The guts of the article are retained. This excerpt is edited and snipped to take out some specific references.
I just wanted to post it as a type of the sustainability that I've tried to advocate. I'm not saying that we need a socialist government to implement it, or draconian zoning, or any such thing. This stuff just makes sense to me.
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At a local high school, natural light can boost achievement, wallpaper comes from plants, and taxpayers save $70,000 a year on the school's utility bill.
On the north side of town, the city will soon store vehicles in a garage where natural light and architecture will save taxpayers $10,000 a year on energy use.
"Ninety-five percent of the time, we won't even have to turn the lights on," said the city's facilities project manager, who is overseeing the finishing touches on the city's first "green" building.
And at a local brewery, wastewater from the brewing process is fueling up to 60 percent of the company during peak energy times, saving the makers of the local brew about $3,000 a month on electricity and adding to the firm's bottom line.
"Green building" uses recycled materials and a coordinated landscaping and building design to create structures and indoor environments that are energy- and water-efficient and healthy for visitors.
The value is apparent to businesses, planners and builders who have already embraced the concepts outlined in a sustainability report. Public and private entities are going greener, as is much of the nation, and last year the city's Chamber of Commerce created an environmental committee.
Then there's the positive public relations that comes with being green.
"You can do well financially by doing well for the Earth," said the director of the Institute for the Built Environment at Colorado State University.
The organization, a research center in the department of construction management, was created in 1994 and focuses on sustainability issues, including economic, environmental and social.
The institute's 12-week Green Building Certificate Program sold out this spring and has been attended by a who's who of area landscapers and builders.
"Clients are asking about it," the director said, and contractors have to respond.
An emerging badge of green building is the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.
"There's evidence our private sector is embracing these things," said the president of an engineering consulting firm that specializes in energy efficiency, pollution prevention, water conservation and sustainable design.
