According to Urban Land, resilience in the built environment is essential to save lives and help communities thrive. The Urban Land Institute’s Urban Resilience program maintains a library of case studies that model best practices in resilience at developingresilience.uli.org. 10 projects, drawn from the library, include master-planned communities designed to protect homes from wildfires and minimize water consumption. Two of the resilient developments are in Colorado:
Denver Water Headquarters
Denver Water’s five-year redevelopment of its 35-acre (14 ha) operations complex in Denver showcases water efficiency and reuse strategies, particularly in its new administration building. The overall project, which involved demolishing 15 outdated buildings, renovating two buildings, and constructing several new facilities, revamped a historic site that had served the utility since 1881.
The administration building’s water recycling system can process up to 7,000 gallons (26,000 l) of wastewater daily from restrooms and the cafeteria. The treatment process routes water through closed and open aerobic tanks, constructed wetlands, and filtration before reusing it for toilet flushing and irrigation. The project architect—the local office of Stantec — placed the wetlands in the lobby to double as an indoor landscape amenity, with educational signage explaining how the system works. Rainwater capture systems supply the irrigation system, as well. Other water-smart features include porous paving, bioswales, and a native detention pond. The local office of Trammell Crow Company served as the master developer for the building, which opened in 2019.
Sterling Ranch
No grassy lawns are allowed at Sterling Ranch, a master-planned community 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Denver. Instead, residents can choose from more than 150 drought-tolerant and native plants to landscape their yards, selected in partnership with the Denver Botanic Gardens. Planned to house 30,000 residents eventually in 12,050 homes across nine villages, the 3,400-acre (1,376 ha) development represents the state’s first municipal-scale rainwater harvesting pilot project. The local Smethills family, which developed the community, aims to source 70 percent of the community’s water from renewable sources such as rainwater and snowmelt.
Dual meters let residents track water consumption in real-time and distinguish between indoor and outdoor water use—particularly helpful because rates are higher for outdoor watering. Smart irrigation controllers respond to local weather data. Because of these measures, Sterling Ranch uses half the water of comparable communities in the Denver metro area. Three of the nine villages have opened since Sterling Ranch’s grand opening in 2017; two new parks opened in 2024.
For more on resilient building strategies and beyond, be sure to check out the upcoming ULI Resilience Summit in Denver on May 15, right after ULI’s Spring Meeting.
