Energy-conscious firms find ways to use less as growth fuels demand

While Congress debates the merits of revamping regulations that slow gas, electrical, coal and power production, some companies, but not all, are taking steps in day-to-day business practices to conserve energy and resources.

The bad news is that the power drain isn’t expected to go away any time soon. More than 76 million residential buildings and nearly 5 million commercial buildings exist in the United States. They use one-third of all the energy consumed, and two-thirds of all the electricity. By the year 2010, another 38 million buildings are expected to be constructed, all this according to the Department of Energy’s Center for Sustainable Development .

Growth along the Denver-Boulder Corridor is adding to the demand for energy and materials, and local companies are being pressed to find ways to conserve both.

Corporate Express at Interlocken in Broomfield was a bit ahead of the curve when it built its 160,000-square-foot facility in 1996. It used 12 acres of the 18 available to conserve the environment, said Vic Burnett, facilities services supervisor. But it also asked Downing, Thorpe & James Inc. of Boulder to design an energy-efficient building. “We installed more than 150 thermostats in order to control the temperature more efficiently. ? We only used recycled materials or products that could be recycled,” Burnett said.

In addition, the building is equipped with light-reflector shelves to catch sunlight. Called daylight harvesting, the system dims the inside lights when natural light is available to save energy. The building’s design and the daylighting system allows the use of indirect ambient light. Economical task lights, which require less energy and produce less heat, combine to light work stations.

The direct/indirect evaporative cooling system that was installed, a huge, sophisticated version of a swamp cooler designed by Robinson Mechanical and the RMH Group, reduces the cost of air conditioning.

George Griego, Corporate Express’ facilities manager, said the features keep monthly power bills at around $20,000, despite the rise in energy costs.

Dave Williams, a principal at Downing, Thorpe & James, and manager of the Corporate Express project, said the daylighting system and the mechanical cooling system save about 50 percent in power bills compared with conventional lighting and cooling systems.

At medium-sized BauWerks Construction Inc. in Boulder, energy is being conserved another way. Martin Wachter, owner and project manager, consciously plans jobs to reduce transportation costs. “We try to use our trucks in circle trips to save energy,” he said. Wachter estimates his company has saved nearly $1,000 per month in gasoline, oil changes and wear and tear on his vehicles by planning his transportation routes.

The company always goes for a higher-quality insulation for its remodel jobs, and it uses water pools to reflect light and save electricity on residential projects, Wachter said. “The cost of insulation with a higher R factor is negligible and takes no more time to install,” he said. “And using lighting for effect also can produce energy savings.”

Wachter said he has monitored the amount of material his company uses for similar jobs, and he has found that with a little effort, his employees are using a lesser amount of materials for each job and have less waste. With six employees and more than $1 million in annual sales, BauWerks Construction remodeling projects include Rhumba restaurant in downtown

Boulder and Siamese Place on the Go.

At the other end of the construction continuum, JDC Construction Inc./Solar Intent, a $400,000 to $600,000 a year small, commercial- and residential-construction firm, would like to design and construct more buildings using energy-saving techniques, but the clients are few and far between. “We are dealing now with an unenlightened, uninformed public when it comes to saving energy,´ said Jeff Combelic, president of the corporation.

“If you look at the gas-guzzling Suburbans people drive, then look at their houses, you will see the same kind of ostentatious, indulgent behavior reflected in their homes,” Combelic said. Yet it only costs about $2 to $3 more a square foot to build a house that saves energy and takes advantage of solar heat, he said.

Combelic has built and remodeled many structures incorporating solar. Last year he designed and built two homes in Nederland whose owners pay half as much for their energy as owners of comparable houses in the neighborhood. Both are on south-facing lots.

“One technique I use is to build an interior mass wall, a two- to three-story concrete wall on the inside of a house that has south-facing windows. The wall stabilizes the house and soaks up the heat from the windows. The temperature never gets above 75 degrees, even when heat is pouring in through the windows, ” Combelic said.

JDC Construction also uses Filon fiberglass products to hold in heat for living areas that are only occupied certain times during the day. “We built an enclosed porch at a Montessori School that is used as a locker room. Since it’s opaque, it’s perfect,” Combelic said.

Filon could also be used for plant rooms or an artist’s studio where an owner doesn’t want people looking in, but needs plenty of light, according to Combelic. “It costs half as much as regular glass, and you can cut it with a saw,” he said. Standard plate glass costs $192 for a 4-foot by 8-foot plate, so Filon would save $96.

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