oct-2017

40 41 THE OREGON CONVENTION CENTER art,with works from over two dozen,mainly Pacific Northwest, artists.There are paintings, plaques, glass and ceramic tiles, sconces,mosa- ics, bells, etc. Each of the Center’s signature glass twin towers has a focal point work: a forty-foot long Chinese dragon boat is suspended in the east tower, and the Principia, the world’s largest Foucault pendulum, swings and rotates across a 40-foot halo of suspended, gilded rays in the north tower. The OCC is owned byMetro, the Portland ar- ea’s regional government. It is managed by the Metropolitan Exposition Recreation Commis- sion, and supported by a variety of local fund- ing, including a portion of the city’s transient lodging tax. In the 2015-2016 fiscal year, the Center generated about $700 million worth of economic impact for the City of Portland and its surrounding communities. Business ViewMagazine first spoke with the OCC’s Deputy Director,Matt Pizzuti, a year ago, at which time he apprised us of some of the facility’s signature characteristics, including the recent addition of a 6,500-panel photovoltaic solar array on the building’s rooftop.This past month,we caught up with Pizzuti for an update on the solar system, as well as several other items on the Center’s agenda. “The solar roof array has already produced nearly 1.7megawatts of electricity,”Pizzuti begins.“It’s a two megawatt system and it hasn’t been in operation yet a full year, so it’s nearly producing to that level.We’ve had a few glitches along the way- some snow in January-but on days when the sun is out, there is 12,000 kilowatt hours per day,which is a substantial amount of energy-20 to 25 percent of the total amount of energy used at the Center. It’s zero cost to the taxpayers of Portland and zero cost to the Convention Center. It was fund- ed through a grant from Pacific Power, as well as the EnergyTrust of Oregon and through the power purchase agreement with Solar City.” Regarding some of the OCC’s sustainable best practices, Pizzuti says,“As far as our waste diversion plan–that has been in effect now for a year and a half.The latest figures over the last sixmonths show a compliance rate of 89 percent. So, nine out of ten customers are assisting us in following our waste diversion policy,which states that they are operating sustainably and not leaving the Convention Center with waste that cannot be diverted from the waste stream.They’re helping us sort material; they’re helping us provide ways to meet our goal of being one of the most sustainable convention centers in the world, and certainly in North America.”The Cen- ter has also been working on converting its lighting systems.“We’re about 80 percent switched from standard over to LED,”Pizzuti adds.“The only thing that we have left to do, as far as major projects, is back hallways and service areas out of the public eye.”