February/March 2008

Regional Roundup

Northern Colorado a Hub of Sustainable Activity

VESTAS WINDSOR OPERATIONS

Vestas is the leading supplier of wind power technology in the world and a driving force behind the development of the wind power industry. Vestas’ core business comprises the development, manufacture, sale, marketing and maintenance of wind power systems that use wind energy to generate electricity.

Danish Vestas, the world’s largest wind turbine manufacturer, is currently building a blade manufacturing plant in Windsor and will be operational in 2008. Some of the factors that influenced Vestas to consider locating in Northern Colorado are:

• The proximity to NREL's Wind Technology Center for turbine testing.
• Amendment 37, which will require large investments in wind farms in Colorado.
• The State’s central location, making it easy to ship blades anywhere in North America.
• Political support for wind, especially from newly elected Bill Ritter and the democratically controlled state legislature.
• Colorado’s excellent wind resources.

The plant will generate 500 high paying jobes, and will provide proof that advocates of wind energy can point to when promoting the benefits of renewable resources. Jens Soby, Vestas' head of North American operations recently provided the following details on the plant:

$64 million investment by Vestas 75 acre site 200,000 square foot facility Will create 35 white collar and 455 blue-collar jobs 6.8 tons --weight of one wind turbine blad

In describing why he was convinced that Northern Colorado was the ideal location for a Vestas wind turbine blade plant, Mr. Solby pointed out that it's in close proximity to where wind farms are being built; that he is confident that Colorado's politicians are serious about wind energy; the area has access to the right sorts of community colleges to train future employees; and that he had a good feeling as soon as he got off the plane: he felt the wind in his hair.

The total investment in production equipment, land and buildings is expected to amount to approx EUR 45m (approx USD 60m). Construction of the factory will begin in the spring of 2007, with the start of production planned for early 2008. At full production, the plant will have a production capacity of approximately 1,200 blades per year and the factory will employ around 400 people.

Wind energy is one of the fastest growing energy industries in the world. In 2006 alone, the USA has seen an increase of 30% in capacity, reaching nearly 12,000 total installed MW to date. The Vestas Group currently employs around 12,000 people and, in addition to the new plant in the USA, Vestas has production facilities in Australia, China, Denmark, England, Germany, India, Italy, Norway, Scotland, Spain and Sweden. Vestas’ blade factories are located in China, Denmark, England, Germany, Italy and Australia.

Sources: The Tribune – Sherrie Peif, March 15, 2007, Vestas press release via their website – Unnamed, March 20, 2007, Denver Business Journal – Unnamed, Marc

City of Fort Collins Green Building Road Map

All indications are positive:  community stakeholders, City of Fort Collins staff, and survey results gathered from select cities around the United States suggest that Fort Collins has strong green building programs, even exceptional in some cases.  This existing green building foundation is the basis for enhancements and improvements to make green building a cornerstone of construction and renovation in the community. The City is striving to become a coordinated center for advancing green building in the Fort Collins community by increasing general awareness, raising the bar for what is required, helping engaged stakeholders deliver high performance green buildings, and rewarding high performers.  The City also understands the importance of integrating green building programs with what is happening in neighboring communities for a seamless green built environment in northern Colorado.

On the basis of stakeholder input received during project interviews combined with direction from City staff, two distinct definitions of green building emerged.  The first definition applies as a brief and simple definition for public outreach, while the second provides a detailed working definition useful to City staff and green building professionals:

Outreach:  Green building: better buildings for people, prosperity, and the planet.

Detailed:  Green buildings are designed, constructed, and operated to provide maximum benefit to people, prosperity and our planet. Green buildings demonstrate a reduced carbon footprint, energy efficiency, water conservation, waste minimization, resource-efficient materials, pollution prevention, and improved indoor air quality to conserve natural resources and improve environmental quality – both indoors and out. Green building practices extend these concepts to the entire built environment for the life cycle of new and existing buildings, their surrounding sites, and transit interconnections.

These two definitions serve to reach out to the community while offering more substance to those involved on a daily basis in green building in Fort Collins.

The Green Building Road Map will direct the City’s existing successful green building programs from a collection of independent services supported by various City departments to a coordinated program.  The roadmap defines a green building vision for the City and provides specific recommendations for improvements, resulting in a path towards a dynamic and coordinated green building plan.

The community vision for green building in Fort Collins is a dynamic and coordinated green building environment that builds upon existing programs and services. Looking ahead three years, the community vision for green building in Fort Collins may appear like this:

The recommendations are specific actions that can be undertaken now and in the future to sustain green buildings in Fort Collins. These specific actions are categorized according to four general actions: Mandate minimum performance and remove barriers; Encourage green building innovation; Reward green building success; Build internal City capacity to support green building

The following table summarizes the recommendations in these categories according to time-frame (short-term, mid-term or ongoing):

Fort Collins Green Building Roadmap

What can you expect during 2008? The Green Building Program has been established within the Utilities Department. It is being led by program manager Dana Leavitt. A Green Building Team composed of City staff has been created to implement the short and medium term recommendation. In addtion to coordinating existing programs and services, the team's responsibilities will include building awareness and support for green building in the community, both internally and externally.

Research efforts will focus on identifying elements of the building and land use code that act as barriers to green building. Proposed changes to these codes should occur this year.

 

 

 

CBG / Feb/Mar 2008 / Page 4