Winners of the Eighth Annual Oregon / SW Washington Awards Announced

February 11, 2011

Contact Information:
Carolyn Burleigh / Coates Kokes
503.241.1124 carolyn@coateskokes.com

Awards honor champions in Oregon and SW Washington for green building

Portland, Ore.— The 2011 BetterBricks Awards event honored Oregon and SW Washington’s leading green building professionals who own, design, build and operate commercial buildings at the Portland Hilton hotel this morning. Kevin Kampschroer, Director of the Office of Federal High Performance Green Buildings for the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), was the keynote speaker. He spoke to over 350 attendees about his experience in overseeing the green building program for GSA with a focus on energy efficiency. Kampschroer also discussed the importance of including tenants in the decision-making process to get the best energy-saving and other resource-conserving results.

The BetterBricks Awards celebrate the champions of energy efficiency whose forward-thinking business practices set the industry standard for sustainability in commercial buildings. The Awards recognize architects, engineers, developers, building owners, property managers, building operators, facility managers and other building professionals for their leadership in reducing the use of energy and other resources in our commercial buildings.

“Northwest green building professionals lead the country in their commitment to energy efficiency,” said Claire Fulenwider, Executive Director of the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA). “Our high caliber winners this year are making impressive strides in both the private and the public sector and demonstrate that through innovation and collaboration, we can accomplish significant energy savings.”

Winners and finalists were selected in the following categories:

Owner/Decision Maker: Winner — Bill Wyatt, Executive Director, Port of Portland; Winner — Greg Herrenbruck, Director of Design and Construction, New Seasons
Architecture: Winner — Lisa Petterson, Manager of Sustainability Group, SERA Architects; Finalist — Phil Beyl, Managing Principal, GBD Architects; Finalist — James Meyer, Principal, Opsis Architecture
Design Engineer: Winner — Omid Nabipoor, President, Interface Engineering; Winner — Steven Straus, President, Glumac
Facility Manager / Building Operations: Winner — Lewis & Clark Facilities Services Team; Finalist — Rose Quarter Operations Team
Property Manager: Winner — Unico Portland Property Management Team
Outstanding Industry Contribution: Winner — Mark Frankel, Technical Director, New Buildings Institute
Emerging Leader: Winner — Kipp Baratoff, Partner/President, Equilibrium Capital Group, Gerding Edlen Sustainable Solutions
Advocate: Winner — Elaine Aye, Principal, Green Building Services; Winner — Clark Brockman, Director of Sustainability Resources/Associate Principal, SERA Architects

Winners were selected by a panel of judges comprised of industry professionals, utility representatives and green building experts.

To achieve high performance buildings, award winners have used and promoted a variety of best practices such as maximizing local climate in the design, employing early design decision-making and energy modeling, supporting building commissioning, educating tenants and brokers about sustainability and implementing better building operations. Their projects have achieved substantial energy savings, reduced building operation and maintenance costs and enhanced productivity of building occupants among other benefits.

Through its BetterBricks initiative, NEEA partnered with Energy Trust of Oregon, Stoel Rives, LLP and Heritage Bank to sponsor the Oregon/SW Washington Awards.

BetterBricks is the commercial building initiative of the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA), which is supported by Northwest electric utilities. Through BetterBricks, NEEA advances ideas to accelerate energy savings in new and existing commercial buildings. BetterBricks education and training, online resources and recognition of industry leaders guide and inspire building professionals to embrace best practices, improve energy performance and achieve their sustainability goals. Visit www.BetterBricks.com to connect to these powerful energy ideas and more.

Energy Trust of Oregon, Inc.is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to helping utility customers benefit from saving energy and tapping renewable resources. Our services, cash incentives and energy solutions have helped customers of Portland General Electric, Pacific Power, NW Natural and Cascade Natural Gas save more than $440 million in energy costs. Our work helps keep energy costs as low as possible, creates jobs and builds a sustainable energy future. Learn more at www.energytrust.org or call 1-866-368-7878.

Heritage Bank serves the Pacific Northwest through 25 full-service offices and an online banking website www.HeritageBankWA.com. Heritage Bank has been creating financial solutions for the needs of its neighbors since 1927. Heritage Bank is known as the "quality bank" because our staff works together as a team, focused on building lasting relationships to help customers reach their financial goals. We are dedicated to exceeding customers' expectations. Combine this with a devoted focus on giving back to the communities through contributions and staff volunteer efforts, and you have exactly what customers and communities deserve from their local bank.

Stoel Rives, LLC is a business law firm providing corporate and litigation services to a wide range of clients throughout the United States. The firm has nearly 400 attorneys operating out of 11 offices in seven states. Selected as a BTI Top 30 Client Service provider, Stoel Rives is regarded as a leader in corporate, energy, environmental, intellectual property, labor and employment, land use and construction, litigation, natural resources, project development and real estate law. The firm has offices in Anchorage, Alaska; Boise, Idaho; Lake Tahoe, Calif.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Portland, Ore.; Sacramento, Calif.; Salt Lake City, Utah; San Diego, Calif.; San Francisco, Calif.; Seattle, Wash.; and Vancouver, Wash. For more information, visit www.stoel.com.

HIGH RESOLUTION PHOTOS AND VIDEO IS AVAILABLE ON REQUEST

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