1. What is green building?
The term “green building,” refers to designing and constructing buildings to increase performance and enhance the experience for people who work, live and play in these structures. The term green building is often used interchangeably with sustainable, high performance, or healthy building. Buildings are an important piece of the sustainability puzzle as they consume significant natural resources. By providing both general and technical information about green building practices, CORE is helping accelerate the adoption of green building practices as the industry standard, and beginning to help move the region towards a sustainable future.
A Green building:
- Makes a building healthier
- Saves energy and reduces waste
- Reduces negative climate impacts
- Reduces material use
- Protects the site
- Uses low-impact materials
- Saves water
- Maximizes longevity and durability
- Recycles existing buildings and sites
- Increases a building’s value
2. Why is CORE promoting green building?
CORE’s original work focused on energy efficiency and renewable energy. Over the past 5 years, or so, the green building movement has taken strides by considering ALL aspects of building performance and their impacts on the environment. The Roaring Fork Valley prides itself on a high quality of life. CORE is striving to help homeowners and building industry professionals preserve this quality of life while protecting the health of their families/employees, AND save money through green building measures. CORE also manages the grants for the Renewable Energy Mitigation Program which provides funds for installing
Photovoltaic (electricity generating) Panels,
Solar Hot Water Panels as well as Energy Star Rated,
Dishwashers, and
Refrigerators (For information on Energy Star please see- http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=appliances.pr_appliances ), (as well as tier 2&3 CEE rated
Washing Machines: see http://
www.cee1.org for details). (INSERT CASH Incentives Link here).
Double your funds! Many of these funding efforts are matched by Holy Cross Energy’s We Care program. See
http://www.holycross.com/ for details on their rebate programs.
CORE:
- Provides Design Assistance Grants for commercial-scale projects
- Provides education on green building practices
- Organizes events and tours
- Provides technical assistance
- Help green projects with permitting issues
- Helps City agencies green their construction projects
- Connects people with green building resources, like suppliers and services
- Provides information on key issues such as oil and gas depletion and climate change
3. How is CORE funded?
CORE is funded by private donations, grants and sponsorships. Major contributors include: The City of Aspen, Holy Cross Energy, The Department of Energy and The Governor’s Office of Energy Management and Conservation.
4. What services does CORE offer?
CORE is a significant provider of green building information, offering initial consultation specific to your green building project. We offer green building strategy and direction on a host of green building issues including permitting, energy and water efficient systems, healthy indoor air quality, recycling, reuse, sustainable material choices, and more. Our initial consultation provides practical ideas, professional recommendations and directions to locally available products and services. Initial consultations are provided at no charge. Work on major projects may require a fee.
5. How do buildings affect natural resources?
A standard wood-frame home requires more than one acre of forest, and the waste created during construction averages between 3-7 tons. In 1998, National Association of Home Builders reported that a 2,085-square foot, single-family house requires 13,127 board feet of lumber; 6,212 square feet of sheathing; 14 tons of concrete; 2,325 square feet of exterior siding; 3,100 square feet of roofing material; 3,061 square feet of insulation; 6,144 square feet of interior wall material; 120 linear feet of ducting; 15 windows; 13 kitchen cabinets and 2 other cabinets; 1 kitchen sink; 12 interior doors; 7 closet doors; 2 exterior doors; 1 patio door; 2 garage doors; 1 fireplace; 3 toilets; 2 bathtubs; 1 shower stall; 3 bathroom sinks; 2,085 square feet of flooring material . . . and 68 gallons of paint and coatings.
In addition, the majority of new development in the region is located on “greenfields” – land not previously built on. Such practices threaten our tourism based economy, fragment the landscape, reduce wildlife and fish habitat, and alter site hydrology.
6. Do buildings affect global warming?
Yes. The construction and operation of buildings together use one-third of all energy consumed in the United States. This energy use produces 40% of carbon dioxide emissions, a primary contributor to global warming. Air conditioned buildings not only use more energy, the refrigerants used in these systems often contribute to climate change and they also deplete the ozone layer. Building materials are also a major source of air quality problems, for example, buildings emit damaging sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxide and particulate emissions.
7. What effect do green buildings have on health and productivity?
Numerous studies link employee work performance to their work environment. Eight case studies show worker productivity increases between 6-15% in structures built to maximize daylighting, natural ventilation, and indoor air quality through reduced use of toxic materials (e.g., paints, materials, and laminates low in volatile organic compounds). Adverse health risks and missed work have direct economic impacts. Since a typical employer spends almost 70 times more on salaries than on energy, the productivity advantages of green buildings can have substantial financial benefits.
Asthma and other health issues related to indoor air quality have also become major health concerns. Respiratory disease has increased nearly 50% in the last decade. Many building materials can have an adverse effect on indoor air quality: Paints, laminates, floor finishes, cabinets, particleboard, and certain structurally engineered building systems emit fumes (called off gassing) and contain carcinogens found in some volatile organic compounds. Because most people spend more than 90% of their time indoors, using carefully screened building materials and adequate ventilation are key elements to creating healthy homes and workplaces.
8. What impact does green building have on our economy?
Aspen is promoted as the premier resort community in the world. The preservation of the environment is key to preserving the success of the region overall. Preservation of resources including the climate, energy, natural spaces as well as our health and wildlife is critical. Thus green building makes dollars as well as sense.
Thanks to: The Portland Office for Sustainable Development for much of the information provided in this resource.
