COC in the Oregonian: Planner to present Portland’s green policies in Taiwan

Following is the write-up on Bob Wise’s sustainability efforts in Taiwan taken from the Oregonian‘s Web site. Enjoy!

Planner to present Portland’s green policies in Taiwan
by Dylan Rivera, The Oregonian
Thursday June 04, 2009, 10:37 AM

A leader of Portland planning firm Cogan Owens Cogan is traveling to a national conference in Taiwan to present the latest Oregon and Portland-area sustainability efforts.

Bob Wise, senior project manager for the firm, is helping draft the Taipei 2050 EcoCity Vision, a long-range planning document for Taiwan’s largest city. He’s been asked to make a presentation about Oregon sustainability efforts to the Taiwan National Council for Sustainable Development’s annual conference.

“We’ve worked in Taiwan off and on for 10 years,” Wise said. “They’re always interested in what Portland and Oregon are doing.”

The sustainable development conference includes business leaders and cabinet-level members of Taiwan’s federal government. Wise said he plans to explain how Portland became the No.1 city in the nation for sustainability in rankings by SustainLane. He also will discuss the Living Building Challenge, which is a new green building standard, and the eco-district concept, which would have buildings share water and energy infrastructure to achieve greater efficiencies.

Wise was chairman of the Portland/Multnomah County Sustainable Development Commission when green building policies and climate change plans were developed.

Cogan Owens Cogan’s Taiwan work is performed through Team Oregon, a joint venture with SERA Architects and Century West Engineering of Portland.

– Dylan Rivera; dylanrivera@news.oregonian.com

http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2009/06/portland_planner_to_present_gr.html

Dave Mayfield to Speak on Backcasting and Least Cost Planning

Backcasting and Least Cost Planning
June 12th – 10:00 to 11:00AM
Portland State University
ITS Lab, EB 315
1930 SW Fourth Ave.

David Mayfield will lead a discussion on the applications of backcasting and least cost planning as decision-making tools for transportation planning. These related approaches are values-driven, focusing on achieving an agreed-upon outcome rather than responding to projected demands for services. Because both of these processes can function as “trend breakers,” they can help in times of rapid change and focus efforts on identified goals such as meeting greenhouse gas emissions targets. Least cost planning is still active in the Jobs and Transportation Act, so lets start the discussion of how this process can be used in Oregon.

The purpose of the discussion is to:

• Review these planning processes: their intent, origins, and methods
• Discuss how and where they have been applied to transportation decision making
• Consider opportunities and barriers associated with their application to transportation

For more information, contact:
John MacArthur, Sustainable Transportation Program Manager
Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium
Email: macarthur@pdx.edu | Tel. 503-725-2866 | www.otrec.us