Jean-Pierre Veillet, owner of design/build firm Siteworks, and his partner Doug Shapiro were inspired by the idea of creating a highly sustainable mixed-use building. With a site chosen along Portland's North Williams bike corridor they needed design and cash resources to make their vision of a net-zero building a reality. Energy Trust stepped in to provide that support, and the result is ecoFLATS, a highly sustainable 18 unit apartment building with ground-floor retail space.
"I saw the opportunity, when the economy slowed down, that we could change directions and take a new course," said Veillet. "With more limited resources we could focus on what people really need - on what would benefit the greatest amount of people - and what popped up was the Path to Net Zero. I thought, oh, this is perfect, this make sense."
The project team decided to focus its goal of achieving netzero energy use on the residential portion of the building. Early design assistance from Energy Trust paid for an energy-focused eco-charrette to identify building goals and ensure all parties involved - from owners to architects to contractors - shared the zero-energy vision and collaborated throughout the design and construction process.
"Energy Trust made ecoFLATS possible," said Veillet. "Their participation validated our project and streamlined the process by offering one central place to go for technical assistance, design advice and cash incentives."
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