Oh’s commitment to a sustainable future is clearly visible in our everyday physical environment – in our recent office renovation for instance, a bright shade of green construction techniques and materials – but that’s not all. We try to embrace the triple bottom line, and one way is by commuting to work by the bicycle! We have found, as have most by-pedal riders, that the bicycle is a wonderful way to create an environmentally friendly office commute, as well as, helping to build our local bicycle community.

With thanks to a few folks around the Oh office, we now have an amazing wall mounted bike rack — comprised entirely of recycled materials picked from the The ReBuilding Center (except for a few small pieces of mounting hardware)  As you can see from the photos, we used reclaimed bamboo flooring and a colorful assortment of ceramic tile to create a theme of movement along the wall. It is a rather exciting and fulfilling “park” in the morning for most of us. Come by and test it out for yourself if you like! [it IS right next to the ping pong room]

A morning picture of the Portland waterfront.  Picture by Zach Pennell

As you may know, the Bike Commute Challenge held by the BTA every September has wrapped up this year and we here at Oh gave our best at commuting for the month. In the end, we commuted 698 miles in a total of 74 commutes and finished the competition with a solid 53% commute rate!! But the biggest victory was that of the new commuters who have saddled up and will continue to push through the year as full time commuters! A big round of applause for these guys!

Exciting news!  The Oregon University System has issued a news brief announcing the completion of Oh planning+design’s latest completed project: Oregon State University’s Energy Center.

OSU’s Energy Center is on track to become the first power facility to ever be rated LEED Platinum by the United States Green Building Council.  The Energy Center replaces the University’s 100 year old steam boiler plant and its five antiquated boilers (only three of which were actually functioning) with two high-efficiency turbines and two new boilers.

The new system will generate half of the University’s needed electricity and capture the waste-heat generated in the process, turning it into steam heat for the campus…an innovative way of reducing both the University’s energy bill and carbon footprint in one fell swoop.  Just another example of how our design approach can reduce the impact of the built environment on the planet and help humanity live in balance with nature…and turn out a nice little building at the same time!

Read more about the Energy Center’s other sustainable design features in the full announcement right here.

We like to divulge our sources, because what’s good for us might be good for you, too. We got the cool bowling lane table top from ECOpdx. It came from the Ballard neighborhood in Seattle, Washington. And while we feel for one neighborhood’s loss, we also love this lane.

2289 N. Interstate Ave.
Portland, OR 97227
t 503.287.8181

A great  story about Sunset Lanes is here.