Elanso

On its second of four West Coast stops this month, the Design Green Now lecture series rolled into Portland last night, presenting a surprisingly varied collection of views on the future of sustainable design to a packed room of 150 students, designers and teachers.

Presenters were drawn largely from the local area, as they will be at the remaining two engagements: Peter Kallan (lower right, above) of green outerwear company Nau; Debbie Driscoll (middle right), Account Director for Ziba's Sustainability Group; and moderator Phil Berry, formerly Nike's Director of Footwear Sustainability, all hail from Portland or thereabouts.

No one single highlight of the evening, but there was a surprising and refreshing diversity of views on hand about how to best incorporate green methodologies into modern design problems, many of which would not have been obvious just a few years back.