April is Colorado Architecture Month!

The month-long celebration of Colorado architecture and design, hosted by the American Institute of Architects (AIA Colorado), will have several free events and educational opportunities for the public.

You’ll find a list of events here.

Events and programs range from seminars on how to work with an architect to a merging of art and architecture during Architecture, Art and Appetizers. Some have sustainability in mind like the April 15 event at the University of Denver, with the theme, “Confluence: Social Responsibility > Sustainability.”

We’re focused on our Net Zero Energy home and that focus on sustainability is seen around the world. In fact, skyscrapers may be the next big thing in green building.

Check out this Wall Street Journal story featuring an interview Malaysian architect Kenneth Yeang, winner of the prestigious Aga Khan Award in Architecture for his pioneering work in sustainable building. His insights talk about the challenges in sustainable building and how they’re being handled in Asia.

The journey of building Breckenridge’s First Net Zero home by design-build firm Trilogy Partners didn’t ignore details from the inside and outside. The design needed to fit the upscale look of the homeowners in the Timber Trail neighborhood.

One of the first challenges was how to work with a beautiful and intricate architecture and meet the goal of a zero energy home.

One of our partners on the project was Andy Walker and Renee Azerbegi of Denver’s Ambient Energy, which provided an analysis of how much energy is needed to power the home’s lighting, heating, cooling and other daily living needs.

“Our greatest challenge was making a significantly-sized home energy efficient and renewably powered,” Renee says.

They determined how to reduce the life cycle energy use of the home and save more than $58,000 in energy costs over the life of the home.

They calculated how to provide 100 percent of the house’s energy use fro on-site renewable energy systems, with a combination of a large solar electric PV array and a geo exchange system for space heating.

Check back later this week for details about how the framing made the home as energy efficient as possible.

Home energy use accounts for 21 percent of the nation’s carbon footprint, which is twice the carbon emissions of passenger cars, according to a San Jose Mercury News article.

But as the movement toward sustainability in home design and construction is gaining steam, green-tech experts tell the paper they’re expecting a banner year. It notes that even President Obama has proclaimed insulation “sexy.” 

In fact, the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board has found that there are 100 million homes in America, and energy-saving measures like insulation, caulking, and heating and cooling system upgrades can reduce household energy consumption by 10 percent to 40 percent.

We are focusing on sustainability with our Breckenridge’s first zero energy luxury home, and we hope to inspire others to consider their impact on the nations’ carbon footprint in home design as well.