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2011 Colorado Sustainability Conference Recap and Tweet Preservation

Posted in Events, Sustainability with tags , , , , on November 18, 2011 by John Olson

The Colorado Sustainability Conference wrapped up today at the Antler’s Hilton in Downtown Colorado Springs. It may be because it has wrapped up and I am still full of energy from it, but I do not hesitate to say that it was the best conference that I have attended in Southern Colorado. Great job Catamount Institute and Sustainable Fort Carson!

The progress that has been made in Southern Colorado is simply amazing, and this occurs in a time that the economy is suffering.  I have compiled a few notes from the sessions that I was able to attend, but it will only give a glimpse of the breadth of information from the conference. Some of the notes… most of the notes, are actually tweets. This is a great way to preserve the tweets, however.

Toward Net Zero Water:

This was a session that I facilitated, so my notes were extremely limited. Perhaps if I were like “Sustainovator,” Nick Kittle, who managed to tweet while serving as the Master of Ceremony for the Conference I could have done both, something to aspire for in the future conferences. How do you do it Nick?

I do wish to recognize the speakers in the Toward Net Zero Water session though, because I was extremely proud and impressed by their presentations and professional input.  Our presenters were Kate McMordie Stoughton and Liz Gardener. We had a great Q & A session afterwards where Kate and Liz were joined by Zach Collins, Scott Clark, Curtis Mitchell and David Takeda. Very nice job all!

Luncheon and Keynote Speaker Joel Bourne, National Geographic Contributing Writer

“If the bottom Evers falls out on ethanol, we can always drink it.” – Nebraska Farmer

Negative: Projection of water levels to increase by 1 meter by end of the century, due to melting of glaciers, Climate Change.

Negative: The wars of the future will not be fought over oil, but water.

Negative: Studies show 4x ratio in biomass between jelly fish to other fish.

Positive: More than half the fish we eat, come from Aquaculture.

Opportunity: Switchgrass. No need 4 fertilizers, little water

Silver Buck Shot for Food security in 2050

  1. Stop cutting down forests
  2. Close yield gap in hunger zones
  3. More crop per drop, efficient irrigation
  4. Eat less meat
  5. Reduce food waste

What’s Next for Net Zero Energy? Presenters: Tom Hootman, Pete Jefferson, Shanti Pless

@JO_Urbanist: Tom Hootman, RNL: Training Wheels as a Metaphor for LEED. #NetZero requires Climate Responsive Design

  • Some of the buildings just cannot get to Net Zero, so over compensation on buildings such as parking structures is necessary. – Pete
  • Designing buildings prior to electricity and operate as passive as possible. South & north facades daylighting as much as possible… 60-ft span is ideal. -Shanti
  • Owner is critical, cannot simply hire a design build team to get there. -Shanti
  • RFP was critical: no drawings, RFP for NREL Net Zero Building was Performance-based. -Shanti
  • Almost critical to have member of the design build team occupying a space in the building for the first year. -Shanti
  • For every watt saved continuously, it is $33 of PV that is not needed (to get to Net Zero).

Friday Opening Keynote: Growing Healthy Kids and Communities: What can we learn from the Business of School Lunch? Presenter: Debra Eschmeyer, FoodCorps (All Notes were via Twitter)

@Catamount_Inst: “You shouldn’t have to win the lottery to have a healthy lunch” #2011CSC

@JO_Urbanist: ”There are more prisoners today than Farmers” #2011CSC

@Catamount_Inst: Pizza is a vegetable? Congress says yes!? #2011CSC Unacceptable. Even kids know pizza is not a vegetable.

@Catamount_Inst: ”Children participating in Farm to School programs consume an increase of one serving of fruits and vegetables per day” #2011CSC @foodcorps

@JO_Urbanist: School Gardens, Cooking & Taste Tests, and Farm Tours. Great work by @FoodCorps #2011CSC

@JO_Urbanist: @FoodCorps not serving in#Colorado ? We need to fix that! #2011CSC Such a great Org!

@JO_Urbanist: 1000 schools will receive $2000 grants for School Gardens from @FoodCorps Apply Today! #2011CSC

@kittlent: more prisoners than farmers is shocking info. Pizza is a veggie? Ridiculous! @foodcorps is doing great work! #2011CSC

@JO_Urbanist: ”We grew it so we like it a lot more.” via @FoodCorps #2011CSC

@USGBCCOSouth: What a great program the @FoodCorps just presented. Local and healthy food for school lunches, yes please!#2011CSC

@JO_Urbanist: ”More about the proper relationship with food than obesity.” Healthy eating. @FoodCorps #2011CSC

@JO_Urbanist: ”Amazing that cooking shows are so popular, but nobody is cooking.” @FoodCorps #2011CSC

10 Sniglets to a Better World Presenter: Nick Kittle (@kittlent)

@JO_Urbanist: @kittlent Ten Sniglets to a Better World: Transportimobilification; Fiscifoolish; Shuggleftulation; Motodrift; Backspackle… #2011CSC

@JO_Urbanist: @kittlent Snigglets cont’d: Spubbling; Innovention; Sustainovation; Gapiana; Scandroids Good stuff! Ask Nick what they mean. #2011CSC

@JO_Urbanist: @kittlent Technology Adoption Lifecycle. Great stuff! #2011CSC Please send original Nick, love it! lockerz.com/s/157275870

@CollinsAE: @kittlent #sniglets #sustainovation Funniest presentation at the #2011CSC.

@JO_Urbanist: @kittlent “Spubbling: if it is a pain to use a product, it won’t happen… Avoid it!” #2011CSC

@Catamount_Inst: A view of the room with lots of laughing. Great work @kittlent on teaching people about sniglets! #2011CSC http://t.co/QkfRe5Zy

@JO_Urbanist: @kittlent “Not a tree hugger, I’m a tree planter” #2011CSC

@JO_Urbanist: @kittlent “Are we good about rallying around an idea, or are we good at bringing it down?” #2011CSC

@Catamount_Inst: Time for the breakouts! go check out @RiestererLaw or the other great sessions we have! #2011CSC

@JO_Urbanist: Great props given @StrongTowns & @Richard_Florida by @kittlent at the #2011CSC

Green Leases: Removing Obstacles to LEED Certification: Presenter: Ryan Riesterer & Meghan Riesterer

@JO_Urbanist: @RiestererLaw “Green Leases are not simple, but it doesn’t mean that they can’t be achieved.” #2011CSC

@kittlent: #COSprings has @RiestererLaw teaching on green leases: Use a bilateral approach & negotiate on key points. Be prepared! #2011CSC

@kittlent: #2011CSC “to negotiate green leases, you need split incentives” b/w landlords and tenants said @RiestererLaw

@kittlent: #2011CSC @RiestererLaw has a talented partner who says measurement is a key to successful green lease partnerships

@JO_Urbanist: @RiestererLaw Tenants could be protected by 20% performance buffer for leaser/leasee in Green Lease. Mutual 3rd Party Energy Verif #2011CSC

@JO_Urbanist: Include good realtor, attorney, local utility in your process of establishing a Green Lease. #2011CSC @RiestererLaw

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The Importance of Density: Colorado Springs Quality of Life Indicators

Posted in Comprehensive Planning and Codes, Town Planning, Urban Planning and Design with tags , , , on October 13, 2011 by John Olson

The Quality of Life Indicators Report was released last week in Colorado Springs, where I was honored to present the key points from the Built Environment Vision Council. The event was rich with concise presentations including one from the honorable Mayor of Colorado Springs, Steve Bach.

As you may imagine, the report identified many negative components about Colorado Springs in comparison to some of the similar-sized cities in the area. However, the report is not entirely negative. In my presentation, I attempted to focus on some of the brighter points of our community, such as the progress made for bicycle infrastructure in our city and the Downtown form-based code. Where the “red flags,” or problems, were referenced, I made an attempt to offer potential solutions.

The overriding “red flag” in Colorado Springs is a lack of density. Density is a measure of people or dwelling units per square mile or acre. For development purposes, density is typically measured in terms of dwelling units per acre. A lack of density has a multiplier effect over the other quality of life indicators, due to a higher ratio of city resources per person. Resources include roads, infrastructure, and public services (fire, police, schools, transit, etc.).

Colorado Springs had a population of 372,437 people and approximately 185 square miles (118,400 acres) in 2006 according to the US Census. With approximately 2.5 people per dwelling unit in Colorado Springs, this equates to a gross density across the city of 1.25 dwelling units per acre. When we look at our residential neighborhoods alone, Colorado Springs has 31,414 acres of residential, which yields a net residential density of only 4.74 dwelling units per acre.

4.74 dwelling units is a density that is on the low side of even conventional suburban development. The net density is common for detached single-family homes that sit on lots of approximately 100-ft by 90-ft.

In order to alleviate this lack of density, the Pikes Peak Region must explore opportunities for infill. For those who may not be familiar with the term infill, I offered the analogy of the hole in the donut. In this analogy, the outer edges of the donut are the developed and utilized properties, while the hole is the vacant or sometimes underutilized properties. Not only does the city need to fill in the “donut holes”, but they should be filled in with structures that are of a greater density to what was previously developed or even zoned.

A key component to where the city can assist in enabling infill development is in balancing out suburban greenfield development with infill development. The City should revise codes along distressed corridors to provide an expedited process, offer predictable form and allow for the market to dictate the density and parking requirements.

Infill is critical to increasing density in Colorado Springs' distressed neighborhoods. The above Dream City Vision Board was created by John Olson, Jim Houk and Dave Foster.

The City of Colorado Springs fortunately has a precedent in place in the downtown form-based code. The quantitative code in place removes the ambiguity of the qualitative requirements. Qualitative requirements are very open for interpretation and often result in a time-consuming process. Codes similar to the downtown form-based code should be calibrated and created for the areas of dynamism, or areas with great potential for change. These areas are typically failing commercial corridors, originally constructed with single-use buildings with a short life expectancy. For more about Colorado Springs’ Downtown Form-based Code, read Adaptability in Use Changes for Downtown Colorado Springs.

In my presentation, the other major red flag identified was the poor condition of the City’s roads, bridges and lack of transit.  I will discuss this in my next blog post. Please stay tuned.

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A Vision for Memorial Park in Colorado Springs

Posted in Urban Renewal with tags , , , , on August 28, 2011 by John Olson

An image of Prospect Lake during the Annual Balloon Festival over Labor Day in Colorado Springs. Image from Springsgov.com

Colorado Springs’ City Councilman Tim Leigh has a vision for Prospect Lake at Memorial Park in Colorado Springs.  Memorial Park is a centrally located urban park only one mile from the urban center of Colorado Springs.  As Mr. Leigh emphasizes in the flyer below, Prospect Lake is one of the few places in Colorado Springs where residents and visitors can enjoy the beach.

If you are interested in partnering with Mr. Leigh, he can be contacted at Tim@TimLeigh.com or by phone at 719.337.9551.

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