With its first sustainable store renovation, Parr Lumber is taking its green building materials off the shelves and into practice.

The Hillsboro-based company for years has carried the handful of sustainable products available to builders. And its store at 1320 N.W. 19th St. in Portland is the only outlet in the metro area to keep in stock lumber certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

Parr today will celebrate the re-opening of that store, which originally opened in 1946 as the company's second location. It has been operating out of an adjacent warehouse as the building underwent a green makeover.

The shop now boasts a number of green improvements, including floors made from recycled tires, LED lighting, cement composite siding and solar panels on the roof. And about 10 percent of its products are sustainable, including lumber, sheetrock and insulation, Marshall Smith, manager of the Northwest Portland store, said.

The store is the first of 28 Parr retail locations in Oregon and Washington that the company plans to remodel to be more sustainable. [Read full article]

By Libby Tucker

Daily Journal of Commerce - Portland, OR