USGBC Launches Global Economic Recovery Strategy
Today, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) released a bold new strategy to support economic recovery as the country works to flatten the COVID-19 curve. Called Healthy People in Healthy Places Equals a Healthy Economy, the strategy outlines immediate and long-term actions to support buildings and communities in a post-pandemic world. It …
Understanding Sustainable Design: Different Practices Return Different Results
By Clif Dayton, PE, R&R Engineers-Surveyors, Inc. Though sustainable design practices have been around for centuries, in the last twenty-five years, sustainable design practices have been more prevalent in building codes. The 21st century phrase, & “sustainable design” is best defined by what it does: It reduces the negative impacts on the environment, while …
The Benefits of Denver’s Urban Forest Initiative
By Chris Geddes, associate at Design Workshop. With Earth Day upon us, Wednesday, April 22 – it’s a good time to share how the Downtown Denver Partnership (DDP), the City of Denver, and community leaders are working to be more sustainable and earth friendly. As landscape architects, Earth Day is every day …
Market for Smart Water Management Systems Projected to Increase 23% by 2029
An estimated 68 percent of the world’s population is expected to be living in an urban area by 2050, according to the United Nations (UN) World Urbanization Prospects 2018 report. To accommodate this influx in population, cities must ensure resources are available. Water is one of the resources most essential …
Life Cycle Assessment & Reducing Embodied Carbon in Construction
by Phin Stubbs, LEED AP: BD+C WELL AP – Sustainable Design Consultant, Group14 Engineering. In the last 20 years, the sustainable design industry has made great strides in building operations and energy efficiency. A combination of voluntary programs like the LEED green building rating system, combined with advanced code requirements specifically tailored …
A Dose of Dopamine: Using Neuroarchitecture in Space Design to Support Wellbeing
By Marc Snyder, director of sustainability and associate principal at 4240 Architecture As a lot of us face a new normal during uncertain times, it is good to reflect on and realign to those aspects of our lives that contribute to positivity and good health — no matter where we may …
Commercial Connected Lighting Saves Energy and Money, Study says
A new report from Boulder-based Navigant Research explores the role connected lighting can play in advancing the intelligent buildings market. The report focuses on the how vendors must pivot their solution offerings in the new ecosystem of stakeholders and value-added services that can provide increased opportunities while solving customer pain points. The …
Pickard Chilton Selected to Design T3 RiNo Project
Pickard Chilton, an award-winning architecture studio with an office in Denver, has been selected by McCaffery, Hines and Ivanhoé Cambridge to design T3 RiNo, a new Class-A, mixed-use office project in RiNo, scheduled to break ground next month. The six-story, 250,000-square-foot T3 (Timber, Transit and Technology) project at 3500 Blake Street will be one …
Colorado First in the Nation for Green Building
For the first time since 2011, Colorado has taken the top spot on the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) list of Top 10 States for LEED green building. The list ranks states based on the number of LEED certified square feet per person. This year’s top states are home to …
Denver Adopts Tall Mass Timber Codes
On December 23, the City of Denver voted to adopt the 2019 Denver Building Code, which includes the tall mass timber code provisions approved for the 2021 International Building Code (IBC). As part of the adoption of the new code, there will be a four-month period where new projects can …