Four teams of architects and developers have been pitching tonight to design and build the Oregon Sustainability Center, which it's hoped will be built near PSU over the coming years.

Oddly, because it's his idea, Mayor Sam Adams has been absent this evening, even though city hall is packed to the rafters. Instead, Adams' chief of staff, Tom Miller, introduced the proceedings. Last month, Adams announced that the center will be a "living building," aiming beyond platinum status on the government's LEED scale. Tonight, four teams of developers and architects have been talking about their experience in developing sustainable buildings, before they go off and do any actual design work.

SUSTAINABILITY CENTER: BEYOND PLATINUM...

This evening's hearing has been littered with other-worldly expressions. From "passive skin solutions" and "triple net zero" technology, to "triple glazing," "grey water," "substantial daylighting," "reclaiming steam," and even "reducing bird mortality," the world of sustainable architecture is clearly one pushing the boundaries of the postmodern vocabulary.

Gerding Edlen was the first group to present. They built the Casey Condominiums, the Gerding Theater in the Pearl, and many more green buildings both in Portland and across the country. Up second was Holst Architects, which is designing the city's Resource Access Center for the homeless, in Old Town. Holst is looking to collaborate with FXFowle Architects, a prestigious international firm, which designed the New York Times building in Manhattan. Third up was Ethos Project Management, teamed up with Behnisch Architects and Brightworks, which are European and Portland-based design firms, respectively. Lastly, Winkler Development—which built the Adidas Village in north Portland.

Portland Architecture blogger and architecture critic, Brian Libby has some interesting opinions on the merits of the various teams over at his site. "I'm excited to see the combination of local and national/international firms involved," he writes. Although..."I haven't personally decided which of these teams I'd like to see get the job."

The presentations were inspiring, and I was excited to think of all the possibilities that might be presented by this building. The next steps are for each team to be interviewed by an evaluation team tomorrow. Then, a decision on a team will be made as early as next Monday—the decision will be made so quickly, because the building is hoping to take advantage of potential stimulus dollars. We'll track this project as it develops.