By Gregg Kleiner, 541-740-9654
Contacts: David Kenney, 503-780-8736

PORTLAND, Ore. — A seed investment in green roof research at Portland State University by the Oregon Built Environment & Sustainable Technologies Center (Oregon BEST) has attracted a grant from the U.S. Green Building Council that doubles the original investment.

The new grant, one of only 13 awarded nationwide out of more than 215 proposals submitted, was given to PSU professors David Sailor and Graig Spolek, who are developing an “energy savings calculator” to help determine energy performance of a variety of green roof designs deployed in different climatic regions.

Oregon BEST invested $75,000 of seed funding in the PSU project this summer, a move researchers say played a key role in securing the $150,000 grant from the U.S. Green Building Council.

“Without the seed investment from Oregon BEST, we would not have received this new grant from the U.S. Green Building Council,” said Sailor.

The establishment last year of Oregon BEST by the Oregon Legislature is helping university researchers leverage additional funding to build Oregon's emerging green tech economy, said David Kenney, Oregon BEST's executive director.

“This is a perfect example of how seed investments of public funds by Oregon BEST are bringing outside research funding to Oregon's universities,” said Kenney. “It's an excellent return on investment. And the additional funding is helping transform Oregon's university research into products and services that help fuel the state's economy. In this case, the product will be a green roof energy savings calculator.”

Green roofs, also known as ecoroofs, are growing in popularity as the green building industry expands. These planted rooftops use vegetation and soil over a waterproof membrane to slow storm water runoff, filter water-borne pollutants, and reduce the heating and cooling energy demands of a building because the vegetation and soil serve as added insulation in the winter, and offer a combination of insulation, shading, reflectivity, and evaporative cooling in summer.

But different climates and building locations require different types of green roofs, Sailor said. That's where the PSU project comes in. While there's been a lot of research into how well various green roofs perform, until now the work has not resulted in a system design tool that helps building professionals optimize green roof for different climates and locations.

“The end result of our research will be a simple tool that building designers and architects can use during the design process to select a green roof that will work best on a specific building,” said Spolek. “And because we're developing this tool here in Oregon — using local architectural firms for testing — Oregon building professionals will be the first in the nation to have access to it. This will help Oregon advance its position as a national leader in the green building industry and attract related businesses to the state.”

The research funding is enabling Sailor and Spolek to invest in new laboratory equipment, including improvements to an environmental wind tunnel that allows heat transfer testing through green roofs while controlling temperature, humidity, sunlight, and rainfall. Baseline data will enable the researchers to build computer models that will result in the energy savings calculator.

Oregon BEST has invested $480,000 in seed funding for 10 faculty research teams at Oregon universities whose work has the potential to fuel the state’s growing sustainability and renewable energy sectors. A detailed list of the funded projects and associated researchers at Oregon universities can be found at the Oregon BEST website: http://oregonbest.org

As a part of Oregon InC's 2007 legislative recommendations, Oregon BEST was established in November 2007 with $2.5 million in funding from the Oregon legislature and additional funding from the Oregon University System and the Meyer Memorial Trust. The center seeks to leverage Oregon’s unique position as a national leader in sustainable natural resource management, progressive land use, environmental stewardship, renewable energy and sustainable technologies and practices in the “built environment.”

About Oregon BEST: The Oregon Built Environment and Sustainable Technologies Center (Oregon BEST) brings together Oregon's significant R&D strengths in the key emerging areas of renewable energy and green building products and services, with the goal of increasing research and accelerating public/private partnerships to transform that research into on-the-ground business opportunities and Oregon jobs. Oregon BEST partners include the Oregon Institute of Technology, Oregon State University, Portland State University, the University of Oregon, as well as numerous private businesses, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations. http://oregonbest.org