Environmental Goals & Building Regulations

LEED (1.6 MB)

Click above on "LEED" for the presentation.

There are five areas of focus in LEED certification, which W.W. Reynolds addressed in this development: sustainable sitting (i.e. near downtown and transit corridors), energy efficiency, indoor air quality, water efficiency and resource conservation. "Our project cost was about 3.9% higher for the LEED certification efforts," said Wingert. This includes design, materials and consultants. Wingert said this investment in LEED not only increases market value, but shows a commitment to environmental stewardship and is also the right thing to do. "We expect this to be a competitive advantage in the long run," he said.

The speakers took questions from the audience covering a range of topics; notably Koehn described the city is working on "walking its talk" with energy audits of its buildings and requiring LEED Silver certification for new construction. "This is an issue that affects all of us, and Neil and I want to hear from you about the things we need to consider as we continue to develop this program," he said.

The next benchmark for Koehn is a study session with the City Council on April 8. At that time the Council will provide feedback to staff on the various proposals they are working on now. Koehn requested Boulder Tomorrow members contact him with ideas and concerns at any time.