Category — Being Green

Colfax Streetcar Feasibility Study

“Representative Diana DeGette announced that she has secured $1 million for critical transportation and infrastructure projects in the 1st Congressional District as part of the federal transportation funding package passed in early June. $500,000 was allocated to study the feasibility of a street car line on Colfax Avenue in East Denver. The study was requested by local businesses and the City of Denver to address heavy public transportation use and provide an important transportation alternative to the rapidly redeveloping urban corridor.”

What does this mean… well for those who don’t know most of Denver used to have rail lines everywhere. It was great, you just got to jump on a street car and go where you wanted.

Then, of course, we messed everything up. We ripped out the rail lines, paved over the streets, and turned our city over to the automobile. Before this happened, the Highland area was supposedly a map of rail lines. That is simply how our city grew.

Fortunately, Denver learns and is a progressive city. So now we are seeing the explosion of light and heavy rail across the city, the redevelopment of the Union Station Terminal, and now… streetcars may be making a comeback.

Rumor is the Mayor has money in his budget too and we may in the faaaaaaaaaaaaar future have a truly public transportation system across even more of our city.

Sell your car, pack a backpack, put on your shoes, and go truly urban in a walkable city.

On this one I don’t have many details. Anyone have any other news, thoughts, opinions, etc. Does anyone have the old streetcar map? Want to read about the history of Denver’s Streetcars.. here is one book.

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Attending this weekend’s Bridge opening I got the opportunity to speak with one of the Projects Managers with the Denver Department of Parks and Recreation who was onsite to take advantage of the crowds. He and his team had set up two displays of some landscaping and green space improvements that are planned on the Northern side of the platte river (the opposite side from Commons Park). The goal is an expansion of the green space between 15th and 19th (If I remember correctly) with an expansion of the trail system for bikers, walkers, and our general enjoyment.

The purpose of the Park’s folks attending was to highlight the two different ideas, one being more structured and the other being more fun and free. I took a couple pictures of their plans, which won’t offer much insight, but at least might lay out the larger plan.

I am going to shoot an email to the Projects Manager and see if he won’t contribute to this blog entry and share some more details about the two different plans. The point is… this looks very cool. Expanding our green areas and giving our trails a face lift is wonderful, and with all the new residents that are moving into the CPV the usage of these trails will be going through the roof.

Yeah!

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This month the EPA is turning on the lights, starting up the coffee brewers, and having its 350 some employees move into its new building at 16th and Wynkoop
, and will grow to approximately 815 people by mid-January.

Ground retail to feed these folks, and those of us in the surrounding area will include Houlihan’s, a Starbucks, a Heidi’s Brooklyn Deli, and a bank (gotta have money to spend at Starbucks you know).

What you really should focus on for the EPA office is all the green buiding and sustainable growth elements. Very cool stuff including the roof, the construction, water and more.

What else would you expect from the EPA, and god bless them as they lead by example.

Learn more here about this building and it’s green elements.

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Okay, so I am still trying to get us all out of our cars and into trains. And here is just one more possible item to affect Denver..

Rail proposed Casper to Albuquerque
By The Associated Press
Article Last Updated:11/30/2006 12:46:14 PM MST

Front Range Commuter Rail, a non-profit group, wants to study the possibility of creating high-speed rail lines running from Casper, WY, through Denver to Albuquergue, NM.

At a total cost much cheaper than the proposed Super Slab concrete roadway, the high-speed trains would run on existing railroad rights-of-way.

The group says the study will cost about $4.4 million. It will examine existing rail lines, the cost of improvements and the cost of relocating existing coal and freight train traffic.

Front Range Commuter Rail wants to collect money from Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico to pay for about half the cost of the study in order then to be eligible for matching money from the federal government.

Randy Bruns, chief executive officer of Cheyenne LEADS, said Wyoming would be crazy not to participate in the study.

“This is not pie in the sky,” Bruns said. “Somebody could be physically running passenger service to Denver tomorrow.”

Completion of the high-speed rail project is set for the year 2016. It’s intended to meet the transportation needs of the rapidly growing Rocky Mountain region.
“You just can’t build lanes of highway fast enough to alleviate congestion,” said Bob Jensen, CEO of the Wyoming Business Council.

The study must be completed before Congress could designate the Casper to Albuquerque line as a high-speed corridor.

Congressional designation of the high-speed corridor would allow the rail project to seek federal money. There are already 10 such designated corridors in the country.

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Structure to tower over LoDo
Developers of 1800 Larimer tout energy-efficient design of 22-story office high-rise

November 17, 2006
Westfield Development Co. plans a $150 million, 22-story, 500,000-square-foot office tower at the edge of lower downtown.

The 1800 Larimer building, the first new high-rise office building downtown since 1999 Broadway opened in the mid-1980s, will be the most energy-efficient high-rise in downtown Denver, said Rich McClintock, president of Denver-based Westfield.

The building is expected to receive a silver LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, rating from the U.S. Green Building Council. The council today is ending its three-day Greenbuild 2006 conference at the Colorado Convention Center, which attracted more than 12,000 people.

“If it is not a sustainable building, it is outdated,” McClintock said.

Increasingly, companies are demanding that their office space be in a LEED-rated building, which not only lowers utility bills for them but increases worker productivity, he said.

The building will include numerous energy saving features, including a subfloor air distribution system; 9-foot, 6-inch floor-to-ceiling windows; a state-of-the-art health club for tenants; and almost a half-acre parklike environment on a terrace 20 feet off the ground.

“It just made sense to us to only ‘condition’ the air around people, rather than the entire volume of space, especially as tenants demand higher ceilings,” said Don Slack, executive vice president of Westfield. “Basically, we’re cooling two-thirds of the space we would with a conventional system. And an added benefit of the system is that the tenants can manually control the temperature immediately around them.”

The architect is Denver-based RNL Design. In addition to the blue and grey glass facade, a design feature will be a 30-foot high “wall of water” inside the lobby. The lobby will have trees inside and immediately outside a large glass wall.

Tom Clark, executive vice president of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp., said he is courting a Fortune 500 company, which is considering moving its headquarters to either Denver or two East Coast cities.

“If they choose Denver, they want a building in the LoDo area,” Clark said. “And it is important for them to be in an energy-efficient building.”

McClintock said that the overall office vacancy rate in LoDo is about 5 percent but in Class A buildings it is 2 percent.

There are about a half-dozen office buildings planned for LoDo, but McClintock isn’t worried about competition.

He notes the site is a block from the Ritz- Carlton hotel under construction, two blocks from the Tabor Center and Coors Field, and four blocks from Denver Union Station.

It also is on the route of a future circular bus system that will serve downtown and Denver Union Station.

Construction will start in the spring with an opening in 2009. He already is close to inking deals with some tenants that will take at least 20 percent of the building. They’re speaking with law firms, energy companies, financial institutions and others.

Keep posted on this building by watching it at…
Urban Brain Wiki Entry for 1800 Larimer

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Train yourself to find another way to work
With the launch of light rail, RTD drops some bus lines, reroutes others and starts a call-n-Ride service
By Jeffrey Leib
Denver Post Staff Write

Commuters fill the early-morning 90X bus from Aurora to downtown Denver on Thursday, the route s second-to-last day. Commuters will now be able to take light rail downtown. Today after 11 a.m., rides on the new southeast line will be free. On Saturday, the entire light-rail system will offer free rides. (Post / RJ Sangosti )

VIPs celebrate completion of T-REX
Karen Jackson waited Thursday in a long line of fellow commuters to catch the 6:30 a.m. 90X express bus from RTD’s Nine Mile park-n-Ride to Civic Center station.
After today, the 90X and many other express routes will be eliminated and replaced by the Regional Transportation District’s new southeast light-rail line, feeder bus service to rail stations and a new, taxi like call-n-Ride service.

Not everyone is pleased with the changes, but for Jackson and some other commuters, the switch from express bus to rail is advantageous.

She works near 13th and Lawrence streets in downtown Denver, just a few blocks from a light-rail station. She’ll have an easy walk from the train to work. Using the bus, she’d often take the 16th Street Mall shuttle to get to Lawrence.
“I’m excited about it,” she said. “It will be better in bad weather, when the buses are never on time.”

But other commuters say the replacement of express and regional buses with light-rail service will add time and hassles to their trips.

Joann Goss, another RTD bus rider, typically has taken the 90X from East Hampden Avenue and South Chambers Road to Civic Center, only two blocks from her job. It’s about a 33-minute trip.

With the elimination of the 90X, Goss expects to catch a feeder bus to Nine Mile from Chambers and East Yale Avenue, take light rail to 16th and California streets, and then get on the mall shuttle to work.

“It’s not quite as convenient,” Goss said. She said she’ll have to start her commute at 5:45 a.m., about 15 minutes earlier than the current routine.

Some riders at Nine Mile have counted the stairs at the station, calculating whether they can descend 52 stairs from the train platform and walk 50 yards or so in a tunnel under Interstate 225 and through the Nine Mile garage in time to catch the local bus.

Bus rider Dee Charlifue said she’s worried about stairs to the Nine Mile rail platform that are open to the weather and likely to be slippery in winter. There are elevators for those who need them.

Agency spokesman Scott Reed said that with the start of new train service, “the vast majority of people will have an improved commute, either from the thousands of additional service hours in the southeast area or the actual time saved.”

And, he added, “light rail doesn’t get bogged down in traffic.”

RTD is counting on expanded call-n-Ride service in the southeast area to help funnel many commuters to light-rail stops. Call-n-Ride vehicles will pick travelers up at home who call to arrange a trip, RTD said.
Commuter Lesa Robinson, who also rode the 90X Thursday,

Early-morning commuters take the 90X bus Thursday. Starting Monday, 90X riders will take light rail instead.

Robinson needs to be at work near 17th Street and Broadway at 6:30 a.m. and has been taking the 5:50 express bus that gets her to Civic Center at 6:15.

The 5:48 train from Nine Mile will get her to 16th and California at 6:21, Robinson said, and then she’ll have to jump on the mall shuttle. “That’s cutting it close.”

Metropolitan State College of Denver freshman Austin Schult didn’t have to do any math to know that his commute will get easier Monday.

Schult missed the 7:39 express bus downtown Thursday morning from Nine Mile and waited quite a while for the next bus, the 8:14. Had the train been running, he said, “I wouldn’t have missed my first class.”

Bus routes change
Starting Sunday, many express and regional bus routes will be replaced by local routes that connect to the new light-rail stations. There are some new local routes, and others have been modified to better mesh with light rail. For details, visit southeastlightrail.com/ schedules-commute.cfm or call RTD at 303-299-6000

DISCONTINUED BUS ROUTES
Express: 11X, 17X, 23X, 24X, 25X, 26X, 35X, 39X, 78X, 85X, 89X, 90X, 91X Regional: P, T, W
Local: 46L, 169, 426, 473, Link, B Line

ROUTES ALTERED IN SOME WAY
Express: 6X, 63X
Regional: U
Local: 11, 12, 15L, 21, 24, 27, 35, 40, 52, 56, 65, 66, 73, 77, 79L, 83L, 105, 121, 169L, 401, 402L, 403, 470L
Source: RTD

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Help Colorado Share the Road

One year ago the State Patrol capped bike events because they observed motorists and bicyclists not sharing the road. Bicyclists and events made changes (and continue to do so) and the State Patrol lifted the event cap.

Now we need to spread the message beyond events and include motorists. That’s why Bicycle Colorado is launching a Share the Road license plate campaign to reinforce that bicycles are welcome on roads and to fund bicycle safety education programs.

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PORTLAND, Ore.

Peter Yates for The New York Times
There are no parking spaces for Mary Stonecypher-Howell at the Moda condominiums in Seattle.
ANNEMIEKE CLARK and her boyfriend, Daniel Pasley, do not spend a lot of time driving. Ms. Clark, a 29-year-old nursing student at Oregon Health and Science University, takes the bus to school. Her boyfriend is a “crazy bike rider,” she said.

So when they decided to buy their first home last winter, they chose a one-bedroom unit in the Civic, one of the first new developments in Portland to market condominiums without parking spaces.

Ms. Clark said they bought the $175,000 condo, which will be ready next summer, because “it was absolutely the cheapest one selling.” Mr. Pasley also hoped a unit without parking would inspire Ms. Clark to sell her 1992 Subaru.

“So, part of it was idealism — that we would get rid of the car,” Ms. Clark said.

Although condominiums without parking are common in Manhattan and the downtowns of a few other East Coast cities, they are the exception to the rule in most of the country. In fact, almost all local governments require developers to provide a minimum number of parking spaces for each unit — and to fold the cost of the space into the housing price.

The exact regulations, which are intended to prevent clogged streets and provide sufficient parking, vary by city. Houston’s code requires a minimum of 1.33 parking spaces for a one-bedroom and 2 spaces for a three-bedroom. Downtown Los Angeles mandates 2.25 parking spaces per unit, regardless of size.

Today, city planners around the country are trying to change or eliminate these standards, opting to promote mass transit and find a way to lower housing costs.

Minimum parking requirements became popular in the 1950s with the growth of suburbia, said Donald Shoup, a professor of urban planning at the University of California at Los Angeles and the author of “The High Cost of Free Parking” (American Planning Association, 2005). “They spread like wildfire,” he said.

But in the 21st century, skyrocketing housing prices and the move toward high-density urban development are bringing scrutiny to the ways in which cities and developers manage the relationship between parking and residential real estate. Once a tool of government, parking requirements are increasingly driven by the market.

Last year, for example, Seattle reduced parking requirements for multifamily housing in three of the city’s major commercial corridors. Next month, the City Council will vote on a proposal to eliminate minimum parking requirements in Seattle’s six core urban districts and near light-rail stations. In June, San Francisco replaced minimum requirements downtown with maximum standards allowing no more than 0.75 parking spaces per unit. In Portland, where central city parking minimums were eliminated six years ago, developers are breaking ground on projects with restricted parking.

“In the future,” Dr. Shoup said, “we will look back at minimum parking requirements as a colossal mistake. Change will be slow, but it’s happening now.”

The Civic, a 261-unit project, includes 24 condos without parking. The building is six blocks from downtown and near a major bus and light-rail line, and will offer residents a rental-car-sharing arrangement.

“We’re always looking for ways to promote smart growth,” said Tom Cody, a project manager of the Gerding/Edlen Development Company, which developed the Civic. “We decided to test the water and see if there was a market for units without parking spaces.” The 24 condos sold out, he said.

In San Francisco, more downtown housing has been approved over the last few years than in the last 20 years combined, said Joshua Switzky, a city planner. The booming real estate market there inspired local officials to revoke minimum-parking requirements in the central core, Mr. Switzky said. “The city’s modus operandi is ‘transit first,’ ” he said. “Everyone recognized the existing rules didn’t match the policy.”

Under San Francisco’s new parking maximums, downtown developers are also required to “unbundle” the price of parking from the price of the condo. “Buyers aren’t obligated to buy a parking space, and developers don’t have the incentive to build spaces they can’t sell,” Mr. Switzky said.

Sustainable development is not the only factor driving changes to parking standards. “We talk about affordable housing as the most critical thing facing cities and the nation,” Mr. Cody said. “But we never talk about the costs of the automobile.” Since individual parking spaces cost about $40,000, reducing or eliminating parking is an effective way to lower housing prices, he said.

At the Moda condominiums, a development under construction in Seattle, only 43 out of 251 units have assigned parking. Eighty-three units have no parking and the remainder have access to a permit parking system. The building is in the downtown Belltown neighborhood, where the average condo has one and a half parking spaces.

Peter DaSilva for The New York Times
In San Francisco, One Rincon Hill allows for one space per unit.
“I wanted the least expensive unit,” said Mary Stonecypher-Howell, a computer database specialist who bought a Moda studio without parking for $170,000. Ms. Stonecypher-Howell said it was the only downtown condo she could find for less than $200,000. “In the city, it’s simpler not to have a car,” she said. Moda units with parking cost about $30,000 more than units without.

Lenders traditionally balk at financing projects without parking, said David Hoy, who developed the Moda condos. The concern is that they would be difficult to resell. “But in a high-density urban environment, there’s a strong demand and a shortage of supply,” Mr. Hoy said. Moda, which is financed by United Commercial Bank, sold out in less than a week, he said.

Other cities are also reconsidering parking standards. In Houston, for example, a committee is reviewing parking minimums along the light-rail line, according to Suzy Hartgrove, a spokeswoman for the city’s planning and development department.

But not everybody is enthusiastic about the piecemeal changes taking place around the country, especially because often-arcane parking codes vary from district to district and city to suburb.

In the Rincon Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, where the new luxury tower One Rincon Hill is selling for $1,000 a square foot, parking standards allow a maximum of one space per unit. Just a few blocks away, downtown requirements undercut that figure by a quarter, making One Rincon Hill more attractive to buyers with cars.

“It gives them a marketing advantage,” said Victor Gonzalez, director of development for Monahan Pacific, a local company that has built condo properties downtown. “You’d be killed if you tried to do a project in the suburbs without parking,” he added.

Others point to the free-market parking situation in Manhattan, where monthly rates now exceed $500 a month.

Planners are undeterred. In the United States, “housing is expensive and parking is cheap,” Dr. Shoup said. “We’ve got it the wrong way around.”

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Get ready all you Greenies and tree huggers! The Green Build Conference hits Denver this coming week on November 15th through the 17th.
Greenbuild has swiftly become the must-go event for the industry. Much success goes to the keynotes chosen for the past conferences; some including: Paul Hawken, Ray Anderson, Janine Benyus, Duane Elgin, Glenn Murcutt, David Suzuki, and Lisa Myers. Keynotes are invited to the Greenbuild International Conference & Expo to highlight the green building industry. With over 10,000 expected attendees, Greenbuild 2006 will once again deliver the type of inspirational keynotes that live up to the Greenbuild standard.

Sustainable Cities
Wednesday, Nov. 15, 8:00 am – 10:00 am
Participants will be announced at www.greenbuildexpo.org. Greenbuild will kick off with a vision of the future for cities. In support of the Clinton Climate Initiative’s partnership with USGBC, and the Large Cities Climate Leadership Group, this powerful opening plenary will feature distinguished leaders who have made sustainability the watchword of their communities. The work these leaders are doing is setting a new standard for how cities can deliver immediate and measurable improvements for their citizens—economic improvements, environmental improvements, and a better overall quality of life.

Keynote speakers include internationally renowned architect William McDonough, whose vision of an environmentally and economically intelligent future has inspired transformation worldwide. McDonough’s diverse portfolio includes sustainable landmarks such as the Herman Miller “GreenHouse” Factory and Offices and Oberlin College’s Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies. As co-chair of the China-U.S. Center for Sustainable Development, McDonough is designing entire cities in China that will serve as models of “cradle to cradle” development for the country’s future growth. The recipient of numerous honors and awards, including three U.S. Presidential Awards, McDonough also writes and speaks extensively about his pioneering philosophies.

William McDonough’s presentation is made possible through the generous support of the following sponsors: Armstrong, Autodesk, BASF, Cherokee Investment Partners, Mechoshade, Milliken, Shaw Carpets, Steelcase

Jeffrey Sachs
The Earth Institute; Columbia University
Friday, Nov. 17, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Jeffrey D. Sachs, author of The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time, is internationally renowned for his work as an economic advisor and with international agencies on poverty reduction, disease control, and debt cancellation for poor countries. Sachs is the director of The Earth Institute, Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University. He also serves as Special Advisor to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on the Millennium Development Goals to reduce extreme poverty, disease, and hunger by 2015. The End of Poverty is a landmark exploration of the roots of economic prosperity and the path out of extreme poverty for the world’s poorest citizens. In it, Sachs offers an integrated set of solutions to the interwoven economic, political, environmental and social problems that most frequently hold societies back. This and other groundbreaking research contributed to Sachs being named among the 100 most influential leaders in the world by Time Magazine, and to his receiving the 2005 Sargent Shriver Award for Equal Justice. Greenbuild will kick off with a vision of the future for cities. In support of the Clinton Climate Initiative’s partnership with USGBC, and the Large Cities Climate Leadership Group, this powerful opening plenary will feature distinguished leaders who have made sustainability the watchword of their communities. The work these leaders are doing is setting a new standard for how cities can deliver immediate and measurable improvements for their citizens—economic improvements, environmental improvements, and a better overall quality of life.

David Suzuki
Tuesday, November 14, USGBC Day Keynote
Five years ago, 4,000 people converged in Austin, Texas for a defining moment in the green building movement: the first Greenbuild Conference and Expo. Since then, green building has become firmly established on the national agenda, and the 12,000 people who will attend Greenbuild Denver this fall are working to make sure it stays there. But the growth of the green building movement doesn’t mean that our environmental and economic problems are solved; instead, it is a reflection of the fact that we have realized just how essential green building is to the solution.

Dr. David Suzuki, one of the world’s most renowned scientists and impassioned environmentalists, was among the first people to make that connection. At Greenbuild Austin in 2002, he delivered a keynote address that many people in attendance cite as the moment when green building became a passion as well as a profession. Dr. Suzuki has always been a step ahead, challenging and inspiring the green building community to expand its vision and explore new boundaries. As the keynote speaker for this year’s USGBC Member Day, he will truly help us take green building to “a higher elevation.”

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Try A Solar Water Heater

With a solar water heater, you’ll get the hot water your household needs while saving money and energy and reducing your dependence on coal-fired power.

After a year with their solar hot water heater, homeowners Bob Allen and Lyle Rudensey say they’ll never go back to relying on a conventional water heater. Even in gloomy, rainy Seattle, they are saving money and energy by heating all of their water with the power of the sun.

“With a lack of leadership at the federal level, I feel it’s very important that we all do what we can to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gases,” says Lyle. “Solar hot water systems are a great place to start. They’re not as expensive as solar photovoltaics, and they’ll save you substantial amounts of energy and money.”

Looking at his household energy bills, Lyle notes that it’s hard to quantify the exact dollar amount the new water heater has saved, because he and Bob also installed energy-efficient appliances and a solar photovoltaic system last year, as part of an overall strategy to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels. Still, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), water heating uses more household energy than any activity other than heating and cooling, so replacing your household’s water-heating energy with free power from the sun will have a significant effect on your bottom line. With all their savings combined, Lyle points out that his and Bob’s electric bills have dropped to a low of $5.

“Plus, the water heater increased the value of the house,” Bob adds. “And it’s a hedge against future energy cost increases.”

Bob and Lyle installed an “active” solar water heater with “evacuated tube” collectors, which they say works great in the Pacific Northwest, because the heater keeps working even on overcast days or when temperatures are freezing outside.

“I can’t think of anything negative to say about it,” says Lyle. “It never ceases to amaze me to see our solar hot water system still pumping 80- to 100-degree water late into the evening on a day
when it isn’t even sunny.”

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