Ore. development aims at highest LEED rating

Independence Station, a 57,000-square-foot mixed use building that will include residential units and businesses in the town of Independence, Ore., is planning to use solar power, vegetable oil, and rainwater to achieve the highest LEED rating anywhere, becoming the "world's greenest building." From a press release: "The current record holder, a Canadian project, has a score of 63 out of a possible 69 points. At its completion next year, Independence Station will likely earn between 64 and 66 points."

Developers say the now-40 percent-complete project will meet this goal with several tactics:

• a unique 120 kilowatt installation of photovoltaic panels
• a biodiesel-fueled cogeneration and thermal storage system, including a retired tug-boat engine
• radiant floor heating and cooling, solar water heating, an ice-based cooling storage system, and a water-based ground source heat pump
• day lighting design and extensive use of LEDs
• stored winter rainwater to supply 100 percent of the building’s needs for laundry, toilet flushing and irrigation of the both the green roof and planned 40-foot interior vertical “urban garden”

Evidently the problem has met with delays, but the developer claims the project is now on course to completion.