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May 6-May 19, 2015 — COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL — Page 29
Green Building
The U.S. General Services
Administration recently rededi-
cated the 18-story Byron G. Rog-
ers Federal Building & Court-
house.
The approximately $160
million project, $147 million
of which was funded by the
American Recovery and Rein-
vestment Act, revitalized the
620,000-square-foot building
at 1961 Stout St. in downtown
Denver into a modern, highly
efficient workspace for 11 fed-
eral agencies.
The improvements are expect-
ed to create 55 percent overall
energy reduction in the federal
building resulting in the GSA
reducing its greenhouse gas
emissions by more than 2,908
tons of carbon dioxide, which is
the equivalent of taking 612 cars
off the road or providing energy
to 266 average sized homes.
The primary goal of the mod-
ernization was to upgrade all
of the major building systems.
This included replacement
of mechanical, electrical and
plumbing systems in the fed-
eral building. The project also
replaced 250 windows in the
courthouse with double-glaze,
low-E, gas-filled high-efficiency
units. GSA selected design con-
structor Mortenson Construc-
tion, which teamed with proj-
ect architects Bennett Wagner
& Grody Architects and HOK.
The facility was built in the
1960s and required a deep ret-
rofit to reduce energy use while
preserving its historical signifi-
cance, according to the GSA.
The facility is expected to
attain a LEED New Construc-
tion Gold certification.
“We are one of the largest
and most diversified public real
estate organizations in the world
and, as such, we have a respon-
sibility to help lead the gov-
ernment’s sustainability trans-
formation. High-performing
green buildings provide the best
value for the taxpayer and the
public because they minimize
the federal footprint through
efficient use of energy, water
and resources, and they create
healthier productive workspac-
es,” said Susan Damour, GSA
regional administrator.
Green features of the building
include:
• A design-build goal to
achieve a 40 percent reduction
in water use.
• An “aggressive” energy goal
of less than 45.1 kBtu per sf per
year, which achieves an annual
energy savings of approximate-
ly 55 percent.
• Installation of solar panels
on the roof to offset energy use
of domestic hot water.
• Primary heating and cool-
ing of the building through the
use of an active chilled beam
system.
• Diverting from the landfill
50 percent of all construction
trash and debris produced dur-
ing the project.
• Increasing daylighting at the
building approximately 25 per-
cent from prior to the work.
Other News
n Xcel Energy recognized 12
Colorado businesses for their
efforts to save energy at its
biennial Energy Efficiency
Expo in April.
The awards honor commer-
cial, industrial and small-busi-
ness customers in Colorado for
participating inXcel Energy 2014
energy efficiency programs.
Collectively, the recognized
companies saved more than 49
million kilowatt-hours of elec-
tricity in a 12-month period,
avoiding production of more
than 28,000 tons of carbon diox-
ide – the equivalent of keeping
more than 7,100 cars off the road
for a year.
The 12 award recipients for
efficiency were:
• 1670 Broadway Investors
LLC, Energy Management Sys-
tems Achievement Award; ener-
gy savings of 2.6 gigawatt-hours
• Denver International Air-
port of the city and county of
Denver, Highest Savings for
Multiple Program Participation;
energy savings of 12 GWh
• The Denver Post, Highest
Percentage of Energy Savings at
a Single Premise; energy savings
of 2.9 GWh
• EVRAZ Pueblo, Process
Efficiency Achievement Award;
energy savings of 4.9 GWh
• King Soopers, Lighting Effi-
ciency Achievement Award;
energy savings of 2.8GWh
• Leprino Foods, Highest
Energy Savings at a Manufac-
turing Facility; energy savings
of 14.5 GWh
• Mile Hi Bakery, Energy
Design Assistance Achievement
Award; energy savings of 2.8
GWh
• National Renewable Energy
Laboratory, Self Direct Achieve-
ment Award; energy savings of
2.3 GWh
• St. John's Cathedral, Heating
Efficiency Achievement Award,
energy savings of 24,985 therms
• Spradley Barr Ford of Gree-
ley, Small Business Lighting
Efficiency Achievement Award;
energy savings of 436,000 kWh
• Sungard Availability Ser-
vices, Data Center Efficiency
Achievement Award; energy
savings of 2.9 GWh
• Swire Coca-Cola, USA,
Highest Energy Savings
Achieved Through Working
with Xcel Energy’s Business
Solutions Center; energy sav-
ings of 987,744 kWh. s
The entryway to the Rogers facility
The second-floor common area
An exterior look at the 18-story Byron G. Rogers Federal Building &
Courthouse.
303.292.6181
A t the U.S. Green
Building Council
Colorado Chapter’s
Rocky Mountain Green
Conference, several leaders in
the green building industry
delineated their plans to trans-
form the National Western
Center, a centrally located but
underutilized complex, into a
community hub and education-
al resource center for the Rocky
Mountain region.
Mark Johnson, founding
principal of Civitas, an urban
design, urban planning and
landscape architecture firm,
explored the area’s rich indus-
trial history and tremendous
natural resources during
“Regeneration: The Future
of Development in Colorado,”
the opening keynote address at
Rocky Mountain Green.
Johnson, who was involved
in the redevelopment of the
Stapleton neighborhood
of Denver, visually walked
through the transformation
that Denver has made over
the past 20 years to a group of
more than 500 of the Rocky
Mountain region’s leading con-
struction and design profession-
als. He suggested that while the
development of the area was
considered cutting-edge at the
time, the fact was the envelope
could have been pushed further.
He then encouraged attendees
to imagine the possibilities for a
National Western Center in the
middle of the 21st century.
Johnson pointed to natural
resources like the South Platte
River that National Western
has yet to advantage of. “So,
we said, why not make this
an entire green zone?” said
Johnson. “Why not celebrate
the original
ecostruc-
ture of the
National
Western site
and bring
nature back
in?”
Jocelyn
Hittle, direc-
tor of Denver
Operational
Initiatives
at Colorado
State
University, reviewed the forma-
tion of the National Western
Center Master Plan.
Last year, the National
Western Stock Show, Colorado
State University, Denver
Museum of Nature and Science
and History Colorado part-
nered with the city and county
of Denver to create the plan,
which includes a bold vision of
education, commerce, competi-
tion, tourism and entertain-
ment for the area.
In the master plan, the orga-
nizations set aggressive sustain-
ability goals for the redevelop-
ment of the National Western
Center. “We wanted to really
continue to advance Denver’s
reputation for forward-think-
ing, large-scale regenerative
development,” Hittle said.
Hittle touched on the sustain-
ability challenges facing the
complex, which sits in an indus-
trial area that also is undergo-
ing a dramatic change. With
out-of-date facilities that are
hard to navigate, the site is dor-
mant for most of the year when
it is not hosting the 16-day
Stock Show and Rodeo, which
draws about 750,000 people
each January.
The partners involved wanted
to redesign the site to make it
not only sustainable, but also
attractive and easy to navigate
so it can be in use 365 days a
year. “One thing we wanted to
do was take the history of this
site, flip it and think about the
future,” Hittle continued.
They created nine guiding
principles for redevelopment of
the site, including concepts like
fostering innovation, building
cultural crossroads, inspir-
ing health and wellness and
embracing an ethic of regenera-
tion.
According to Hittle, the
planning committee sought
to answer the question, “How
does the spirit of the National
Western translate to the ‘New
West,’ and what does it mean to
Sharon Alton
Executive director,
USGBC Colorado
Chapter