Salem Permacultre Guild

The above image may not be visible on all devices but here is the basic information, the Salem Permaculture Guild is holding a meeting this evening, Wednesday, January 23rd from 6-7:30pm. The meeting will cover Sheet Mulching and it's benefits to soil development. For more information or if you have questions contact Kendy at kendyrad@gmail.com or (503) 385-8675.

Painters Hall Featured in Passive House+

Originally published in Issue 1 Volume 1 of Passive House+ — 

The creation of beautiful, sustainable, low energy buildings is the hallmark of the Living Building Challenge (LBC), an environmental design paradigm which has evolved through the Cascadia Region Green Building Council and the International Living Future Institute, both based in Oregon, USA.

One of the first buildings certified under this rigorous design methodology is Painters Hall, a community centre originally built in the 1930s. Located on a 32 acre mixed use site in Salem, Oregon, the upgraded building has achieved zero energy status, the LEED platinum standard and LBC ‘Petal’ recognition.

The reference to petal recognition evolves from the structural format of the LBC energy primer, which utilises a flower as a metaphor for truly sustainable buildings- self-contained and reflective of the carrying capacity of their site. The LBC allocates markings across a range of ‘petals’ including site usage, water, energy, health, materials, equity and beauty – overall a challenging heptagon of sorts. In the case of Painters Hall, energy, equity and beauty were the targeted recognitions.

The building’s original name evolved from the previous use of the site as a training centre. The intention is to retain its educational links by becoming a meeting and low energy educational centre to reflect the aspirations of the Pringle Creek community as a whole.

The centre uses approximately 20,000kWh of energy per year, but produces 26,000kWh from its roof mounted PV array. A communal geothermal heat pump serves the primary heating heeds of the facility. For water conservation, low flush and dual flush fittings combined with grey water harvesting contribute to an annual saving in water usage of 12,000 gallons.

Practitioners and contractors should note that during the renovations almost 90% of material waste was diverted from landfill, while a quarter of the materials (by cost) used in the building resulted from active recycling. Additionally all paints, adhesives, and composite wood products used on the project were designated as being low VOC (volatile organic compounds).

A number of environmental imperatives arise from the LBC petals which had to be considered in the design process of the project. The energy petal gave rise to the net zero energy imperative which was focused on the mantra that a kilowatt hour saved on site was less expensive than one produced on site. To this end the walls, floor and roof were upgraded to a high thermal performance using blown cellulose, finished in light internal colours to reduce electrical lighting loads. These strategies were combined with careful selection of light fittings, occupancy detectors, and dimming overrides. At a cost of $300 worth of hardware, a building energy management system, TED, measures total building energy consumption, photovoltaic energy production and individual circuit loads. This device and its software can communicate with web-based programs so that owners can access an energy dashboard via the internet at any time, sharing data with others and receiving weekly summaries by e-mail that compare usage trends.

As is the hallmark of all the buildings in this selection, the attention to detail is paramount. It renders the question poised by the Living Building Challenge: What if every single act of design and construction made the world a better place? It’s a rhetorical question; because in the case of this building they do.

New Menu for a New Year

Painters Hall Café

Open Monday-Friday 9am-2pm

Soups

Our seasonal soups use local seasonal ingredients and are available in a cup $4 or bowl $6.

Salads

Apple & Cranberry Salad

A bed of winter greens straight from our greenhouse topped with PC apples, chevre, PC Carrots, and Toasted Hazelnuts. $5 Small or $7 Large

Roasted Vegetable Salad

Warm roasted winter squash and root vegetables on a bed of winter greens with warm garlic oil and hazelnuts. $5 Small or $7 Large

Sandwiches

Roast Beef Panini

Roast beef served on a ciabatta roll spread with horseradish aioli and pressed together with roasted peppers and havarti. $6 Half or $8 Whole

Roasted Turkey Panini

Oven roasted turkey on a ciabatta roll spread with an herbed aioli with havarti, caramelized onions and PC spinach. $6 Half or $8 Whole

Harvest Stand Panini

Pringle Creek winter squash, caramelized onions, and mushrooms melted together with havarti on ciabatta roll spread with sundried tomato aioli. $5 Half or $7 Whole

Fig & Goat Cheese Panini

Fig butter pressed together with chevre, carmelized onions, and arugula served open-faced on a ciabatta roll.  $5 Half or $7 Whole 

In addition to our new menu options we are pleased to announce that we will be offering a variety of gluten-free options. We will also be experimenting with offering an entree of the day as a special throughout January. 

Brunch at Pringle Creek

You're Invited to Brunch at Pringle Creek Community Please join us January 5th at 11am for brunch and an opportunity to tour Pringle Creek Community. Please RSVP as space is limited. We hope that you will be able to join us! Cost is $18 per person  Menu Apple Turnovers Hazelnut Cinnamon Rolls Onion & Herb Quiche Swiss Chard Strata Fresh Fruit & Bacon Apple Cider, Coffee & Tea Join Our Mailing List! Pringle Creek Community 3911 Village Center Drive Salem, Oregon 97302

Growth In The Greenhouse, Even In December

Urban Farming in December at Pringle Creek Community involves spending a lot of time in cold wet weather. The garden and orchards are sitting under a foot of leaf mulch and have been put to bed for the rest of the winter season. The bee hives in the orchard have been holding up to the wind and rain so far and should not show much movement until February.

Life in the greenhouses is slow growing but going! Broccoli starts planted in the beds in early fall have given us our first crop of harvestable broccoli heads. Check in with Margaret at Painter's Hall Cafe for some delicious broccoli cheese soup soon to appear on the menu.

We had a variety of hot peppers growing over the summer and I wanted to experiment overwintering the plants. They gave out another crop in September and I was able to harvest green bunch this week. They were not going to ripen with the cloudy cold weather of our winter season but will be tasty in our winter soup selections. It will be exciting to see if some of the pepper plants will survive until spring and begin giving us peppers sooner.

The greenhouse raised beds will provide the cafe with salad greens, cooking greens, leeks, onions, overwintered carrots and other root vegetables until the garden comes back to life in the spring. As we all bunker down for winter we can all reflect on the past year, enjoy good comforting food, and dream of sunshine and life renewed in 2013.

Happy Holidays to everyone and a Happy New Year!

December Cafe Closures

Painters Hall Cafe will be closed on the following dates:

Monday, December 3rd

Monday December 24th-Friday January 4th

We still have plenty of dates open for groups looking to host a holiday get-together with co-workers or loved ones this holiday season. If you would like information about availability, send us an email or give us a call at (503) 315-1055. We look forward to helping you celebrate this season!