Jean Vollum Natural Capital Center - 721 NW 9th Ave, Portland, OR 97209

After a century of service as a warehouse for the goods of the industrial economy, the Jean Vollum Natural Capital Center has been revitalized by Ecotrust as a marketplace that fosters the ideas, goods, and services of a conservation economy.

Accessible by Portland Streetcar (NW 10th and Johnson stop), by bicycle (generous outdoor parking spaces), by bus, on foot and with limited car parking, the Center is located in Portland's Pearl District on Northwest 10th and Irving streets. A former industrial area, the Pearl District is a fast-growing mixed-used neighborhood of converted warehouses, shops, galleries and new housing.

The Center has been acclaimed by civic leaders and has already gained recognition as an important contribution to the city's landscape, a unique blend of environmental innovation and historic restoration.

Patagonia, the outdoor clothing company known for its environmental ethic, is the retail anchor, opening its first Oregon store and the largest of its retail outlets. The 70,000 square foot building also houses Ecotrust's headquarters and a mix of non-profit and business tenants gathered around the themes of sustainable forestry and fisheries, green building, and financial investment. Ecotrust and the community of tenants welcome the public through generous public spaces for exhibits, events and spontaneous interactions.

The Center includes outdoor seating, a public atrium, a resource center, and an outdoor terrace with fireplace. All floors incorporate display areas for exhibits and shared information. The Billy Frank, Jr. Conference Center, with its advanced audio-visual capabilities, is available to business and community groups for meetings, workshops, receptions and other events.

The Natural Capital Center has been awarded gold-level Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification under the strict standards developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. It is, nationwide, the first restoration of a historic building to reap the LEED gold rating. The certification considers such factors as water efficiency, energy performance, siting, materials, and indoor air quality.

Originally constructed as a warehouse in 1895, the Natural Capital Center building was acquired by Ecotrust in 1998 with the help of an extraordinary gift from philanthropist and founding board member Jean Vollum and reopened in 2001.

Ecotrust's renovation of the brick and timber building respects the character of the original 1895 structure while incorporating environmentally-innovative materials and techniques. The redevelopment contractor, Walsh Construction, has estimated that more than 98 percent of the construction waste has been recycled or reclaimed, a Portland city record. The building also features an "ecoroof" that, together with street-level landscaping, filters and absorbs most, if not all, of the site's rainwater, eliminating runoff to the overburdened Willamette River.