Double Black Diamond Homes:
Redefining Quality with Green Building
By Bob Keenan, City of Steamboat Springs Senior Planner
The City of Steamboat Springs and Routt County are excited to announce the start of the City and County's joint Green Building Program which has been over a year in the making. A grant from the State of Colorado's Department of Local Affairs was instrumental in leading our communities down the path toward high-performing, healthy new homes. The City matched the grant funds and hired a consulting team with expertise in sustainable building programs. The project coordinators combined the consultant's experience and expertise with the knowledge of our local building trades professionals, and created a program custom-tailored to Routt County's unique needs and climate.
January 1, 2009 marked the start of the City of Steamboat Springs' and Routt County's newly adopted Green Building Pilot Program (GBP) for new residential construction (excluding condominiums and large multifamily). This pilot program will continue through the end of the year and will serve primarily as an educational tool, but will also serve as a current green building practices barometer. The information gathered during this pilot phase will be used to guide the program into its formal stage. As with any new program, the City expects to do some fine tuning as it continually evaluates the merits of the program.
This is a voluntary program. The only mandatory requirement is a signed Green Building Program checklist attached to all building permit plans for new single-family, duplex, or row townhome construction. There is no requirement for compliance with the GBP, but owners and builders are encouraged to participate in the program as they can benefit from the many advantages of building sustainably.
Two documents make up the Green Building Program. The first is the checklist, which is a menu-like spreadsheet of sustainable features that make up the program. The second is a supporting booklet that explains each of the program checklist items in detail. Builders can obtain these documents at Routt County Regional Building Department or by following the link at the end of this article.
Building a home to the merits of the GBP starts with a building permit application through the Routt County Building Department. Throughout the construction process the applicant will need to document all sustainable features incorporated in the home. The Building Department will review compliance at the time of Certificate of Occupancy and certify the home if it meets the program requirements.
In typical Ski Town fashion, the levels of certification are based on the ski trail difficulty rating system with minimum points assigned to each category. The four levels of certification, each with increasing point thresholds, reflect the increasing energy and resource efficiency of each level. Levels and corresponding point thresholds are as follows:
Energy efficiency is a key component of this program and the GBP utilizes the ENERGY STAR for New Homes criteria for compliance. ENERGY STAR compliance and certification is mandatory for all homes certified under the Green Building Program and is a requirement under all certification levels.
ENERGY STAR new homes are at least twenty percent more efficient than homes built to conventional codes. ENERGY STAR homes are tightly constructed, include high insulation values, use efficient and correctly sized HVAC systems, and are third party verified ensuring quality construction. New ENERGY STAR homes built this calendar year within Routt County will be eligible to receive a $300 rebate through the Governor's Energy Office. For more information on ENERGY STAR and rebates visit the following links respectively:
www.energystar.gov/ www.colorado.gov/energy
Other benefits of building to the merits of the Green Building Program include increased comfort with natural day-lighting. Better indoor air quality of the home is also a significant component of the program, and is achieved by increased ventilation and by reducing and/or eliminating VOCs and other harmful chemicals. Sustainably built homes have proven to have higher resale value as well as a shorter sale period compared to that of standard homes.
This program will not only provide sustainable homes for Steamboat Springs, but may be instrumental in providing healthy, high-performing housing stock for the Steamboat Spring's workforce in the areas slated for new growth west of the city. 
For more information please go to: steamboatsprings.net/departments/planning_department or contact Bob Keenan, Senior Planner bkeenan@steamboatsprings.net or 970-871-8260
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