Denver Earthworks Expo This Weekend

EarthWorks Expo is Saturday and Sunday at the Merchandise Mart with some good workshops.

Three Upcoming Sustainable Communities in Denver

All have yet to officially break ground but should be completed in the next 2-4 years. It will be interesting to compare the 3 very different sized projects to see to what degree of sustainability has been achieved.

Geos - Arvada: 25 acres, 300 homes
Opening of Pre-sale Release June 2, 2008.
Geos - Colorado's First GeoSolar Neighborhood : Green Elevations
"Over 300 sunny Colorado days per year and a constant temperature of the Earth at five to seven feet below ground level are the power sources of Geos, the first fossil fuel free community in the United States."

Horizon Uptown (City Centre) - Aurora: 503 acres, 3,800 homes , 1.3 million sq ft retail (1/3 small format, 2/3 large) and 4 million sq ft office (16,000 people)
Lend Lease Project
Green Development Planned for Aurora : Denver Post
"All commercial buildings in the project must meet the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold standard. Homes will be built to either Colorado Built Green standards or those established by the U.S. Green Building Council."

Lowry Range - Lowry: 4,000 acres, 13,000 homes, 260 acres commercial and 750 acres open space
Lend Lease Project
Solar Power may come to Lowry Range : Rebchook's Blog
"The Lowry Range, the largest mixed-use development on the drawing board in the Denver area, could become the first, large-scale Colorado community to use solar as a power source."

Vestas To Build Largest Wind Turbine Tower Factory in Colorado

Back in early March, Danish wind energy leader, Vestas Wind Systems quietly opened their first US based wind-blade manufacturing facility in Windsor, Colorado. According to their 2008 first quarter financial report, they plan on locating another facility in Colorado, this time it will be the largest wind turbine tower assembly plant. The $245 million (USD) facility, which is to be fully operational in mid-2010, will be able to produce 900 towers annually. The location has yet to be determined, but Windsor, Loveland and Pueblo are the three locations in the running. A very positive job development for Coloradoans, thanks to Governor Ritter's efforts in attracting alternative/clean energy companies to Colorado.

Thanks to A View of the Rockies for bringing this to my attention. Also a recent article at TreeHugger , the Denver Post, and The Coloradoan. Photo credit: Vestas Website

Photovoltaics, Wind Turbines and Art Infuse Colorado Development at Belmar

From the AIArchitect This Week newsletter this past week, an article about the recent Belmar development project":

"Developer Continuum Partners decided instead to reduce their impact by recycling most of the content of the former Villa Italia Mall on the site and incorporating an array of sustainable strategies, including a 1.7 Mw solar array and a small-scale urban wind farm." On the parking lot lampposts! great idea. "To reduce the ecological strain that results from the development’s annual energy use, Belmar is currently in the process of installing an array of 8,370 photovoltaic panels. The panels will be installed on three parking garages, including the natural foods store, and will measure 125,000 square feet total."

Also, check out the Laboratory of Art and Ideas at Belmar, "part museum, part public forum". They will reopen on May 22 for a new exhibit called "Silent Films and Bedroom Paintings". Lakewood is getting hot! Another great video from Charles Carpenter below.


The LAB, belmar from Charles R. Carpenter on Vimeo

Geos - Colorado's First GeoSolar Neighborhood

"Geos is an innovative master planned community that emphasizes the importance of neighborhood and utilizes technologies that are right for our time. It is Colorado’s first sustainable, integrated community where energy from the Earth and the Sun replaces all fossil fuels." ( from their website) In Arvada, Colorado, close to Golden and Denver, the location is next to the West Woods Golf Club and borders on the Ralston Creek Trail which is part of the Denver Regional Bike Trail System. The development is going to be arranged in four sections and will provide different housing options, as well as access to common areas, parks, plazas, businesses and playgrounds , the four Geos neighborhoods will connect a diversity of people and lifestyles.

Eco Features - Solar and Geothermal from their website: "Over 300 sunny Colorado days per year and a constant temperature of the Earth at five to seven feet below ground level are the power sources of Geos, the first fossil fuel free community in the United States. Homes that incorporate passive solar, super insulated building shells, high thermal mass and mobile window insulation provide for optimal solar energy gain and retention. A heat recovery ventilation system provides clean and filtered fresh air and conserves internally generated heat. On hot summer days, an Earth tube chills incoming air to 60°F to cool the home. A district ground source heat pump, which also serves as a back-up heat source for extended cold spells, provides domestic hot water.

The entire climate conditioning system and all household electrical equipment are powered by a photovoltaic system tied to the utility grid for net metering. Excess power generation, particularly on hot summer days, is delivered to the grid for storage and to compensate for nights or cloudy daytime needs when electricity is drawn from the grid. Space conditions are thermostat controlled and an energy monitoring system keeps Geos homeowners informed of their specific energy uses. This technology has been used in Europe for many years and is proven, simple and low maintenance. Be part of the first community in Colorado to live a life free of fossil fuels." Also see the Denver Post's Geothermal article for more information about this technology.

The project was developed by Norbert Klebl and Zen Development and the architecture was designed by Michael Tavel Architects and David Kahn Studio.

The master plan has been approved and in May of 2008 the infrastructure construction will begin, which will include the roads, sewers, and utilities. The public opening of the pre-sale release occurred last week on Earth Day, April 22, and the those who sign up will have access to the June 2 pre-sale release.

The crew from Yert.com visited with some of the key members of this project last November and this video gives good insight to the current nature of sustainable design in Colorado.

Also a recent article from the Boulder County Business Report.

Using Solar Panels as a Material Design Element Pugh + Scarpa - Colorado Court

From a few years back, found this video about the first Gold LEED Certified Multi Family Residence. More info at Pugh + Scarpa.

Denver Designated A New Solar American City

array in Denver via Sunflower Solar

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has selected 12 new Solar America Cities, bringing the number from 13 to 25 in total, and moving along the $2.4 million initiative to provide up to $200,000 per city to build solid solar infrastructures. The announcement came at the New Frontiers in Energy Summit 2008 in Denver, Colorado, which is among the 2008 Solar America Initiative (SAI) cities. The overall program goals are to facilitate adoption of solar technology by individuals and businesses and to make solar electricity from photovoltaics a cost-competitive energy choice by 2015.

via Inhabitat