Rocky Mountain Green 2010 Speakers
Presenters | Brad Tomecek and
Christopher Herr
Session Title | Designing with Alternative Building Systems : Eco-Panels, Shipping Containers
Session Description:
The Alternative Building Systems lecture explores the relationship of Studio H:T's design philosophies with interests in unconventional building materials and construction processes. These systems are then overlaid with explorations of project specific green design strategies. The projects includes: a factory built, LEED certified, urban infill single family home an off the grid, wood burning, green roofed shipping container house an imported German eco-panel residence targeting LEED Platinum and a 39,000 square foot, factory built, multifamily townhome project targeting LEED Silver At the heart of the work lies the principle that design is an imperative - we must create with intent in order to avoid the poor results of creation by accident. The translation of idea into architecture and energy efficiency is an area of constant fascination for us. The possibilities that come from advances in software technology, and the consequent direct links to hardware, hold the promise of a new way of making. We are in the midst of an unfolding set of events that drive our passion for the work.
Presenter |
Bill Black
Session Title |
Mindshift
Session Description:
This program studies the construction delivery models, complex relationships and behaviours that prevail in our industry and looks in depth at the relationships between new collaborative delivery models for commercial real estate that leverage BIM, IPD and Lean principles in delivering superior, more sustainable results.Beyond the project context of this dialogue there are new strategies that provide opportunities for firms that are evolving, growing, changing and even re imagining themselves to meet a future of new challenges and pressures that demand fresh approaches to the business and profession of Architecture. Bill is a co-author of the book “The Commercial Real Estate Revolution” and a founding member of the group Mindshift which won the Corenet Global Innovators award at the Vegas summit in October 2009. This session will look at the findings of this group and present a dialogue as to the state of the current conventional model and the need for more effective delivery methods and cost saving efficiencies that allow the industry to perform in a more effective manner that dramatically alters the quality and sustainable nature of the results for all on a triple bottom line basis.
Presenter |
Conor Merrigan
Session Title |
Leading by Example: The GEO’s High Performance Building Program
Session Description:
Conor Merrigan is the Commercial Buildings Program Manager at the Colorado Governor’s Energy Office. He has a background in sustainability consulting, especially at the neighborhood development scale. He has managed and worked on projects in most LEED rating systems and has been an active part in Colorado’s green building community for many years. Prior to coming to GEO, Conor’s experience has ranged from working at YRG Sustainability as a consultant, city planning, affordable housing development, and strawbale home construction . He has master’s degrees from CU-Denver in Urban Planning and Urban Design and an undergraduate degree in Environmental Science from Oregon State University.
Presenters | Tom Hootman and
Sarah Rege
Session Title |
Design for One Earth
Session Description:
This highly visual presentation will explore a sustainable design framework that expands on the triple bottom line of environmental, economic and social priorities by identifying twelve design values and measures that define sustainable lifestyles and built environments at all scales with the goal of designing within the limits of one earth. After all, one earth is the ultimate sustainable design metric. The framework encourages holistic design and innovation through the application of systems thinking and a global perspective. The framework also emphasizes that the core of sustainability is about creating an enduring and abundant future and uses future-casting as a technique for positioning projects and clients for prosperous and resilient futures that are designed for one earth. This is a great big picture level presentation designed to inspire and elevate our collective thinking.
Presenter |
Victor Olgyay
Session Title |
Understanding a method for evaluating a building’s life cycle carbon footprint
Session Description:
A worldview is emerging that shows nature as the limiting factor to economic growth. Tools need to be used to help designers of the built environment remain within this ecological constraint, which, in the case of carbon emissions, is necessarily moving design toward carbon neutrality. Designers must integrally consider operational emissions, embodied emissions of construction, emissions from the permanent change in amount of on-site vegetation, and other sources. These emissions sources (which have seen varying degrees of interest among designers) can be presented over several years of the building lifetime to provide a comprehensive view of the carbon footprint in an understandable way. RMI’s new Green Footstep (a free online tool) is now available for this purpose. Green Footstep provides a more comprehensive view of a buildings carbon footprint, and its interface shows in real time the sensitivity of life cycle carbon emissions to variable design targets such as building energy use intensity, building size, on-site renewable energy, on-site native vegetation, and percent reduction in embodied emissions of construction. Carbon offsets and clean power purchasing can also be taken into account. Green Footstep is an interactive tool that informs design decisions in the context of an ecologically constrained
Presenter | Victor Olgyay
Session Title |
Using systems thinking to unlock the potential of existing buildings to add
Session Description:
The existing built environment uses a tremendous amount of fossil fuel and contributes significantly to climate change. Because buildings are generally inefficient in their use of energy, they represent a great opportunity to address climate change through comprehensive retrofitting to reduce operational energy use. When energy use in buildings is analyzed by individual component, cost effective measures are obtained and diminishing financial returns limit energy reductions. This can result in less savings than potentially available, and reduce the attractiveness of further energy savings. An alternative approach is to evaluate integrated packages of building systems, so efficiencies in one area are captured in supporting systems, providing the opportunity for further efficiencies cascading into larger energy and financial savings. This results in the most comprehensive, deepest and cost effective energy retrofits. This systems approach to building retrofit is shown in application to several real projects, including the Empire State Building and the Deutsch Bank HQ. Tools used to maximize net present value and carbon savings are described in the context of the modeling methodology.
Presenter |
Jim Bradburn and Alexander Thome
Session Title |
The Integrated Design Process and The Emerging Future of Design Delivery
Session Description:
As the A/E/C community increasingly understands how building systems working together produce better, more sustainable solutions, the collaborative paradigm must shift to accommodate a new approach. The Integrated Design Process (IDP) provides a solution for this shift. IDP offers a new model for collaboration that brings all parties to the table early in design development to ensure that all major components of the building are considered and designed as a totality. This has the potential to dramatically affect the quality of sustainable efforts as building systems from all disciplines are considered simultaneously. Mechanical and electrical systems that enhance the effectiveness of the building envelope; planning decisions that ultimately effect glazing choices; structural elements that can be used to store energy — these are the sorts of relationships that can be maximized through IDP. While it is possible to achieve green design without using IDP, costs can be reduced and building performance can be improved by full and open collaboration.
Presenter |
Annette Stelmack
Session Title |
Greennovate Your Residential Remodeling Projects
Session Description:
The demand for green remodeling and retrofit projects is getting ready to explode. While much of the green homes fanfare of the past few years has focused on new construction, there is a growing interest in making existing homes more energy efficient, comfortable, healthy, safe and environmentally responsible. Join Daniele Loffreda and Annette Stelmack for an engaging, interactive and informative session focusing on green residential remodeling strategies, case studies and guidelines. Learn how to improve the environmental impacts of your remodeling projects by reducing energy, water and materials consumption and eliminating hazardous materials.
Presenter |
Gregg Adams and
Todd Givler
Session Title |
Increasing Reduction: The Light Pollution Reduction Credit
Session Description:
Widely considered one of the “easy” credits, Light Pollution Reduction is the second most rejected credit. Achieving this credit is often impacted by seemingly unrelated site design issues such as site selection, stormwater drainage, interior lighting, daylighting features, building glazing, bioswales and other landscape features. Successful coordination between the design disciplines can result in achieving this credit without an associated cost premium to the project. This session will explore these and other site design issues that impact awarding of the Light Pollution Reduction credit.
Presenter |
Rick Rome
Session Title |
Paths to Sustainability in Healthcare
Session Description:
A case study comparing three of ccrd Partners large Children’s hospitals and their differing approaches to achieving sustainability. - Dell Children’s which became LEED Platinum by taking sustainability to the community - Birmingham Children’s had the community bring sustainability to them by having donations earmarked specifically to be used for achieving LEED certification. - Phoenix Children’s which did not have the funds to achieve LEED certification but still did a sustainable hospital by achieving items that showed energy paybacks and other items to achieve a healthy environment. We’ll present several key sustainability points in our hospital case studies. The associated benefits and economic payback will be provided.
Presenter |
Renee Azerbegi
Session Title |
Carbon Neutral Buildings in Colorado
Session Description:
In order to meet Colorado's Climate Action Plan and reduce our carbon footprint by 20% by 2020 compared with a 2005 baseline energy usage, all of our new buildings should ideally have zero carbon impact. . This session will provides insight into carbon neutral and carbon positive buildings being designed and constructed in the state of Colorado with a focus on commercial buildings. It will discuss how we are currently doing with our climate goals, where we need to be, and how we might get there. It will define all the options for the definition of zero energy. It also will provide valuable tools and resources for starting the path of designing to net zero. There are only a handful of commercial buildings that we know of pursuing carbon positive or carbon neutral today in Colorado. This presentation will provide an in-depth look at what technologies and strategies are being used, what energy targets and energy savings are anticipated, and how the various project teams are planning on measuring and verifying performance. Although Ambient Energy is only working on one to three of these of these project case studies, we will still provide detailed information on all the commercial applications. We anticipate there will be 5 to 8 case studies with two to four slides per case study. We anticipate the rest of the slides to be on process. We hope that this presentation will encourage others to design carbon neutral buildings.
Presenter |
Elizabeth J. Constantineau and
Ian Doebber
Session Title |
Net Zero Energy Building Design: Fire Station Design
Session Description:
A Net-Zero-Energy Fire Station for the community of Nazlini, Arizona has been designed in partnership with BIA, NREL, and WHPacific. A net-zero-energy building is one that, on an annual basis, uses no more energy from the utility grid than is provided by on-site renewable energy sources. A photovoltaic grid-tie system with electric utility net metering was identified as the renewable energy source. The system does not use battery backup, therefore no additional space, containment and ventilation is required. Natural gas is available at the site and will provide a minimal amount of radiant heating in the apparatus room, supplemented by passive heating through clerestory windows. The office area is served by a high efficiency split system. Occupancy sensors for building lights provide additional energy savings. The building envelope and roof system have an insulation value of R=35.7, while the windows have a value of R=10. A cold storage design concept, in which the building is sealed from both the inside and outside, minimizes energy loss. System Commissioning will be conducted during construction of the fire station. A weather station will be provided to monitor ambient conditions as well as to verify the energy efficiency of the building and energy usage.
Presenter |
Ryan E. Warren
Session Title |
The Legal Risks of Green Building (or, "I thought I just needed to put in
Session Description:
This presentation is designed to educate building professionals about the legal risks and pitfalls of green building, especially with respect to their marketing and their contracts. The presentation will discuss what to include and, importantly, what not to include in marketing materials including brochures and websites. It will also discuss specific issues that building professionals should make certain their attorneys at least analyze with respect to their contracts with not only clients, but also subcontractors or sub-subcontractors.
Presenter |
Mark Casey
Session Title |
Applying the Triple Bottom Line to Commercial Real Estate
Session Description:
People from all walks of life are recognizing that good business requires healthy, functional communities and vibrant ecosystems. For those interested in sustainability, a term that is making its way into business lexicon is “TripleBottomLine.” This expression was coined by John Elkington, co-founder of the business consultancy SustainAbility. As this term, “TripleBottomLine”, suggests there are three measure of success: economic prosperity, social fairness, and environmental health. Those of us who work in the green building have much to learn by other outside of our industry. For example, Gary Hirshberg, CEO of Stonyfield Farm Yogurt says the TripleBottomLine is imbedded in everything they do at Stonyfield. He gave the example of a project they embraced to reduce waste generated from yogurt containers. The tradition plastic container tops with a thin film. As Hirshberg described it, the change not only dramatically reduced waste that was heading toward landfills, but instantly saved Stoneyfield millions of dollars per year. Green building practitioners, as shapers of the built-environment has a unique opportunity to implement 3BL. If we embrace this challenge, the question becomes how can this model for sustainability be applied to real estate development and investing? The TripleBottomLine suggests three lenses through which to view financial success or failure.
This talk addresses the unified application of these three values.
Presenter | Mike Lowell
Session Title |
Implications of the Energy Independence & Security Act of 2007 and Executive
Session Description:
An overview of the 2007 Energy Bill and the recent Presidential Executive Order 13514 "Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance. Will detail the components of each piece document that affect the building industry. Will also share how the federal government is complying with these sustainability mandates and what is expected from the private contracting sector. It should be noted that if Congress passes a new Energy Bill subsequent to this application and yet prior to Rocky Mountain Green 2010, it would be prudent to update this presentation to include the latest Energy Bill.
Presenter |
Kelly Crandall
Session Title |
How AHRI v. Albuquerque Puts Municipal Green Building Programs at Risk
Session Description:
As increasing numbers of municipalities adopt mandatory green building programs that apply to private construction, the risk of legal challenges from affected parties grows. Green building mandates create numerous potential legal conflicts, among them antitrust and regulatory takings problems. However, the first challenge to a municipal green building code occurred under the preemption doctrine. In 2008, a coalition of HVAC industry representatives sued the City of Albuquerque, alleging that its newly adopted energy code was preempted by federal energy efficiency standards. Although the case has not yet been appealed, the district court judge--who granted an injunction against enforcement of the code--used sweeping language that implicated a range of local government efforts to promote sustainability. This session will break down the case and its ramifications for local governments that attempt to compel private developers to meet LEED, Green Globes, and similar standards. (I would like to invite a Denver attorney who worked on the case, but this is not yet confirmed.
Presenter |
Kathleen Seeyle,
Michele Peterson, and
Mohit Mehta
Session Title |
Lunch Ladies and LEED: Dining Facilities in Sustainable Design – A Case Study
Session Description:
Dining facilities demand excessive energy, are water intensive and produce much waste, complicating design, construction and operational program requirements when creating a sustainable building. At Fort Lewis College in Durango, the students, operators, administrators and design team have envisioned a new student union to be built in late 2010 that includes a foodservice facility which is energy-efficient, cost effective and environmentally responsible. Key members of the design team will discuss how challenges with energy modeling and promoting energy and water efficiency were overcome, including new technology for lessening ventilation energy needs and innovative design for plug load reduction that incorporates form, function and operations. Obstacles faced during LEED certification will also be addressed; most notable are inventive strategies for reducing the large amount of process water required for dining facilities. A representative from the college will discuss the benefits that the new student union will bring to the campus, as well as how sustainability has interconnected dining services, the student body and the local community. Local and sustainable food procurement practices will also be a topic of discussion, along with student involvement in composting and waste reduction; both aspects essential to design integration.
Presenter |
Christian Williss,
Scott Morrissey, and
Paul Sobiech
Session Title |
The Opportunities and Challenges of Municipal Green Building
Session Description:
Like many municipalities, the City and County of Denver has embraced green building techniques to increase energy efficiency, to save resources, to reduce the environmental impacts of demolition, construction and operation of buildings, and to create healthy, productive workplaces for employees and visitors. City projects ranging from the remodeling of existing libraries to the construction of a new a state-of-the-art crime lab have come under its new green building umbrella. Sustainable design and construction has further fueled the continuous improvement of day-to-day operations. This session will cover the opportunities and challenges faced by Denver in rolling out its approach from a municipal perspective. Policy development, education, training, and technical assistance to project teams will be discussed as well as how efforts are planned, monitored, evaluated, and reported out.
Presenter |
Homer Robinson,
Robert J. Straka, and
Greg Hawrylyshyn
Session Title |
Gardens in the Desert: A LEED-H Multifamily Pilot Case History
Session Description:
A collaboration of the Jonathan Rose Companies and the Supportive Housing Coalition of NM, Silver Gardens is the first affordable tax credit housing project in the Southwest designed to achieve a Gold certification in the LEED-H Multifamily Pilot, as well as the first affordable housing project in the Americas to sell its carbon offsets. Located on a brownfield across the street from Albuquerque's Alvarado Transportation Center - hub of all local and regional train and bus lines - Silver Gardens is a key element in rejuvenating Albuquerque's downtown, and a model of public-private infill development partnership. From its innovative structural fill solution (which saved over 1300 gallons of diesel fuel and avoided over 5200 cubic yards of material from the landfill) to its 5000 gallon rainwater-harvesting roof design, Silver Gardens has maximized its potential to model responsible green building techniques in a high desert, urban environment for an affordable residential product. Housing tenants from market rate to transitioning from homelessness, Silver Gardens illustrates what can occur when a green for-profit developer, non-profit social service provider, and urban-redevelopment-focused city government team up. We will discuss the economic and building science challenges to building a project in this Pilot Program, ranging from creative green-specific financing strategies to thermal bypass challenges to energy modeling hurdles to educating tenants and building staff.
Presenter |
Michael Tavel,
David Kahn ASLA, and
Adam Stenftenagel
Session Title |
The planning of Geos
Session Description:
Geos, breaking ground in the winter or spring of 2010 in Arvada, Colorado, is project to be America's largest net-zero energy urban mixed-use neighborhood. The design has won seven design awards including a national honor award from the American Society of Landscape Architects. This session will review the planning of Geos including: Solar Urbanism Research; entitlements and public process; stormwater management integrated with civic space; passive house building systems; energy modelling and mechanical system design; strategies for affordability; integrated agriculture; and planning for public stewardship.
Presenter |
Terry Autry
Session Title |
Designing a World Leader in Data Center Energy Efficiency
Session Description:
Through an alliance between the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, the University of Wyoming, the National Science Foundation, and other partners, one of the worlds most innovative and energy efficient supercomputing data centers is being designed for a site in Cheyenne, Wyoming. This groundbreaking facility will house some of the worlds fastest supercomputers tasked with providing the university and teaching communities with computational resources for advancing the sciences of atmospheric chemistry, climate, storms, and cloud physics. To meet the aggressive goals of building a world-class scientific supercomputing facility that does not compromise on energy efficiency or sustainability, the project development team has pushed the boundaries of conventional data center design to new and unprecedented energy use lows. The team designed a cooling system based on adiabatic (evaporative) processes for cooling the liquid-cooled computers which significantly reduced energy loads. Heat recovery was employed to reuse the computer heat in other portions of the building. This "deep green" approach will result in the NWSC facility having a power utilization effectiveness (PUE) rating, an industry standard for measuring datacenter energy consumption, in the top 1% of energy efficient data centers in the world.
Presenter |
Clayton Bartczak and
Brian Dunbar
Session Title |
Living Walls in the Built Environment
Session Description:
This presentation will provide participants with an understanding of how decisions have been made regarding the installation of living walls in numerous US and Canadian buildings. The presentation will describe a qualitative research study that consisted of interviews with sixteen people who installed living walls in their buildings. The presentation will also summarize the positive psychological and physical health impacts that plants and living walls can have on building occupants and will explore the current status of living walls by examining several existing living wall installations. Analysis of the data showed that the perceived benefits of living walls were more important to respondents than the economic factors and that living walls’ contribution to building aesthetics was the most important factor overall. Additionally, the fact that living walls are a relatively uncommon technology proved to be a key decision making factor to many respondents. The data also showed that living walls can create unique indoor spaces that are frequently used as event centers. The information gathered also implies that living walls are more feasible for new construction projects than renovations.
Presenter |
Holli Baumunk
Session Title |
Sustainable Practices...It makes good business sense
Session Description:
The Colorado Energy Coalition (CEC) is a consortium of clean tech and traditional energy companies, utilities, and research institutions dedicated to growing Colorado's Balanced Energy Economy. The CEC's Sustainability Committee is developing a regional approach to educating all business that implementing sustainable business practices in not only the right thing to do but it makes good business sense. This business panel will highlight four businesses that exemplify best practices in sustainability, briefing the audience on how they developed a plan, the amount invested, the energy savings, and the the amount of time it took to recoop costs and the ROI. Suggested speakers would include include: XCEL's new platinum office building, Amgen's sustainable best practices, Well's Fargo's new sustainability program and/or the Denver Zoo's Biomass Gasification Project in conjunction with NREL.
Presenter |
Jennifer E. Cross and
Farah McDill
Session Title |
Creating a Sustainable Organization and Built Environment: Part 3 of 3- Tea
Session Description:
How can we use buildings to teach sustainability? How can we make newly designed green schools and older buildings alike more energy efficient through mindful behaviors? The Poudre School District in northern Colorado is a nationally recognized leader in energy conservation and green design, this session with explore diverse ways that users of new and old buildings focus their attention on energy conservation in order to attain yearly reductions in energy use. This session will present and discuss two case studies: a newly designed green school and a public high school built in the 1970s. Within the green school, students learn sustainable practices through examining: architectural design elements, the mechanical and lighting systems, material use, site use and landscaping, water use, and recycling. After mastering this information, elementary students provide technical tours of the building to community members, including graduate students from Colorado State University. At Rocky Mountain High School, a concerted energy conservation effort at the school—supported by the district facilities and operations staff and other community partners—resulted in a 50% reduction in electricity use. This reduction has made it the most energy efficient school—even more efficient than the first LEED Silver School—in the district.
Presenter |
Curt D. Parker
Session Title |
Low Impact Development-A Sustainable Approach to Drainage Design
Session Description:
Curt Parker’s presentation on Low Impact Design (LID) offers audiences a concise summary of the advantages realized when incorporating LID into the overall design of any development. Created for audiences of various experience levels, with regard to construction and development, the presentation highlights the conceptual basis of LID. It also explains different design options and the environmental and economic advantages of developers and municipalities who incorporate LID into the development process. Curt’s overriding message is that developers and builders should treat storm water as a resource, not a nuisance. Through a design that mimics natural hydrology, a developer can address water quality issues as well as create a more natural and appealing landscape that eliminates unattractive concrete lined channels and culverts. Surface runoff is mitigated in a visually appealing way, and pollution damage to lakes, streams and coastal waters is reduced.
Presenter |
Josie Plaut and
April Wackerman
Session Title |
A Team We Can Live With: Using LENSES to Build an Inspired Project Team
Session Description:
Forming a project team capable of producing transformative ideas and results is an essential step in building living, locally-appropriate built environments. People with diverse interests, concerns, and areas of expertise must be included in the process of development in order to reach high goals of regenerative design. This session focuses on developing a diverse and integrated team using a process and metrics guide called LENSES (Living Environments in Natural, Social, and Economic Systems). With LENSES, project teams are encouraged to look at each element of a project design from several vantage points, and to explicitly address elements that are often missing in other green building tools, such as social equity, financing, education and local economies. In this interactive session, participants will first be provided with an overview of LENSES, and then will be challenged to use LENSES to assemble an inspired project team for a specific example project that has high sustainability goals and unique challenges in reaching them. The focus will be on re-valuing “process” and re-valuing “team” for the purpose of developing living communities.
Presenter |
Phillip Saieg
Session Title |
LEED EB Recertification, going from gold to platinum: a case study
Session Description:
As the first historic building in the world to receive two LEED certifications (EB Gold, CI Silver), the Alliance for Sustainable Colorado’s Alliance Center is a model of sustainability and collaboration at work. Housing 30 nonprofit tenants all focused on sustainability, including the USGBC’s Colorado Chapter, this 100-year old building offered interesting challenges to gain its original LEED status in 2005. Now, five years later, we have launched an exciting new project to take sustainable historic renovation to the next generation. The Alliance Center will be recertifying its LEED status for its 2011 deadline. The Alliance is seizing this challenge as an opportunity to go further and raise the bar in determining what’s economically viable and compelling in “Historic Green.” As we seek to upgrade from LEED EB Gold to LEED EB Platinum, we will be working collaboratively with key players in business, nonprofit, government and education to take a step back and truly examine what’s possible during the recertification process, especially as it applies to historic buildings. We are exploring how we can get to Net Zero energy usage and carbon neutrality with a viable return on investment and how we can capture the process to ensure this is replicable by others? In this presentation we will examine the research completed to date on the project, the nuts and bolts, the challenges and the opportunities of this highly collaborative effort.
Presenter |
Ed Bush
Session Title |
LEED Certification: How much does it cost?
Session Description:
Calculating the expense or savings associated with LEED certified construction can be daunting. This presentation will demonstrate how to use life cycle cost analysis to calculate the present value cost or savings associated with individual LEED credits and determine break-even points. Earning LEED Sustainable Sites Credit 7.1: Heat Island Effect – Nonroof through the use of concrete pavement will be used to illustrate this process.
Presenter |
Matthew Higgins
Session Title |
Integrated Energy Design Toward Net Zero Buildings
Session Description:
This session will logically challenge the way energy efficient buildings are currently designed and engineered, suggesting that greater interdisciplinary design studies will further reveal energy reduction potentials. Using simulation and heat-transfer as common-ground for understanding energy design, cause-and-affect building processes will be unveiled and scrutinized to formulate optimal designs. The session will enable attendees to improve their ability to recognize what is essential to building performance and occupant comfort. Further, attendees will be able to understand how to communicate, execute, and verify net-zero energy designs in order to reduce the affects of non-renewable energy consumption. The session further addresses methods to effectively reduce building energy consumption through conscientious design decisions; thinking beyond rating systems and points to materialize an architecture that will be energy efficient into the future. This shift requires a more scientific approach to energy reduction while focusing on the strengths in the existing energy design processes. The process described in this session is generalized as: initially optimizing demand-side load reduction measures based on heat-transfer surface areas, internal loads, diurnal swings, and various baseline metrics; then maximizing practical and effective passive design strategies that are annually beneficial; and lastly turning to energy efficient equipment and renewable energy systems.
Presenter |
Lisa Stanley
Session Title |
LEED for Exsiting Buildings Portfolio Certification – How can your company
Session Description:
This presentation will address how companies are successfully implementing sustainable operations in order to achieve volume LEED EB certification across multiple buildings. Ms. Stanley, an industry expert, will address the successes, challenges, and opportunities related to this dynamic process. Hear how the various companies have chosen to address the human capital component of implementing sustainable operations across a portfolio. Should you hire and train in-house staff to successfully implement or retain an external consultant to develop and roll out a program? What technology is available to support this process? Do you simply use LEED On-line for each building, or do you need to develop an in-house technology pre approved by the USGBC? Learn about the USGBC Volume Certification Pilot Program. How successful has the pilot been – what is the next step? What is the review process? How does the USGBC ensure that a full level of rigor and quality is upheld? How about recertification plans? The speaker will draw on the tension and variety between the different approaches to rolling out and embracing the volume approach to LEED EB certification. The speaker has personally worked with two clients in the pilot program, and has a great working relationship with two others. Stories regarding all four clients will be shared with the audience. The pros and cons of each method of implementation explored for the audience to learn from.
Presenter |
Walker Christensen and Katie Nelson
Session Title |
Western Progress: Can we move forward while protecting the past?
Session Description:
How do small, historic towns throughout the West incorporate the latest techniques and technologies for improving infrastructure without losing their authentic flavor? When the economy in these towns is based on tourism instead of mining, agriculture or industry, then the historic attractions of the town are guarded with fervor. The passion involved with protecting these historic resources is appropriate because too many beautiful buildings and public spaces have been demolished in the name of progress. Should we allow a governing board to tell an owner of a historic building that they can’t install solar panels because they disrupt the aesthetic of the original roofline? Is the physical history created 100 years ago more important than the history we are creating today? Is it more important to preserve buildings or streetscape the way it was originally created or preserve our natural resources for future generations? These are issues that will be explored in our presentation of case studies (built and planned) throughout Western Colorado. We are in the middle of writing our own history and these decisions will have an impact on the sustainability of the character, economy and ecology of these towns.
Presenter |
Julie Sieving, Pete Hall,
and Jennifer Orgolini
Session Title |
Sustainability Management Systems
Session Description:
Three school districts in Colorado are among the first schools in the nation to prepare sustainability management systems (SMSs)- innovative projects that integrate all school district green initiatives - from LEED construction to food services - into one model for advancing sustainability in facility operations. Other Colorado companies such as beverage industry sustainability leader New Belgium Brewing as well as local governments have also developed their own SMSs. Sustainability management systems are helping organizations of all kinds improve energy efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promote green building, engage staff in sustainability, and strive for continuous improvement in operational efficiencies. We propose a panel discussion on sustainability management systems (SMSs) that will include what they are, what topics they address, how the process works, and how organizations can benefit from them as a tool to integrate all of their green initiatives under one unified mission. Along with a general introduction to SMSs, panelists will present two specific case studies – one from a Colorado school district and one from a private company – to provide applied examples of the tremendous benefits of SMSs for a variety of organizations.
Presenter |
Jeff Lakey
Session Title |
Ecology of Landscapes: Influences on Site Design
Session Description:
This session is intended to introduce the patch-corridor-matrix model of landscape ecology and its essential components as a useful strategy for urban and site design aimed at optimizing ecological integrity. Landscape ecology is the study of the forms of, and interactions between, physical, chemical, and biological elements of the earth’s surface at a variety of spatial scales, and how they change through time. Its principles serve planners, designers, and managers and and help resolve pressing issues in conservation, planning, design, development, and management of land.
Presenter |
Mark Broyles and
Paul Hutton
Session Title |
Regionalism and you
Session Description:
Regionalism in architecture is about the design balance between precious and abundant resources and their direct influences on the adaptations of human society. The resources found in our region once shaped the life we were going to live. Now we have the ability to construct almost any type of building in any type of climate. This suggests a number of questions including how to better account for the regional and historical influences on building location and form, how we define ‘regional’ materials and how we analyze their true value. Regionalism should begin with the building program… Which manifests itself in unique building form… And that form is also influenced by the resources available to realize it…. Thus, how the building interacts with those resources that connect it with its environment and enable it to be sustainable. Perhaps the goal, regionally, could be to innovate using this broad base in conjunction with regional materials as regional priority credits? The achievement may be the creation of a new landscape which affects everything from the economy to urban planning to shipping patterns to air-conditioning habits. ‘A building made out of regional materials is not the same as a regionalist building!’
Presenter |
Ben Stanley
Session Title |
A World Beyond LEED NC: Moving from Metrics of Intent to Metrics of Perform
Session Description:
Do the occupants of your LEED NC certified building actually recycle? Does the building meet its energy use reduction targets? Do the occupants actually know how to use the building as intended? These are the types of questions that industry is asking of LEED projects today. LEED for New Construction has been a powerful tool that has helped transform the modern green building movement. However, as the number of LEED certified buildings grows, we find that design and construction is not enough to ensure that sustainability goals identified during the design of a building are achieved during operations. Without thoughtful design and construction we couldn’t have green buildings, but it is equally true that actual performance of buildings is more important than its best intentions. This session will explore best practices for bridging the gap between design & construction and building operations. The presenters will draw from lessons learned on recently certified and now operating LEED projects and extensive experience with the EB:OM rating system. These lessons learned will help bring to light measures that can be taken during the design and delivery of a building to ensure that its performance meets the design intent.
Presenter |
Steve Zanolini and
Paul McCown
Session Title |
The Greening of Caterpillar Financial
Session Description:
In April of 2009, the Caterpillar Financial center in Nashville was awarded LEED EB Gold from the U.S.G.B.C. Achieving the certification made the CAT Financial Center the first building in the Caterpillar family and the first privately owned, commercial building in Tennessee to become LEED-EB certified. But what is most interesting about this story is how the company, and in particular Steve Zanolini, Global Facility Manager for Caterpillar Financial, converted the metaphor of “green” in the novice sense of the word, to “green” an environmental steward and advocate of sustainability, high performance, and healthy workspaces. Highlights of the CAT Financial Center’s green features include: • Restructured building operation and maintenance practices • Reduced consumption of electricity by over 20%, water by 22% and reduced solid waste by 49% • Initiated a recycling and composting program • Formed a sustainability committee to sustain progress • Retro-Commissioning • Continuous Commissioning™ Accompanying Steve is Paul McCown, PE, CEM, CxA, Manager for the Sustainable Solutions Group of SSRCx, the firm who guided CAT through the certification process.
Presenter |
Clay Benson
Session Title |
Building a Successful Process Map to LEED Platinum
Session Description:
Our interactive session will be presented in a “Lessons Learned” format identifying 10 bullet points that will help create a successful process map for LEED Platinum building design and construction. Mortenson constructed the LEED Platinum Certified National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Science and Technology Facility in Golden, Colorado and is currently constructing the first LEED Platinum Certified (pending) High Rise Office Building in Denver. Lessons Learned from both projects will be presented to help attendees quickly create successful process maps for their own projects. Presented from a Contractor’s perspective, the presentation will include steps to successfully manage the LEED Platinum certification process along with the various design & construction techniques that may be followed towards the Platinum rating. Some examples of possible focus points are: -Clearly stated LEED requirements in the contract documents -Complete understanding of LEED requirements from ALL project team members -Designate a LEED strategy champion throughout the design and construction -Performing monthly audits during construction phase of LEED points obtained During our presentation we plan on utilizing the TurningPoint audience response system to better engage our audience and provide them with more interaction with us and our presentation. This session should provide much needed advice on achieving LEED Platinum design and construction solutions in a fun and engaging format.
