The overview

CUTTING EDGE SUSTAINABILITY GOES MAINSTREAM

The STORY

Working with our clients at ZGF we set out to tell the story of the design and development of the PAE Living Building. At first blush the building may seem ordinary. Its design fits seamlessly within the context of Portland’s Old Town Historic District. It’s not the tallest, the skinniest or most elaborate, but the real magic is seen when you “pop the hood” -- only there can one start to understand the underlying mission of the building: to make cutting edge sustainable design normal. This isn’t just a run-of-the-mill office building. The PAE Living Building marks the moment when cutting-edge sustainability goes mainstream.

The PAE Living Building showcases achievements of resiliency, efficiency, productivity and investment. The mass-timber building exceeds financial benchmarks while its design meets the most stringent sustainable requirements in the world: net-positive energy, net-negative carbon, net-zero water, hospital-grade seismic resilience, the capacity for 100 days of operational sustenance without power in the summer—all in a building that will live for 500-years. This isn’t just exciting in terms of these discrete building accomplishments. It’s thrilling because the PAE Living Building serves as a roadmap to resilience and longevity in the face of climate change for every other developer of spec office buildings, worldwide.

We told this story to everyone that would listen. Securing press in Fast Company, Dezeeen, Bloomberg CityLab, Architect's Newspaper, and local papers in Portland.