This is where BOULD comes in to play. BOULD, a Colorado-based social venture, aims to “end substandard housing through green building education.” As one of 46 finalists for the 2012 Unreasonable Institute, BOULD “partners with affordable housing builders—like Habitat for Humanity—to deliver a tuition-based on-site educational program for professionals interested in advancing green building careers. During 2011 alone, the BOULD team has consulted on 17 LEED-registered homes for low-income families” while expanding to five more states and training 115 individuals for LEED Accreditation. This training helps lower the barriers of access to professionals, making more LEED Accredited Professionals available, thereby reducing costs for these types of projects. Check out the video below for more on BOULD’s mission.

Based in Boulder, Colorado, the Unreasonable Institute strives to solve “the world’s biggest problems by arming the entrepreneurs who can take them on with the mentorship, capital, and network to make it happen.” In order to achieve this, they bring 25 entrepreneurs from around the world to Boulder for an intensive training program. In addition, they bring in mentors from a wide-range of companies, including “the former Managing Director of Investments at Google.org, . . . the CTO of HP, [and] an entrepreneur who’s enabled over 19 million farmers to move out of poverty.”

BOULD is currently raising money to attend the Institute. As required by Unreasonable Institute, finalists must raise the funds to attend, which demonstrates their ability to reach others. If you are interested in supporting their work, consider making a donation. The first 25 finalists to reach $10,000 will be selected.

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The school I visited sits on a 35-acre parcel of land located off the road leading to the airport. Prior to the school, there were no buildings on the site. I believe it was a meadow. This type of development, often referred to as greenfield – because it builds on previously undeveloped land – is often associated with sprawl. Brownfield development – land that was previously developed – often fills in pockets of underutilized land, helping to increase density.

My second visit was to the EPA’s Region 8 headquarters in Denver. This building sits on the grounds of the formal postal annex which was constructed in 1959 and before that a warehouse similar to one that still stands across the street and houses the Alliance Center for Sustainable Colorado. While the new EPA building is a beautiful, gleaming structure with lots of natural light, it does not change the fact that there have been three buildings over the same time frame that another one, currently LEED-certified former warehouse, has stood across the street.

The warehouse was the first building I visited chronologically (the home of the Alliance Center for Sustainable Colorado; reviewed last year after the first time I toured the facility), but I save it for last. It is not a gleaming structure like the EPA; it is rather pedestrian looking. As one of my students (I took my entry level environmental science lab section on the tour) pointed out in their reflection, I never realized that an ordinary building could be green. If it is true that the greenest buildings are those that are already built, it is imperative that existing buildings be preserved and retrofitted for energy efficiency and sustainable materials.

Consider the resources (including time, money, and materials) need to construct a new building. Add to this the waste, even if it is recycled, generated from the demolition of the previous structure, and new buildings require an awful lot of start up capital. On top of this, a greenfield development takes land that could potentially be used for food production, aesthetic, recreational, or an assortment of other purposes and you’ve got a question of what is the best use of land.

Be intentional when designing a building, but also think about the structures that are already in place, previously abandoned sites, and what is necessary. On occasion a building is not viable and can be beyond saving, but that is a last ditch approach. After all, we need to look backward as we move forward.

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More than just a neat idea, there are (at least) two practical reasons for this type of assembly. The first is that it will almost certainly reduce the cost of store construction. Peter DeMaria, owner of an architectural firm that has experience building with shipping containers, stated that construction in residential applications (like this home in Redondo Beach, California) usually cut costs by 20 percent, and the amount of construction time by up to 40 percent in certain applications. The other reason is that since shipping containers are very portable, they may open up new business opportunities. A Starbucks spokesman gave the example that a store could be assembled in temporarily available locations, and later be transported and reassembled elsewhere. It seems this might also be a good way to test new locations before investing larger sums of money on permanent structures.

There is also a case to be made for this type of construction as it pertains to the environment. According to SG Blocks, a company that retrofits shipping containers, it takes nearly 8,000 kWh to recycle a four-ton shipping container, but only 400 to 800 kWh to convert the same container into an SG Blocks unit. Due to the amount of energy needed to melt the containers, the company says the reclamation process is uneconomical. By reusing the containers, the demand for new steel and lumber that would have been used in traditional construction is also reduced.

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It’s a sleek, smart device that people are clamoring for in their bid to save money, green their lives, and replace the out-dated thermostats. In two years, the company claims, the money saved by using the device will more than make up for its high purchase price. For comparison’s sake, Eric argues that “you can do a lot better for ROI (return on investment). If it saves you more money per month, that’s one thing, but otherwise, you’re buying something that is sleek, yet more expensive compared to what’s on the market. My ROI was two WEEKS. However, the interface and programability of my Energy Star rated thermostat is poor.”

Some of it’s nice features are an “auto-away” feature that will automatically put the house into low energy mode if it detects (with an occupancy sensor) there is nobody in the house for a few days. It also learns from your routine. If you turn up the heat in the morning, turn it down when you leave for work, and then turn it up again when you come home, Nest will recognize this pattern and begin doing it for you. It seems like it recognizes the difference in schedules and routines on the weekends and creates a daily schedule for the full week. It is also accessible from the internet and smartphones so you can change the temperature “miles from home” if you’re running late or out of town.

Seemingly small advances like this are accumulating to lead us to a greener future. You say you want a revolution? It’s in progress.

According to DPS’s communications department, the project was well under budget.

The Evie Dennis Campus has been completed ahead of schedule and approximately $5.8 million under budget. Originally projected to house two schools, savings from the project funded by the voter-approved 2008 Bond Program have allowed for the design and build of a third school – Vista Academy, the district’s second Multiple Pathways Center, which is projected to open in Fall of 2011.

The new campus was intentionally designed to mimic a small college campus, including shared public spaces in the Student Union and new regional sports complex amenities for the district. The total cost of the project was $42.7 million.

The school has signage throughout the buildings indicating the “green” features of the various structures, which helped the project earn points toward LEED certification. Cut outs of the wall expose the spray foam insulation with educational materials to teach occupants. See the image to the left. Many of the interior spaces are set up for flexibility, an important facet of “green schools.” This aspect allows for multiple users and various configurations, as opposed to one predetermined use (think bolted seats or permanent walls).

The cafeteria has high walls with lots of natural light. More significantly though, the kitchen is set up for cooking from scratch, which represents a change in policy for DPS. Plans down the road include a 10-acre garden, which may or may not be on the 35-acre campus. The food from the garden would then be used in the school’s kitchen. The gymnasium, located in the Student Union, sits below the rest of building due to the slope of the campus.  As one can see in the picture to the left, the use of natural light is pervasive. The tour guide pointed out that there were no lights on to brighten up the space. Instead, light tubes, like those offered by Solatube, are the only source of light.

Daylighting, the use of natural light to illuminate interior spaces, is a key aspect of green schools. Studies have shown improved test scores in schools with daylighting. South facing windows have a coating to reduce glare, but allow light into the rooms. The ceiling, which is sloped, and white walls help natural light reach the back of the classroom. The picture at the top of the article is a shot of the exterior of one building. Though only two stories, there are four levels of windows. The upper windows for each floor provide the aforementioned light to reach deep into the interior. Unlike many institutional buildings, the classrooms each have an operable window for fresh air. Lastly, each classroom has an occupancy sensor for the heating-cooling system with its own heat pump, enabling independent controls from other spaces throughout the building. The sensor will turn of the heating-cooling system if the room sits unoccupied for a set amount of time. In addition, individual heat pumps are possible due to the geo-exchange system underneath the baseball and softball fields.

Although not visible from the ground level, a 300 kilowatt photovoltaic (PV) system blankets the roof of two buildings. An interactive display (see the image to the left) depicts the energy generation from the solar panels. As a result of the energy production, two of the campus’s buildings are “net zero” structures. Both of these features – the net zero and PV system – led to the four school buildings (not including the Student Union) having the lowest energy consumption of all Denver Public Schools since the buildings came online.

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