It’s all about architechnology

One thing you don’t read about on a regular basis in local newspapers is architecture and urban design – and some would say most of the local built environment shows that lack of interest. Why bother spending money on design when you can sprawl big boxes across the plains?

However, an unintended consequence of NoCo’s rise as a center of alternative energy development, among the topics to be discussed in the April 18 Green Summit at the Hilton Fort Collins – yes, it’s all about a shameless plug for the next NCBR event – could be a shift in the way we build our buildings.

San Francisco, already filling a 49-square-mile peninsula, is in no position to sprawl anywhere. The city is in a position and has the political will to spend tax dollars on building its new Public Utilities Commission headquarters with the absolute latest green technology.

Sustainability measures include thermal chimneys for cooling, a self-contained water-recycling system, photovoltaic panels woven into the sides of the building to harvest sunlight and elegantly slow-moving yet efficient wind turbines. Together, the solar and wind systems are expected to generate 40 percent of the building’s energy needs.

Of course, this being San Francisco, the goal was to take the building, a half-block from City Hall, completely off the grid, but the current measures are already adding $16 million to the $178 million price tag, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. A nearly 10 percent price increase might be hard to market to private tenants at current energy rates – or would it?

Developers, building owners, tenants, how much would you be wiling to invest in green building technology to cut energy bills in half? And bankers and lenders, when does green technology enter the equation on a commercial project? It’s all about the future of our urban landscape.

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