Lakewood commercial property owners get help going green

by Jill Jamieson-Nichols - attributed to the Colorado Real Estate Journal

Owners of Lakewood commer­cial properties 50,000 square feet and smaller will get help green­ing their buildings through a first-of-its-kind citywide effort to save energy and create jobs.

Up to 26 million sf of commer­cial space in Lakewood – about the equivalent of all the office space in downtown Denver – potentially is eligible for building/energy audits through the new Greening Lakewood Business Partnership program.

The partnership intends to work directly with owners of 1,300 eli­gible properties to calculate costs and true benefits of energy efficient retrofits. It also will guide them to applicable rebate and retrofit programs available through Xcel Energy, the Colorado Governor’s Energy Office and private banks, for example.

“A building owner doesn’t have time to go through this. What we are trying to be is a conduit and a trusted source to help people,” said George Valuck, executive director of the Alameda Gateway Community Association and Alameda Corridor Business Improvement District, partners in the program.

“This is a many, many year proj­ect,” Valuck said.

Students at Red Rocks Community College, whose green career education programs include a cutting-edge technician certifica­tion program, will conduct the building audits at no cost. The audits will include a comprehen­sive look at building envelopes, HVAC, insulation, building mate­rials, lighting, etc.

Partners include the city of Lakewood, Veterans Green Jobs (a nonprofit preparing veter­ans for green careers), the Better Business Bureau, Jefferson County Workforce Center, Lightly Treading Inc. Energy & Design, Sholar Architecture and Construction and American Mechanical Solutions.

An audit completed for The Learning Source at 455 S. Pierce St. (the former Villa Library) deter­mined retrofits would result in a 50 percent energy savings, allow­ing the nonprofit to provide edu­cational training for an additional 60 people each year. It received a grant from Namaste Solar for a photovoltaic installation and is awaiting word on additional funding, including economic stimulus dollars offered through the governor’s energy office.

The 11,442-sf brick build­ing will be wrapped in a new exterior insulation finish system and receive a new roof, glazing, lighting, Xeriscaping and HVAC improvements. Installation of a new evaporative cooled con­denser alone is expected to cut electric consumption by 25 per per­cent. The $1.23 million retrofit will provide a “living classroom” for the Greening Lakewood Business Partnership.

Easter Seals Colorado at 5755 W. Alameda Ave. also jumped on the opportunity for an audit and is actively involved in the program.

The Better Business Bureau and Veterans Green Jobs view the project as a model for other metro regions. The partnership’s primary focus is on education and internship job training for people wanting to develop careers in the energy-efficiency industry, and the group is committed to includ­ing military veterans.

Lakewood Mayor Bob Murphy said the Greening Lakewood Business Partnership will save commercial property owners money they can use to reinvest in their businesses and likely will increase the value of their properties while creating “real jobs” and new business in the community.