The story of the Telluride Green Building Movement is an extensive one. Many great efforts took place to accomplish the ultimate goal of changing the way buildings are designed in Telluride today.

It all started in the early spring of 2002, the day County Commissioner Art Goodtimes mentioned to builder and friend Glen Harcourt how he felt many citizens in the community were just as concerned about green building as he was and, as an aside, how great it would be if Glen spearheaded a movement to accomplish a status quo for green building. Glen took this to heart and immediately called the first Green Building Task Force meeting, open to all interested in the community.

It was amazing the breadth of the community represented, all very interested to aid in whatever way they could, discussing a vast amount of ideas. After this first meeting, it became apparent that with this many ideas and people ready to help, it was necessary to channel the efforts into groups where they could have the greatest impact.

At the next meeting, sub-committees were formed. The group broke into the Building Code Group, the Education Group, the Green Building Incentive Group, and the Main Steering Committee. The Main Steering Committee organized the whole group’s functions and reviewed the goals of the other subcommittees. The Building Incentive Group became a catalyst for Amy Levek’s goals for a Green Chamber of Commerce. The Education Group filled the library with books on Green Building. The largest group, the Building Code Group, set a long, lofty goal of producing a new code that would require every building or addition built in Telluride to meet a set of Green Building standards before obtaining their Certificate of Occupancy.

Without trying to re-invent the wheel, we began to research other model cities that had already had a set of codes implemented. We researched Seattle, Austin, Houston, Boulder, and finally decided upon Aspen/Pitkin County. This was mainly due to the similarities in the climate and building archetypes that were found in our respective areas. But Telluride was even more unique; the town has very strict Historical Guidelines that would need to be followed in our final draft. Luckily, the building official David “Sam” Sameulson and one of the planning officials, Elizabeth Robbins, were motivated members of the group. Without their full support and leadership this process would have been much more arduous.

The first step was to change part of the Telluride Land Use Code to allow renewable energy fixtures (solar panels) in the Commercial and Historic Commercial Districts. With this part completed we started on the building code. Tuesday, February 15, 2005 we were ready to start discussions with Town Council. This work session functioned mainly to introduce the Town to our ideas for the code and to receive public comment. After a few more meetings and redlined drafts, the Town of Telluride Green Building Code Checklist gained final approval and became mandatory on March 28, 2005.

The Town of Telluride Green Building Code Checklist is a point-based system requiring a total number of points based on square footage as well as a percentage of points per category. The main headings are: Energy-Efficiency, Indoor Air Quality, Sustainable Material and Resource Conservation.

The Energy Efficiency breaks down into the overall building efficiency: efficient mechanical, heating and cooling systems and energy rated appliances. The Sustainable Materials category follows the building throughout construction giving points for Insulated Concrete Form Systems, engineered framing lumber or certified sustainable framing Lumber, Low-e windows, recycled content roofing materials, and 100 percent recycled wood particleboard. The Indoor Air Quality category gives points for radon mitigation, exterior hood ventilation, sealed combustion gas fireplace with outside combustion air, solvent free low toxic wood floor finish, and low or zero VOC Paints. One of the more challenging, but imperative part of the overall Green built structure is the last section, Resource Conservation. Here you gain points by saving and reusing topsoil, partaking in on-site construction waste recycling, using 50 to 100 percent local materials and local labor.

As daunting as this list may seem, the main goal was to make it something for everyone to be able to accomplish. So, along with this checklist is a resource guide with pages of information on businesses that have the materials or systems that you may need to gain your points. And now, because of this need, local construction suppliers are stocking many of the items listed on the code checklist. This keeps business as usual for the contractors and the cost reasonable for the owners.

Starting with a small group of concerned community members, we were able to come up with a viable system of sustainable building of which we are very proud. There are many working models. Use them to create your own community’s Green Building Movement and for your contribution to the planet.

Lea Sisson AIA is the principal architect of Lea Sisson Architects, based in Telluride, Colo. The focus of the firm is on sustainable building and its projects span the globe, from ecological housing in Sweden to a cultural center in Guatemala. Visit Lea’s site — www.leasissonarchitects. com — to view portfolios of some of her unique and environmentally responsible designs.

Available on-line:
Building green Code Checklist: www.town.telluride.co.us/docs/gbcchecklist.pdf
Resource guide: www.town.telluride.co.us/docs/final gb resource guide.com.pdf