Our neighbors in Denver have something to celebrate – the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has named Denver the “greenest” city in the U.S. According to Editor at Large, almost 30 projects in Denver have achieved LEED green building certification since last year, and two of those projects attained the highest LEED rating, LEED Platinum.

Deb Kleinman, the executive director of the Colorado Chapter of the USGBC said “Colorado’s culture of sustainability and conservation are a part of its DNA; individual cities… clearly understand the importance of green building as a part of that culture.”

Denver was recently named the "greenest" city in the U.S. by the USGBC.

There are many noteworthy LEED certified buildings in the Denver area, including the Wells Fargo Center, the Colorado Convention Center, and the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment Building. Scot Horst, senior vice president of LEED USGBC, said “The LEED green building program sets the benchmark for what is possible with high-performing buildings. Denver has been a pioneer in the green building efforts, setting examples and showcasing new innovation with its many LEED projects.”

We here at Trilogy Partners think it’s great that our neighbors in Denver are doing their part to create green and sustainable structures. Since Denver has been named the “greenest” city in America, we think Colorado could have the potential to become the “greenest state” in the country!

Photo credit: Denver-travel-services.com.

The Colorado State Capitol Building in Denver is the first and only LEED certified capital building in the country, and the first ever to receive a LEED Existing Buildings Operations and Maintenance certification.  Read the below excerpt from Inhabitat.com and see their behind the scenes look into our State Capitol.

“The HVAC systems are a mixture of new boilers and chillers, old radiators and ducts, and retrocommissioning. One example of energy savings is how, by taking advantage of the thermal mass, engineers can flush excess heat that the building gained throughout the day out at night.”
Inhabitat next showed us the “the attic of the Capitol where an elegant series of skylights flood the two main halls. From below an etched glass ceiling hides a second glass roof protecting the first.”
“From the top level of the gold-leafed dome, you can just make out the 10Kw solar panel array on the roof below. These SMA Solar Power Inverters convert that energy to the building’s electrical grid. This is a relatively small array but is as symbolic as it is practical.”

“Electrical lighting upgrades took a great deal of research to find just the right CFL lightbulbs to replace the incandescent bulbs while still maintaining the historic ambiance. Nothing is taken for granted when preserving the building’s character.”

“Ornate brass elements lace the interior, and are cleaned with a non solvent based green cleaning product required for LEED certification. In the end the cleaner cost no more than what they’d been using before.”

“The Colorado State Capitol is the first and only LEED certified capitol in the country, and the first building ever to get the LEED EB O&M certification. It earned 41 points out of the 44 that were submitted.”

Click here to read the full article on Inhabitat.com.  Trilogy Partners not only believes strongly in sustainable or green building and building practices, we lead by example and we encourage our clients to embrace these philosophies. Trilogy designs and builds some of the most energy efficient homes in the country. Our sustainable construction technologies are at the forefront of the industry, and we are constantly breaking new ground in combining excellence in architecture with energy efficiency.