PORT ANGELES — Jason McLennan wants to encourage a new kind of discussion about “green” building when he speaks tonight.
“Vision of a Regenerative Future” is the title of the free talk by McLennan, CEO of the Cascadia Green Building Council and author of “The Living Building Challenge 2.0,” a new building certification program.
He will start tonight’s presentation at 6 p.m. in the Little Theater at Peninsula College, 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd.
“I’m doing this for free, which I don’t normally do,” McLennan said in a telephone interview from his home on Bainbridge Island.
And Port Angeles, he added, is a city far smaller than the usual stops on his international itinerary.
So why is he traveling to Port Angeles, and why should people come to his presentation at the end of their work week?
First, “I was invited,” by architect Mike Gentry and his wife, Carol, of the new Center for Community Design in Port Angeles, McLennan said.
And “I’m taking the opportunity to learn from what’s happening there.”
‘Restorative design’
Just as important, he looks forward to meeting with people who care about the future of their community, and showing examples of what he calls “restorative design.”
That’s a giant step beyond what “green” builders have been up to, McLennan said.
Until recently, industry professionals strove to design and construct buildings that conserve water and energy, reduce toxicity to humans and make less impact on the environment.
“The typical green building discussion,” he said, “is about being a little less bad.”
But “restorative design is moving to a much more progressive place, where our buildings are not just less bad, but are good for the environment . . . There are examples emerging” around the world, and McLennan will present visuals of them during his talk.
Across the United States and Canada are 70 projects in various stages of design and development, he added.
And in the Seattle area, where McLennan works, are a dozen such projects patterned after the restorative concept — one is a small, private elementary school with groundbreaking scheduled for next year.
Generates energy
A restorative or regenerative design means a building generates all its own energy and treats its own water, he said.
“These are buildings that will never have an energy or water bill again,” he explained.
So what would restorative design look like here on the North Olympic Peninsula?
“The answer to that would need to come from the people who know your place,” McLennan said.
“I’m not portraying myself as an expert in your community.
“I’m a guest . . . I’ll share what I’ve seen” elsewhere around the world.
Gentry and architect Stuart Bonney, with their Center for Community Design in Port Angeles, hope to take steps toward restorative building.
They describe the center as “a place for community members to gather, exchange ideas and learn how to plan and design their community,” through thinking exercises with local architects.
In a Tuesday morning presentation to the Port Angeles Business Association, Gentry said he takes hope from such projects as the new Elwha Klallam Heritage Center in Port Angeles and the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe’s Longhouse Market and fire station in Blyn.
Gentry’s firm, Gentry Architecture Collaborative, designed those structures.
“It’s not enough to preserve. We must regenerate,” Gentry added.
“New buildings can be assets,” Gentry added, “contributing to the healthy growth of a place.”
To learn more about the center, visit Gentry’s office in The Landing mall at 115 E. Railroad Ave., Suite 308, see www.CenterforCommunityDesign.org or phone 360-457-7550.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3550 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
