Photo log

These detached garages will serve the small cluster of five cottages. They will have cedar siding and a green roof, to be installed this fall.

This is the pump house for the ground source district heating and cooling system (those are pressure tanks on the inside). It will also have cedar siding and a green roof.

Artichokes in the garden!

We are currently restoring these incredible greenhouses, which were built by Lord & Burnham in the '20s or '30s. This is the trench for the utilities.

We’ll begin installing glass in mid-July, to be completed by this Fall in time to extend the growing season indoors. Come by and check it out!

These massive catalpas are in bloom right now. The catalpa is not native to the NW but is a great shade tree (perfect for cooling the greenhouses) and is very fragrant this time of year.

santiago

The house-designers of the future

You might recall a previous item in which Santiago told us about West Linn fifth graders that visited Pringle Creek. They were working on a project to design "the house of the future." The kids' efforts have gotten some coverage in the Wilsonville Spokesman. The article, "Building spaces," talks about advantages of the project-based learning method--and the visit to Pringle Creek:

. . . Over 100 students in all are currently engaged in the research, mathematics and problem-solving skills required to design and construct a house with a footprint no bigger than 2,000 square feet.

The students are not designing and building just any homes, either. Instead, the project is inspired by the Pringle Creek Community, a sustainable planned development currently being undertaken in Salem by a team of designers and architects from Salem, Portland and even Vancouver, B.C.

The project integrates the latest green building technologies, with at least some of the homes being so-called net-zero dwellings because of their capacity to produce more electricity through solar panels than they consume.

Students visited Pringle Creek to examine what a green community actually looks like. Afterward, they began viewing their own homes and communities with the same issues in mind.

“The kids really got into the research as they’ve seen these issues in a personal way,” Locke said.

Even more recent photos

First strawberry of the season! Local and organic, fresh picked…
Strawberries and mint growing together in the community garden.
Lupine & iris in the gardens, with the greenhouses in the background.
Elephant garlic planted last fall popping up.
Potatoes for Marion Polk Foodshare are coming out.
Native landscaping alongside the LEED-H Platinum Cottage – less weeding and watering and no chemicals.
Local Father-Son duo Larry and Blake Bilyeu of Bilyeu Homes are building this cottage in the background.
Blake up on the roof during the roof installation.
Roofing supplied by Taylor Metal, a local metal roofing company.
The most recent photo of the Tall House, which is about 2 weeks from move-in.
The second floor kitchen and dining room of the Tall House, almost done! Floors are getting finished.
The leaves on all the Oregon White Oak trees have come out, making a nice canopy in the rain.
A close-up of the red-tail hawk.
Regular shot of the red-tail hawk, up in the same tree. Lots of birds this time of year.

More recent photos

All the camas planted in the rain gardens are in full bloom, deep purple.

A view of the new custom cottage showing the front porch. They are putting on the rigid insulation, a component of the rain screen system that is one of our green building standards for all homes.

The injection well is being drilled this week for the ground-source geothermal system. After the water is used in the ground-source geo district heating/cooling system, it irrigates the orchards, community gardens and parks. All the excess is re-injected back into the aquifer.

A close-up of sedums we have growing in xeriscape areas. We will be using sedums for greenroofs on multiple community-use buildings and for residents.

Flowers in the rain gardens--everything is in bloom.

A close-up of the fruit trees in bloom. So far we have put in over 300 fruit trees of all types, and over 150 blueberry bushes.

Clumps of wild camas growing alongside Pringle Creek, near the orchards. Camas is a native, edible bulb.

Santiago

Recent photos

We’re keeping the trunks for benches--local company Nexterra is grinding branches and stumps into chips for use for soil improvement and walking paths.

Front stairs and sidewalk being poured at the Wilsons' tallhouse, which is almost ready for move-in.

New custom cottage getting framed up--cathedral ceiling upstairs, all FSC wood.

The view out the upstairs window of the creek and wetland areas--the residents will see a lot of the Great Blue Heron that fishes on this stretch of the creek.

Santiago

Earth Day '08 at Pringle Creek

Earth Day was a great event! Local school groups displayed their environmental study and service projects--we were really impressed. We had a singing performance by the HOPE Team Choir. The workshops on Bamboo, Worm Bin Composting, and Urban Chicken Keeping were all great – thanks to Dain, Sally and Jim for presenting. Thanks also to Larry, Blake and Phil for being on hand to answer all questions on green building. And a big thanks to everyone that made the event a success: Deborah, Becky, Jackie, Tony, Elizabeth, Don, Joe, Luca, Dan, Robbie, Marie, Sally and Bill, and especially all the teachers that took time out of their Sunday to support kids helping the environment.

Santiago

Below is a 25 second video from the festivities

Pringle Creek hosts 5th graders designing house of the future

Below are some photos from yesterday’s visitors--125 fifth graders from West Linn working on a long-term project to “design the house of the future.”

We divided into five stations: Rainwater, Food & Agriculture, Forestry, Fish & Wildlife, and Energy. The questions we asked were, “How will the design of your house impact the world around us? Can your house be restorative, can it actually improve all the other systems we rely on? How?”

Partners that helped with the stations were Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife, Marion Soil & Water Conservation District, Marion-Polk Food Share, and OSU Extension Service Sustainable Living Project. Evann Remington from Organic Fresh Fingers arrived at noon to provide organic snacks for the kids.

A special thanks to the volunteers from these organizations for taking the time to help, and to Organic Fresh Fingers for the healthy snacks.

We asked if we could display the concept designs and scale models that the kids create as soon as they are done – probably this summer. The level of sophistication of the curriculum and the kids’ understanding of sustainability was very impressive!

Santiago

Earth Day '08 at Pringle Creek