City seeks to dispel green-building myths
Workshop covers sustainability, workability of environmentally friendly construction

A construction crew works on-site in north Durango along Animas View Driveon Monday. The City of Durango is co-sponsoring a green building workshop aimed at dispelling myths about green building, namely that it’s cost prohibitive./Photo by Todd Newcomer.

by Missy Votel

While lawns and gardens around Durango are greening up, city planners and others are hoping construction in and around town will soon take on a similar hue.

Next Monday, in conjunction with the Fort Lewis College Environmental Center's Earth Week celebration, the City of Durango will be hosting a green building workshop and sustainability forum. The two-part event will feature the building workshop from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Durango Rec Center, which will be hosted by Dan Chiras, college professor and author of such books as The Solar House and Superbia. At 7 p.m., the event will reconvene at the Smiley Building with a community forum on sustainability, which will feature a keynote address by Chiras as well as local green building success stories, including the Smiley Building's own Charles Shaw.

According to Werner Heiber, housing program specialist with Colorado Housing Inc. and event organizer, the topics of green building and community sustainability may not seem directly related, but actually are. He says that by building green, homeowners save money over the long run that would otherwise leave the community in the form of utility bills and the like. In turn, this money is spent locally, helping to strengthen the local economy.

"It's just another way of creating a sustainable community," he said. "The focus will be on livable neighborhoods and how to keep money in the community."

In addition to this, green buildings can reduce the strain on local infrastructure, improve employee performance, help protect ecosystems and resources, and reduce solid waste, all things that can lead to a more resilient local economy and better quality of life.

However, Heiber said there is a misconception that green building can be expensive, something only afforded by the well to do.

"To some it has a negative connotation, that it has the potential to be more expensive," he said. "That's why the green building workshop is called, 'Myth or Reality.' The reality is that it can be done for not so much more money up front but a substantial payback over time."

According to Heiber, energy efficiency studies have shown that by building green, a homeowner can save between $30,000 and $80,000 on a 1,240 square foot house over 30 years. The slightly higher costs of green construction are usually made up within the first three to five years after construction. Although he was hesitant to put a dollar figure on the price of building green because there are so many variables in the construction process, he said it is possible for a home to be built green for as low as $90 a square foot.

A study done in October by Davis Langdon, an international construction-cost consulting firm, found that homes built to U.S. Green Building Council LEED (Leadership in Energy and Efficient Design) standards were often no more expensive than non-LEED buildings. "Many projects can achieve sustainable design within their budget or with very small supplemental funding," stated the report. "This suggests that owners are finding ways to incorporate elements important to the goals and values of the project."

Linda Lewis, a management assistant with the City Manager's Office who also is helping to organize the event, said such a change in thinking is integral to approaching green building.

"It really requires a shift in ideology in the way people are living," she said. "Instead of thinking 'How big of a house can we get for our money?' people need to think in terms of 'How sustainable of a house can we get for our money?'"

Werner Heiber, of Colorado Housing Inc., sits in the courtyard of the Smiley building on Monday. the smiley is one of the projects that will be featured at Monday's green building forum, organized by Heiber./Photo by Todd Newcomer.

"It really requires a shift in ideology in the way people are living," she said. "Instead of thinking 'How big of a house can we get for our money?' people need to think in terms of 'How sustainable of a house can we get for our money?'"

Such shifts are already starting to take place locally, she said, with the Durango City Council passing a resolution on green building principles a little more than a year ago.

"The policy was to help encourage green building in the private sector and get the word out," she said.

To that effect, the city has helped organize the workshop, and city planners and council are considering incorporating green building practices into the city's Comprehensive Plan, said city planner Milissa Berry. Furthermore, the city Building Department is looking at adopting an energy efficient code. The city also has taken the lead by example by using green building principles into all new buildings and renovations and by applying other green practices, such as the use of recycled paper, Lewis said.

"It's more important to set an example by what the city does, and hopefully, the private sector will follow," she said.

Another notable example of incorporating green building is the Southern Ute Tribe's Three Springs project slated for Grandview, Berry said.

"They're really the first to embrace green building on a large scale," she said.

Heiber said Colorado Housing, a nonprofit organization that works to provide affordable housing, is also taking steps toward greener buildings. Currently, the group is awaiting final approval on utilizing passive and active solar energy on a clustered 10-home project in a Springs. Closer to home, Colorado Housing is looking at a joint housing project with Habitat for Humanity on Florida Road that would incorporate green construction materials and practices.

"My interest is to provide affordable and healthy housing that has lower life cycle costs," said Heiber.

And while such projects have the benefit of economy of scale, Lewis noted that smaller projects are as equally attainable by taking smaller steps, the first of which is to open the topic to discussion.

"It's better to start with small steps that add up to a lot," she said. "Just getting people talking will affect the amount of green building that's being done."