construction zones and buildings are nearing their capacity and retailers have begun taking note.

Current occupancy rates are as follows:

Meriwether(245 units)- 100% SOLD!
John Ross (303 units)- 92% SOLD!
Atwater (214 units)- 60% SOLD!
The Ardea (323 units)- 81.6% Leased
The Riva (292 units)- 90% Leased
The Matisse (272 units)- 21% Leased
Mirabella (281 units)- 85% Reserved. Move in began August 31st
The Tamarack (209 units)- Construction scheduled to begin Fall 2010
OHSU Center for Health and Healing- Approximately 1,150 Employees

We are seeing increased interest from local grocery store owners, restaurateurs, and other service providers (salons, wellness centers, etc.). All of this coupled with the spaces already leased, point to a viable economic and residential center."

Link to article:

http://urbanworks.typepad.com/urbanworks/2010/09/south-waterfront-progress-report.htm

ecoFLATS is reaching the roof!

2010-09-09T11:12:00.000-07:00

topping off party coming next week!

ecoFLATS showcased in Daily Journal of Commerce article

2010-09-02T09:24:00.000-07:00

Developer relies on human nature to hit net-zero goal

POSTED: Wednesday, September 1, 2010 at 05:05 PM PT
BY: Daniel Savickas / Daily Journal of Commerce

Jean-Pierre Veillet's new Eco Flats building on North Williams Avenue is designed to be the first mixed-use residential building in the nation to achieve a net-zero energy status. Whether the goal is met will depend on tenants monitoring how much energy they use. (Photo by Dan Carter/DJC)

In 1994, Jean-Pierre Veillet, owner of Siteworks Design Build, reinvented the wheel when it came to how his company showed up at a job site. Instead of driving to work on four wheels, Veillet rolled up on his bicycle, pulling a trailer of tools and materials.

Now Veillet hopes to reinvent the way developers design mixed-use projects with his new 20,000-square-foot, mixed-use apartment building on North Williams Avenue. The project is aiming to reach a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-gold certification, but the main goal of the project, Veillet said, is to turn the building into a net-zero energy apartment building. He’s putting the success of his project in the hands of his future tenants.

The building, called Eco Flats, is designed for people who are more concerned with being energy-conscious than living in a building with amenities such as a swimming pool, Veillet said. But their level of being energy-conscious will essentially determine whether this project succeeds or fails in its bid to achieve a net-zero energy rating.

The building will contain a common hydronic heating system and a 3,000-square-foot solar array of photovoltaic and thermal collectors. The system, attached to the fourth floor of the building, will attempt to produce enough hot water and energy for the entire building. This means that each of the 18 apartments in Eco Flats will have to work together to achieve goals set each month so that the building can operate on its own without having to pull power from the energy grid.

Becky Walker, program manager for the Energy Trust of Oregon’s New Buildings program, said the Eco Flats building is one of 15 projects accepted into the Energy Trust’s Path to Net Zero pilot program, which aims to have projects achieve energy savings of up to 50 percent beyond Oregon’s building code. But it’s the only one that’s attempting to achieve a net-zero energy rating while offering a residential component, an approach Walker said is the first of its kind in the nation.

“You just don’t know how much energy the tenants are going to use until they are there,” Walker said. “But they are looking into designing some pretty creative ways to provide feedback to the tenants.”

The feedback, according to Veillet, will come in the form of monitors in both of the building’s entrances. The monitors will act as a virtual “big brother” for the tenants, showing everyone how much energy and water each apartment is using. Forget to shut off the bedroom light before leaving for the day? Someone is watching - or at the least, tracking the action.

The fact that someone, or possibly even everyone, in the building is watching will likely influence tenant behavior, according to Joe Rhinewine, a clinical psychologist and director at Portland Mindfulness. Eco Flats tenants might watch their energy use if they’re given data privately on their individual use. But if a tenant knows her information is being shared with her neighbors, that will probably have an even stronger effect, Rhinewine said. He likens the behavior to what happens to a driver traveling down a road where a digital reader board is tracking the speed of vehicles in the area. A driver may not think twice about how fast his vehicle is moving until the actual speed flashes up in big digital numbers. If the sign is being monitored by police, the driver becomes even more cautious, Rhinewine said.

Veillet isn’t going to rely solely on human nature to keep his building at net-zero energy, however. The building doesn’t have any associated parking for vehicles, a deliberate omission that Veillet thinks will result in attracting mainly bicycle-centric tenants who might take a certain amount of pride in leaving a small footprint on the planet. In addition, on months when tenants take steps that lead to the building hitting net-zero status, Veillet plans on giving tenants rewards, such as drink and food coupons redeemable at neighborhood restaurants.

Of the 18 apartments in the building, 12 are 600-square-foot, one-bedroom units while the rest are 750-square-foot, two-bedroom apartments. Veillet said the building will be ready for tenants to move in March 1, and although rents aren’t firm yet, he expects they will be about $900 per month to $1,400 per month.

The building will also feature two retail spaces on the street-level - an unnamed restaurant is considering one of the spaces, Veillet said - as well as secure bicycle parking, a bicycle maintenance room and communal showers. Community garden space and a courtyard are featured on site and connect with a space that Veillet said could feature an additional building with 12 apartments and two more retail spaces in the future.
“This is a prototype,” Veillet said. “If we do it well, we’ll do this many, many more times. Right now we’re just trying to understand what this population likes and wants in a building.”

Developer Jean-Pierre Veillet hopes the Eco Flats project will appeal to some of the 3,500 bicycle commuters who use North Williams Avenue daily. (Photo by Dan Carter/DJC)

Link to article:
http://djcoregon.com/news/2010/09/01/developer-relies-on-human-nature-to-hit-net-zero-goal/

ecoFLATS cruisin' along

2010-08-13T15:46:00.000-07:00

Construction at ecoFLATS is cruising right along, with the second floor beginning to take shape. ecoFLATS is now taking inquiries on renting these fabulous, bike-centric, net-zero energy apartments which are scheduled to open in the spring of 2011. Please visit our website www.ecoflatspdx.com to learn more, and give us a call at 503.230.2337

Jean-Pierre gives testimony at Portland City Council on May 19th, 2010 concerning new SDC charges

2010-07-09T15:23:00.000-07:00

On May 19th, 2010, Jean-Pierre gave testimony at the Portland City Council concerning new increases in System Development Charges:

GREEN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY’S RESPONSE TO INCREASED CITY FEE’S

"Dear Mayor Sam Adams,
Thanks to great ideas and great leadership, Portland is a city renowned for building green. That said, the higher costs and the larger permit fees required to produce mid-rise green buildings have required that most green projects be either government-sponsored or luxury housing. Our project, ecoFlats on North Williams, received a PDC loan due to its goal to shatter the belief that neighborhood-friendly green developments are cost prohibitive, and that net energy zero is too expensive. We have created a mid rise model that can be enjoyed by the many, and is highly reproducible. Therefore we are on the verge of creating a field of infill workforce housing that is low energy, green, and transportation oriented. Unfortunately, due to recent unexpected spikes in SDC fees, that hurt mid rise green development the most, the current threat of an 8% increase from BDS, and the inability for city agencies to produce a coherent remedy on how these fees ought to be handled, the future of green development is in jeopardy. The trail we are blazing along with other green motivated developers will scarcely be followed.

In order to remedy the SDC increases, we looked into a City sponsored incentive offered to defer Transportation and Parks SDC fees as a solution. The result was not useful. The deferral program offered is actually a first position loan that no bank or even PDC can accept. The deferral program once entered is quickly boned and sold immediately. We have since paid interest on it even though our permits were not issued for another 3 months. Because the city has not produced a solution that can be used, another solution must be developed. Keep in mind, mid-rise structures already pay on an average of 12% in permit costs, and any City fee increase to this cost makes projects not viable. Put simply, the margins are already too thin, and what then are the benefits to investors?

When the 8% BDS fee increase arose, I was so in disbelief I thought that perhaps I was not seeing things correctly. The realization is that we the developers are the only ones to see things as they are. Now I have engaged with other green developers around the city, I have learned that they are having the same concerns over the fee increases, and I have gained their support in this letter, as you will see.

The truth is that we should be looking into the benefits of a decrease in City Fees. Currently System Development Charges are not properly valuing the green development that is in alignment with the city’s green goals. The current structure and additional increases are therefore self-defeating because, already SDC’s are hurting the very developments that put less pressure on the SDC Systems, and any further increases to development will disengage the developers who fund the agency. The new effort by the City to raise BDS fees on top of the high fees we are already paying will surely bring development to a stand still in Portland. To remedy this, what we’re asking for is the following Four things:

First: Vote down the 8% BDS permit fee increase, by doing so you have begun to spurn green development, create jobs and a greener future for Portland.

Second: Bureau of Environmental Services has to implement a conservancy based fee system that awards low water implementation in its SDC charge. Water conservancy has to be rewarded. Do this and it will happen on a larger scale.

Third: Parks fees need to be more fairly based on size of units rather then the current per unit charge. Currently we pay the same per unit for small footprint 600 sf units that one would pay for a 3,500 sf penthouse. (A big concern for mid rise development, infill workforce housing, energy efficient housing etc.,)

Fourth: The definition of “deferral” returns to what “deferral” really can mean—The SDC’s should be differed and paid when the buildings are put into use, at project completion.

Building green is obviously very important to climate change, energy conservation, and health and well-being. What’s more, in Portland green buildings are a source of regional pride. I have gathered the green development community of our city. These supporters have responded to the call from our leaders, that we need to do something better and greener. With the combined experience under our belts, we are experienced enough to know that developers are the only ones to see how all the different city agencies come into play, and that it is our combined opinion that our four requests have to be met to keep Portland Building Green infill structures.

In a climate where the market has shifted we the development community see how our efforts are key to creating the jobs that benefit the City and the State. The potential to pick up on the right foot and create new green construction jobs, green workplaces, and green living is here at this moment. With the City participation in our requests we can meet the goal of the greenest city for years to come. Our City’s and Our State’s Green developments soon could be able to include the everyone in its goals, and could continue to be recognized nation-wide."

Jean-Pierre Veillet

To watch the entire Portland City Council meeting on SDC fee increases, click here and choose item 667 on the menu.

Portia Roy awarded Siteworks Outstanding Artist Scholarship

2010-05-25T10:02:00.000-07:00

Portia Roy has been bestowed with the 2010-2011 PNCA Siteworks Outstanding Artist Scholarship. Jean Pierre Veillet established the annual scholarship in 2007, which awards students attending the Pacific Northwest College of Art. "I want recipients of the Siteworks Scholarship to have a sense of acknowledgment for their work before they walk out the door on graduation night," he says. "And hopefully confidence, too. It's not enough these days to just have sheer talent." Below is a sample of Roy's work entitled "The Mannerisms of The Ruby Footed Krupa." Congratulations to Portia!

Asula Chiropractic and Wellness Center

2010-05-17T08:52:00.000-07:00

We are currently in the design phase of Asula Chiropractic and Wellness Center's new office, which will be located in the Ziba building (designed by Holst Architecture) on NW 9th and Marshall . Here are a few study images of the current project, enjoy!

N Williams/N Vancouver Streetscape

2010-04-08T15:28:00.000-07:00

Calling all helmetheads - tired of risking your life in the grisly automobile lane in order to pass someone on your way home from work? We know what you're thinking - the N Williams/N Vancouver corridor has the potential to be one of the coolest bike commuter stretches in Portland. We think so too! Heck, we could set a precedent that cities across the nation will follow.

Did you know that over 3,000 commuters ride the N Williams/N Vancouver corridor daily?

Did you know that the City's Department of Transportation thinks an accident involving a cyclist here is imminent?

Did you know studies are being done to look into widening the bike lane on N Williams? That there has even been talk of de-coupling the two one-way streets?

What do you think?

We've come up with a few ideas, but we need your input and support!

Please, make a comment on this post and let us know your thoughts! (And let us know if you live in the neighborhood!)

HANDS ON FOR HAITI

2010-04-05T14:09:00.000-07:00

Siteworks Design|Build would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to those who contributed time, art, foodstuff, and energy to the Hands on for Haiti benefit on April 1^st, 2010. With your help we raised over $15,000 for Mercy Corps! It takes only 20 cents a day to feed a person in Haiti, meaning we raised enough to feed over 75,000 people! Great job! We would not have been able to do it without you. Thank you again for your generosity.

As you can see from our pictures...a good time was had by all!

toward the start of the evening

storm large, the evening's emcee

happy people

lively drummers

cool dude

happy dude

cheyenne

eco FLATS

2010-01-20T13:53:00.000-08:00

eco-FLATS

eco FLATS is a mixed-use retail and housing development that will serve as a new model for sustainability and affordability in urban living. eco FLATS is a partnership co-owned by Jean Pierre Veillet and Doug Shapiro, with architectural design generously provided by the supremely creative folks of works partnership architecture.

Press is rolling in for this hyper-ecologically-minded new mixed-use development on North Williams Avenue:

GreenLandLady Elizabeth Madrigal's Article February 23, 2010
Urban Works Real Estate blog January 10, 2010
Daily Journal of Commerce Article June 3, 2009
Portland Architecture Review December 11, 2009.
Oregonian Article January 28, 2010

KEETSA

2010-01-20T11:05:00.005-08:00

3.10.2010 Keetsa Mattresses at the Luxurious New James Hotel in Soho!!
According to the Luxury Travel Advisor blog, Keetsa will be outfitting the new James Hotel with their mattresses! This marks the first time Keetsa has ever supplied a hotel with their product. Congratulations Keetsa, may this be the first in a long line of hotel partnerships!

Interested in reading more? Read the blog here.

3.4.2010 Press
DesignMilk has posted a blog about the Keetsa store! See it here

Mike Thelin of Portland Monthly writes about pop-up stores here

2.4.2010 Finished!

welcome to the neighborhood!

keetsa

reclaimed headboards

repurposed steel pipe frames

nathan and amy install the cash wrap logo

tea area

curtains, genius bars, and tea area

from the front door

the nest

2.2.2010

almost finished!

nick at the genius bar

tea table

1.31.2010

the tea table is almost done!

the nest gets its first visitor

nest detail

bright idea

1.30.2010

logo mock-up

eco-felt peers through the grass

eco-felt table legs

nathan works on the genius bar

1.29.2010

buttons we made out of sticks

curtains

1.27.2010

cable wheel

headboards

open up

mr. wood

1.26.2010

jp works on the nest

the chair bases come together

headboards of reclaimed wood

taking care of business in the nest...

thinking green

1.19.2010

Keetsa comes to SoHo!

An environmentally friendly mattress company, Keetsa contacted Siteworks after seeing Jean Pierre's work at the pop-up store nau in SoHo. They liked the way he repurposed found materials into sculptural and functional pieces of art. In fact, Keetsa is going into the same location where nau's pop-up store was located. How's that for re-use?

In addition to our blog, feel free to view Keetsa's blog, which will be updated throughout the process of opening their showroom in NYC.

When Jean Pierre began the nau store, he was met with a blank canvas. He scoured the City's waste stream in search of materials to re-purpose, materials that were already local and begging to be used. The idea was that the materials JP brought into the store would be re-purposed yet again by the next tenant of the space.

Now, with Keetsa, we are met not with a blank canvas, but a space ripe with materials for re-use. Siteworks' design|build process reflects an acutely sustainable outlook. Minimize the amount of new materials brought into the space; minimize waste; maximize the use of existing materials; and with these existing materials, creatively transform what was one brand identity into a completely different brand.

We are shifting from a culture which creates excessive waste to one which uses what may have previously been considered waste to a purposeful and creative end.

For example,

clothing rack at nau

mattress display frames at keetsa

In order to accommodate keetsa's program, we needed to modify the display area. There's always a little bit of demo...but why would we send this material to the dump when we can use it?

i think we found our chair bases!

perfectly useful leather chairs JP found in the waste stream!

This project constitutes an exploration and experiment in retail design.

Can we design a store that many different brands can use, with a kit of parts that would come with the space, therefore extending the life cycle of the materials? What is common? What is needed? What are the basic elements of a store that can always remain? What makes a store brand specific and its own? What makes design great?

From JP, "I would like to make a store that as a working example of this concept would be open for one year. In that year I would have 12 different Brands in the store. It would be less about selling things at that point but to see if we could create a store with a kit of parts and place well known brands into it with a small and subtle amount of new materials each time, while convincingly creating that brand each time in that space. Thus making a model of a changeable environment that once created has a much longer life cycle and reduces our consumer waste enormously."

construction tape = art

We're embracing the idea of transformation. The idea that the life of a thing does not end permanently, it takes on new form; old becomes new. Stay tuned to watch nau become keetsa!

nau

2010-01-20T11:05:00.003-08:00

It was shortlived, but that was the idea. The nau pop-up store in SoHo, NYC was open long enough to attract some major buzz! Check out what the New York Times had to say about Jean Pierre's work at nau:

New York Times Article: "Fresh Idea From Recycle Bin"

And then the folks at coolhunting got word...

Here/Nau/NYC Pop-up Store

jp navigates his way through the waste stream

A New Model for Portland Eateries?

discusses Siteworks' involvement in the pop-up store trend

GENOA

2010-01-20T11:05:00.001-08:00

Siteworks recently completed Genoa Restaurant and it's attached cafe Accanto, located in Southeast Portland, on Belmont Avenue. Design was a collaboration between Siteworks, works partnership architecture, and fix studio.

Read the Portland Architecture review here.

images by john valls

in progress

SITEWORKS CREATES OLUKAI'S TRADE SHOW BOOTH AT OUTDOOR RETAILER

HOPWORKS RECEIVES INCENTIVE CHECK FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY UPGRADES

ISITE SHOWCASED IN SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS OREGON

Gallery: A look inside ISITE's sustainable space

By Christina WilliamsSustainable Business OregonWeb design firm ISITE Design christened its new Northwest Portland office last week with a party, showing off a spiffy new space replete with bike racks, reclaimed wood details and a gas fireplace.

RESIDENTIAL ARCHITECT MAGAZINE FEATURES ECOFLATS

wheelhouse

a green mixed-use building serves cycle commuters.

ISITE DESIGN COMPLETED

ECOFLATS SHOWCASED ON PORTLAND ARCHITECTURE

EcoFlats: bike-friendly and ultra efficient on Williams Avenue

CAN BIKE COMMUTING SAVE THE WORLD?

By Christina WilliamsSustainable Business OregonIn Denmark, the average person cycles some 600 miles per year.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

ISITE DESIGN HEADQUARTERS NEARS COMPLETION

ISITE'S SHIPPING CONTAINER CONFERENCE ROOM ARRIVES

ecoFLATS ARTICLE IN RESPONSIBLE DEVELOPMENT MAGAZINE HIGHLIGHTS CREATING A LASTING MODEL FOR SUSTAINABLE MULTI-UNIT HOUSING.

DJC ARTICLE SHOWCASES ISITE DESIGN RENOVATION

Web design firm moving to Northwest Portland warehouse

ecoFLATS FEATURED IN NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE

Developers Cater to Two-Wheeled Traffic in Portland, Ore.

By LINDA BAKER

Published: September 20, 2011

Daniel Pasley for The New York Times

Daniel Pasley for The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/21/business/portland-ore-developments-cater-to-bicycle-riders.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

HOPWORKS BIKE BAR FEATURED IN NY TIMES ARTICLE

By FREDA MOON

Published: August 25, 2011

Photographs by Leah Nash for The New York Times

The following is an excerpt from an article in the New York Times Travel section.To view the article in it's entirety please click on the following link.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/08/28/travel/36-hours-in-portland-ore.html?nl=travel&emc=tda1

ecoFLATS HIGHLIGHTED IN NAU NEWSLETTER

ISITE'S CONSTRUCTION FEATURED IN THE OREGONIAN

Small-business loans back on the upswing in the Portland area

Published: Monday, August 29, 2011, 9:20 PM Updated: Tuesday, August 30, 2011, 9:26 AM

HOPWORKS URBAN BREWERY RECEIVES ENERGY TRUST INCENTIVE

TRANSITIONS CONSTRUCTION UPDATE

ISITE CONSTRUCTION UPDATE

Hopworks Pickathon signs

Transitions P.C. update

Hopworks Construction Update

Siteworks Cargo Bike complete *UPDATE*

Framing up at Transitions P.C.

Construction underway at ISITE

ISITE project featured in DJC

Siteworks Design | Build was recently featured in the Daily Journal of Commerce for the remodel of the old L.A. Fitness building on NW 20th & NW Overton into the new headquarters for ISITE Design.

Siteworks: ISITE Design office space

ecoFLATS screens painted

Hopworks Urban Brewery is expanding brewing capacity with the help of Siteworks

Hopworks BikeBar now open!

Open just a week, 'BikeBar' on N Williams already a hit

Transitions Professional Center underway in the South Waterfront

Jean-Pierre to speak at the APWA Sustainability Conference

Energy Trust New Buildings Program

Grizzly Tattoo Grand Opening June 3rd

Hopworks Bike Bar opening soon!

Keetsa Featured in Retail Design International

Another DJC article for ecoFLATS!

Earth Techling features article on ecoFLATS

Portland Apartments Go Green In EcoFlats

ecoFLATS perforated metal screens

More press for ecoFLATS! featured in Cascadia GBC's quarterly magazine Trim Tab

ecoFLATS featured in Sustainable Business Oregon

Eco Flats: net-zero apartments nearing rent-ready

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ecoFLATS featured in Portland Monthly Magazine

Future Flats

1

Solar power and water conservation

2

No air conditioning

3

Radiators

4

Bike-centric

5

Exterior corridors and common areas

6

By Christina Williams
Sustainable Business Oregon

Web design firm ISITE Design christened its new Northwest Portland office last week with a party, showing off a spiffy new space replete with bike racks, reclaimed wood details and a gas fireplace.

By Christina Williams
Sustainable Business Oregon

In Denmark, the average person cycles some 600 miles per year.

Siteworks Cargo Bike complete UPDATE