Clean energy meets smart design.

UTILIZING OREGON’S RAINY SEASON TO CONSERVE WATER

At Painter’s Hall, we harvest rainwater from Oregon’s wet winters. As the rain falls, the runoff is collected into a variety of tanks around the backside of the building. This rainwater is then used to flush our toilets and water plants.

It is easy to set up systems similar to this to water your garden at home. More complicated systems like this one can be used for flushing toilets and even doing the laundry!

HISTORY

Originally built in the 1930s for grain storage and later used by Fairview Training Center’s painting crew, Painter’s Hall has been reborn as Oregon’s first net-zero energy building.

Powered by a 210-panel solar array and heated with a geothermal loop, it uses passive cooling, daylighting, and rainwater harvesting to conserve both energy and water.

HOW DOES A GEOTHERMAL LOOP WORK?

In the winter, the geothermal loop absorbs heat from the ground, which is transferred to a heat pump. In the summer, the system reverses: the system absorbs heat from the building and transfers it to the ground, which acts as a heat sink, cooling the building.

Pringle Creek Community’s geothermal loop not only heats and cools Painter’s Hall, but also many of the homes in the community.

Clean water from the loop is used to water our urban farm, including the produce found in our greenhouses.