Hometown Pride Feels Good

Sorry for taking so long to post anything again. My last two weeks have been hectic.

Anyway I wanted to get back an track with my next post and at the same time give a little shout out to my hometown of Portland Oregon. The Federal Building here in downtown is currently getting renovations that will update it's energy usage and do some other things that are helpful for the environment. You can read it here:

In Portland, Growing Vertical

It's sort of related to one of my earlier posts about urban gardening. This project won't include farm-able plants like lettuces or anything like that, but it uses plants in a different way. For this project the designers have styled a lattice that goes up the southern side of the building where vined plants will grow. During the spring, summer and early fall these plants will provide shade for the building, reducing the power requirements for air conditioning and cooling of the building. In conjunction with a few other changes this will mean an overall reduction of 60 to 65 percent less energy needed.

Not only that but it will be beautiful. Right now the building has a large bare concrete facing that is not very nice to look at. But when it is overgrown with lush green plants and glowing the the summer sun it will not only provide a nice cool shade but it will also make for a more beautiful city to live in.

Makes me proud that it's happening here in my hometown.