Building Green

The space where we work and live has a critical role to play in how efficiently we use energy and water, among other things. For instance, even the most efficient furnace is going to run a lot more if your building or home isn’t properly insulated. That is why we took great care in re-constructing our brewery on Powell, and in choosing our location to lease space for the BikeBar. These early decisions have allowed us to continually reduce our impact due to ongoing operations. Read on to find out more about our approach to creating the best possible infrastructure to provide you with the beer and food you love.

Hopworks Urban Brewery AKA The Mothership

We agree that “the greenest building is one that is already built.” Our building at SE 29th and Powell was originally built in 1948 to display and repair Caterpillar tractors and heavy equipment. Sunset Fuel Company inhabited the building from 1963 until Hopworks purchased it in 2004. Painstakingly deconstructed by Lovett Construction and rebuilt using as many reclaimed materials as possible, we are proud of the facility we are in. Here are a few more details:

1. High efficiency equipment throughout:
   - heating and cooling equipment
   - kitchen equipment
   - lighting (new LEDs coming soon!)
   - brewery chiller
2. Weatherization efforts: windows, doors, insulation
3. Extensive use of reclaimed material from deconstruction
4. Low-flow toilets and faucets and flushless urinals
5. Pervious pavers and settling pond to let rainwater become groundwater
6. Electric Vehicle charger and extensive bike parking
7. Low- and no-VOC finishes throughout
8. Fresh air economizers captures heat while trading stale air for outside air

This is just a short list of the many features we put into place – click here for a longer list!

Hopworks BikeBar

One of the few accepted reasons to build new is to add super-efficient density to urban neighborhoods. The ecoFLATS building at N Williams and Shaver is just such an example, and we are proud to have BikeBar in the ground floor! Completed in 2011, the building was designed to meet the “NetZero” building standard, and is packed full of green building features we are proud to support:

1. Located on North Portland’s “bike highway” – extensive bike parking on site
2. Hyper-efficient building, cool in the summer, warm in the winter
3. Incandescent-free zone throughout the pub
4. Extensive use of reclaimed material from Portland’s Rebuilding Center
5. Energy efficient kitchen equipment
6. Work off your pizza and beer on our Plug-out stationary cycles – and generate power for the building!

Of course, our buildings aren’t the only place we have an impact, nor where we can take early steps to reduce our impact. We have worked hard over the years to develop relationships with our hops, malted barley, and other materials suppliers. We have worked with many of the same growers in the Willamette Valley and the Yakima Valley for the entire life of the brewery, strengthening our relationship over time because we believe that it takes an entire ecosystem to produce the perfect pint. We appreciate knowing where our materials come from, and we believe the consistency we provide to our growers helps them make decisions that have the long-term health of their workers and land in mind.

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