Rock Creek Campus Development Plan
Portland Community College
The first phase of the $70 million Rock Creek Campus renovation and expansion project created a comprehensive Campus Redevelopment plan for the 256-acre campus. Envisioned as the first critical step in the full understanding of the existing site resources and their integration into new and renovated facilities, Opsis’s 2010 campus planning work helped PCC establish a goal of 40% carbon emission reduction from 2006 levels by 2030. The design team completed extensive analysis of solar, wind, geothermal, hydrology and land resources on the site.
Size: 256 acres
Location: Portland, OR
With the signing of the American Colleges & Universities Presidents’ Climate Commitment and the adoption of the 2009 Climate Action Plan, PCC committed to operational practices that set a national model for sustainable use of resources. One of the key features of the plan was the development of a “Green Initiatives District” at the campus entry that develops an integrated series of sustainable systems tied to campus curriculum. This district forms the basis of a “go green” learning resource that departments across campus utilize to transform holistic sustainable strategies into real life experiences for students where they learn, experiment and better understand how to achieve a balance with our natural systems.
The plan created a framework for PCC to develop one of Oregon’s largest ground-based solar “farms” with a 500KW array integrated within a campus agricultural farm field.
Water quality features and stormwater facilities were planned to incorporate new buildings added to the campus. The plan envisioned a central stormwater garden as part of a new campus entry landscape.
