April/May 2009
Greening The Government
C O N T E N T S
Executive Director's Corner: Standing with Giants, by Deb Kleinman
Special: Remembering Greg Franta, by Annette Stelmack
LEED: Aardex Receives Second Platinum LEED Certification from the USGBC, by Mike Hehir
Energy Incentives: Xcel Announces New Incentives, by Erine Mathe
Sustainable Development: Grassroots Efforts Support a Sustainable Ethic, by Sarah Martinez
Government: Greening the Government: State Leads by Example, by Angie Fyfe
Case Study: Extracting Value From NAIOP's Highly Criticized Building Cost Report, by Courtney France
Go Green, Save Money: Rep. Perlmutter Legislation Promotes Going Green To Save Green, by Christopher Votoupal
Colorado Building Green is the official newsletter of the U.S. Green Building Council – Colorado Chapter, and is published bi-monthly. If you are interested in submiting a story, ideas or other information for publication, please contact the editor at sarah@usgbccolorado.org
Greening The Government Program
State Leads By Example
By Angie Fyfe, Greening Government Program Manager, Governor's Energy Office
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Colorado state government is quickly becoming a national model for green building and sustainability in the public sector. The State’s “lead by example” effort, known as the Greening Government Program which is administered by the Governor’s Energy Office, has been recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a Clean Energy-Environment Partner, and by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment as a Gold leader under the department’s Environmental Leadership Program.
Governor Bill Ritter, Jr. set ambitious sustainability goals for Colorado State government; to reduce energy consumption by 20 percent, water use by 10 percent, petroleum by 25 percent, and paper by 20 percent no later than June, 2012, and to divert 75 percent of the waste generated from state government operations and construction by 2020.
Colorado’s success in the built environment includes earning LEED® for Existing Buildings, Operations & Maintenance (EB – O&M) certification for the State Capitol Building, making it the only capitol building in the country to achieve any type of LEED certification, and the first building in the country to achieve the LEED EB – O&M certification. In addition, approximately 17 percent of all LEED certified buildings in Colorado are owned by the State. A state statute enacted in 2007 requires that all public buildings (state, local, or schools) that receive 25 percent or more of their construction budget from state funds be designed to a high-performance standard as established by the Office of the State Architect in collaboration with the Governor’s Energy Office and the Greening Government Program. That standard is currently LEED Gold.
Colorado’s Greening Government Program uses energy performance contracts (EPC) to fund building retrofits, which result in energy and water savings. AnEPC leverages avoided utility costs to pay for capital improvements over time. In the case of the State Capitol Building, the Colorado Department of Personnel and Administration (DPA) selected Chevron Energy Solutions as the energy service company (ESCO) to conduct a technical energy audit of multiple buildings in the Capital Complex. Chevron then presented a list of energy and water conservation measures to DPA for their consideration. DPA selected numerous conservation measures in a portfolio of buildings, which Chevron guaranteed would result in approximately $1 million in annual avoided utility costs. Chevron then managed the construction project, with local contractors completing the work. An EPC can be used to finance improvements in existing buildings, as well as fund construction costs associated with new buildings, and can be used in both the public and private sectors.