Following suit with the sustainable pool facilities the East Portland Community Center in Portland, Oregon is another facility that is pushing the boundaries of that is possible when it comes to the intersection of aquatics and sustainability. Portland and the West Coast as a whole have always been known for their progressive sustainability measures ensuring that buildings and facilities are as sustainable as possible while meeting the needs of the people who occupy them.
The East Portland Community Center (EPCC for short) was completed in 2009 and was awarded a LEED Platinum certification and was the first pool facility on the west coast to do so. EPCC’s updated design added the 22,000 square foot aquatics facility to the exiting 32,000 community center alongside revamped locker rooms, event spaces for the public and an updated pool filtration system that is significantly more efficient. According to Architect Magazine: “The facility is estimated to be nearly 75% more efficient than ASHRAE standards for a natatorium, and one of the biggest contributions to… energy savings is 5,500 square feet of solar panels”. This efficiency is in part thanks to the solar panels on the roof but also the filtration system for the pool that is a large reason why pool facilities consume so much energy.
For 25 yard of meter pools (the short ones most facilities have) water is drained or filtered once of twice a week for hygiene reasons and a typical system uses roughly 7,500 gallons each time. This wastewater has to be discharged into sewers and new water has to be treated with chlorine and heated to keep people comfortable which creates the biggest hurdle for energy and water conservation. SERA, the design team, installed a Defender automatic regenerative media filer using only 300 gallons of water once a week. This is a massive difference when it comes to water consumption and has helped to decrease energy bills as well easing dependence on the city’s dated infrastructure.
Within the LEED scorecard in the Energy & Atmosphere category, EPCC achieved all 17 of the possible credits that where available to them thanks to the solar panels on the roof giving them credits for: Renewable Energy-5%, Renewable Energy-10%, Renewable Energy-20%. Alongside the Renewable Energy credits they where also able to achieve points for additional commissioning, ozone protection, measurement and verification and green power. Pool facilities often struggle in this category because of how much energy it takes for filtration, heating a cooling. EPCC has shown itself as a leader of what can be done and what other facilities can do to mitigate fossil fuel usage.
Another area in which EPCC scored very highly is the Indoor Environmental Quality category receiving 10 out of a possible 15 points. Within this category it was very important for the facility to have low emitting materials having received points for adhesives & sealants, paints & coatings, carpet and composite wood. These help to ensure the longevity of the quality of the materials and human health. Another aspect of the Indoor Environmental Quality Category that EPCC achieved points with are the Daylight and Views having achieved daylight for 75% of spaces and views for 90% of spaces allowing for people inside the building to have quality light. One area that EPCC can look to improve upon is the thermal comfort credits with compliance with ASHRAE 55-1992 and installation of a permanent monitoring system.
This facility really took advantage of the orientation of the building in order to maximize the daylight in the facility. One aspect that the design team took into account was ensuring that there are floor to ceiling windows on the north and south facades that provide outdoor views. In the pool there are north and south facing clerestory windows brining in light over the surfaces of the pools. Architects on this project consulted with the University of Oregon’s Energy Studies in Buildings Lab to create a scaled physical model to determine the size of the windows needed to determine the right sized windows to light the room. Alongside utilizing orientation with the windows the team installed energy efficiency light fixtures such as T8 and halide lamps that are controlled by zone to save the facility energy.
One of the most interesting pieces of legislation that the City of Portland introduced was the 2001 Green Building Policy mandate. This requires that city-owned buildings follow the USGBC’s LEED raging system for the building envelope, energy use, stormwater management and water conservation. These issues that LEED addresses not only impacts EPCC but all public buildings in Portland ensuring that sustainability initiatives are implemented across the board in public buildings but also sets a precedence for other cities that these types of sustainability initiatives are possible on a large scale.
Interested in Learning More?
USGBC Profile: https://www.usgbc.org/projects/east-portland-community-center
Architect Magazine: https://www.architectmagazine.com/technology/platinum-pool-party_o