8A - Update Memo - April 1, 2009 Apri115t, 2009
TO: Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board
FROM: James Hewat, Chris Meschuk
SUBJECT: Update Memo
Historic Preservation Budget
Update at meeting.
Landmarks Board Retreat
Possible times and dates for a retreat are noon-4PM, Thursday Apri123rd, Thursday Apri130t",
or Friday May 1St. .
Historic Preservation Awards
Over the past several years, the historic preservation program has recognized exceptional
projects in Boulder with awards presented at the Square Nail preservation award ceremony in
the Community House at Chautauqua. This year, the award ceremony is scheduled for May
11th at 6 pm, during Archaeology and Historic Preservation Week. Award categories are:
notable rehabilitation/restoration, compatible addition to a historic building, compatible new
construction in a Historic District, and other. Be prepared discuss nominations and vote on
recipients at the meeting.
Platt Farmhouse
On March 3rd, the City Council overturned the Landmark Board's denial of the application to
relocate the landmark buildings. Details regarding the move and rehabilitation of the house will
be reviewed by the Landmarks design review committee when they become available.
Revisions to Enforcement Provisions in Historic Preservation Ordinance
Once the criminal and administrative penalties have been preliminarily reviewed and comment
on by the Board, they will be brought to the Landmarks Board for formal review and
recommendation and subsequently to the City Council for adoption, if appropriate.
Post WW-II Residential Subdivision Survey and Context
Field work for the intensive level survey is complete. Ten draft intensive level survey forms will
be submitted for review March 20~~, 2009. The Landmarks Board will be given an opportunity to
make comments on the draft survey forms.
Mapleton School
Update at meeting.
Valmont Mill
Staff is working on a Colorado Historical Society condition assessment grant application.
2009 CLG Grant Application
$5,303 has been granted to the historic preservation program and the Carnegie Lzbrary to pay
fox historic building inventory foams and accompanying photographs, between 1985 and the
present, to be scanned and made electronically available on the city's historic preservation
website.
New and Pending Land Use Review Applications
Valmont Park
Planning Board Calendar
See attached.
Stay-of-Demolition Status Summary, April 1St, 2009
Date of Date Stay ~ Date of
Address Construction IYnposed Expiration Current Status
607 Forest c.1937 12/3/2008 04/06/2009 See memo an packet.
Avenue
Landmark Applications Update:.
• 19181/2 Pearl Street City Council landmarked 03.03.2009.
• 800 Arapahoe Avenue (Hannah Barker House) landmarked 03.17.2009.
Attachments:
'Back to the Future -The First LEED Platinum, net zero carbon house in Colorado and Maybe
the First in the Nation", Seth Masia in Solar Today, March 2009.
ease study
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The first LEL.D Plat111LlIll, net-z~,ro-carbon house inColorado , .
and maybe in thcnation -looks like it was built a centL~ry ado. -
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RUCE ORECIC'S NEXT WEST HOliSE PRrSIDES OVER ONE OF THE oldest
neighborhoods in Boulder, Colo.lhehouse fits right into the IVlapleton Hill Historic
District, as if it has been sitting on Sts hillside for a century.
In fact, the ]ot remained empty foz generations while the neighborhood grew up
~y SETH MASIA around it. A narrow triangle nn a steep hillside, it backed against an irrigation ditch,
creating a true land-use challenge.
Oreck envisioned a house that would go beyond generating all its own energy on-site,
producing enough carbon-kee power over time to offset the embedded energy used in
Seth Masia is managing its construction.
editor of SOLARTODAV. "Let's pretend it's 1850," he said. "You don't have an energy grid. You need to design
as ifyou don't have energy, then put the energy in. You capture as much light and energy
as you can, and plan to getlig'_ti int interior spaces.'
L I ~ , t- i lit t,,. i~ ~i~t:.-~~ n,vi ~ I t i .i ~ Ibe ,ilj ~ I~] itri i~ +r-,i+11 ~ la.it;~~ i itpli~ > s,'A_~ A~
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designed or engineered for ~ t=~~~ { ~ ~ ~h
Next West. Every item in the ~ 7 .a ' ~ a ' ~
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house is readily available from ' ~ r ~ ~:T
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All woodwork, including the floors, is of sustainably harvested walnut. E
Next West Highlight, Boulder, Colo. ~ C ' a ~ '~'~:i ' ~ ; ' ''Nri
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Local and Sustainable PJiaterials • ~
• Recycled brick YYY _ ~ ` !
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•sustainably harvested walnut woodwork ~ : ,,',~31_ U t _ ~ ` ~`„A'rr';4-• N
Superinsulated envelope Left,jet black SunPower modules were chosen to match visually with asphalt shingles. Right,thefront porch I'
• R50 walls, exterior and interior was sized to take an additional set of modules.forming its entire roof. ~
• R95 roof '
The Hoover Dam south-facingporch,the 3,800-sgyaze=foot house
• Triple-pane windows Por that purpose, the steep unbuildable site (353 square meters) seems a cousin to the adja-
Future-facing features was perfect. The triangular lot, with its hypot- cent 1890 Victorian. Like that house, Next West
• All rooms wired for LAN, coax and enure facing south, tilted sharply toward the sun is built to last at least a century.
fiber optic ~ and elevated the roof well above neighboring The Boulder Historical Society didn'twant to
s Heated garage wired for EV charging trees. The irrigation ditch required a massive • approve a house with solar panels, so architect
retaining waIl- Oreck calls it the Hoover Dam Jim Logan agreed to hide them from passersby
• All materials and appliances are conven- -but when it runs with water in the summer, on the street. Edge around to the west and look
tional, off-the-shelf products.
it cools the backyard and patio perceptibly. up at the roof. It forms a double peak, with two
Piet-aero-carbon Energy The dam angles at one end to reflect light into east-west ridges and two south-facing surfaces.
• 10 kilowatts of SunPower photovoltaics the east-facing basement windows. Contractor The back roof, hidden from the street, is faced
• Grid-tied with SMA inverters Bob Hughes says that using pre-formed, inter- with photovoltaic modules: Jet black SunPower
locking concrete blocks kept the cost of the modules were chosen to match visually with ~
• 896 amp-hours of Absolyte battery wall to about $50,000, less than 3 percent of the asphalt shingles (sunpo~vercorp.com). The back
backup project budget. roof didn't offer enough area to make up the 10
• Econar Invision geosource heat pump for During the Last decades of the 19th century, kilowatts Oreck wanted, so the front porch was ~
heating and cooling the nicest houses in central Boulder were solid sized to take an additional set o£modules forrn-
• No natural gas piles of masonry in classic Victorian style, built ing its entire roof.
• LED lighting throughout formirvng, railroad and ranching magnates, law- Finally, two more PV modules were set flush
~ Daylighting in all rooms' yers, doctors and UniversityofColoradoprofes- into a "false" roof at the front. The sheath roof
~ Gray water recycled sors. Prom outside, Next West, faced with recy- not only softens the visual impact ofthe modules
cled brick and local quartzite, looks 100 years but provides an extra Layer of insulation for the ~
For more details visit 429spruce.com. old. With its large windows and deeply shaded real drainage plane. According to Sazah Marvez,
solartoday.org SOLAR TODAY h9arch 2009
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I ? ~ w, i ! ? ~ Every item in the house is readily avai~able from
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~ ~ ~ i • ~ .;'K-,~-• ~ -.1, t~ ~ a local warehouse.
~ 'S. s•. , h~~ ' ~i r •F ` ' ' >-1 'Ihe Sunpower PV array feeds a stack of 24
•c ti ~
~ i ` t ' ^ * t,~ , ~ • 6•volt Absolyte batteries in the cellar, good for
1 ' ~ ~+1, '..z t~ • M ~y`~` 896 am -hours. The batteries can run the house .
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'~'`i , . ; c ' ` ' ~ • * for four stormy days if the grid goes down.
' ' ~r ' ~ i `r' ` ~f'd ' ' T1te house uses no natural gas. The kitchen
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a~~`~}~i~',+: i-t ~.,'~y range has a 92percent-efficient induction cook
'i I ~r T 'i i`n~ t ~ ; fa Z~ . ^ top that heats only the contents of the pot and
not the air around it (gas is about 45 percent
~ Space n:~~tir,g .,n:; cup, ar, f.io~:~:+ic~l by :u~~ ~co efficient). Space heating and cooling are pro-
f . I ~ ~ ~ t nar Invision dual-compressor heat pump working aided by an Econar Invision dual-compressor
• `;,II , ;t~,~<~^.:~ ~ ofF two 450-foot-dee eothermal wells under
I . 4 ii;< . ~ p 9 heat pump working off two 450-foot-deep geo-
r{t {t`~ -I , _,r K + ~ the driveway. Domestic water, cold and hot, travels thermal wells under the driveway (econar.com).
' I ' cy~• ~ ~l .FMS • r4l•~
y.~ f in dedicated PEX tubing that is, each faucet in The heat pump, in effect cheater-chiller, circu-
s a ; a
~ ''fl ,S , each of the four and a half bathrooms has its own ~ lates hot water through PEX tubing under the
' ~---`!1 ` r~yl.. insulated line.
floors throughout the house. Each roorn has an
I ` ~ `r-• < indeyendent Oventrop non-electric thermostat
~ fVlassive insulation and oventro na.com Even the one-car arc e,
- :'i;.~ _ equipped with a 230-volt vehicle-charging out-
"`~a,~,,~u~.~~ - tight sealing make the let, hasaradiantfloor.
hr~~~ 3> douse livable nn nearly h'tassiveinsulationandtightsealingmakethe
~ s = house livable on nearly no energy input. The
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~ • , ~ 'a h O it '•l e rg y I n p ut. foundation walls are of insulated concrete forms,
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Gra water is car~t~red and , ~ ~s>° 4 ~4, ` ¢~-1, ~ ~ ;
urified to be c clod to r,;>,w :~-~~~~'Z~,r ~.,.F= .~~"~~~~„~t~~t:,
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the toilets. - ~ ~%z~ "r r sit ..z_4 s~-s~~,
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and the m ain floor is of stivctural insulated foam. _ M < r 4'• ~ -
Only the top floor isstick-butt. All walls are RS0 ~ r - - _ - t ~ - I r ti~a ~v , Y ~ -
(interior walls, too, for silence and privary}; the - , ~ a'°-1~
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roofisR9S. tlIl lazia is oftri le- anesu erin ~ .}~i _ ~"a--
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suiated construction, and the windows are large _ - _ s
enough for plentiful solar gain. The view over _ ~ ti~, - ~ _
the trees to the south is of Boulder's magnificent - ~ ~W ~ -
Flatirons, the dramatic rock formation fronting The irrigation ditch required a massive retaining wall -Oreck calls it the Noover Dam -taut when it rugs
the eastern escarpment of the Rockies. ~ with water in the summer, it cools the backyard and patio perceptibly.
a ~ _ - -r -c- -
Root cellar ? ~ ~ - j
Some features are pure 19th century. A large { ' i = ~ ~
pantry off the kitchen, uninsulated on its north ~ '`'T + J' ~ i ~ !O
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wall, functions as the equivalent of a root cellar. ~ TT~r-~ I ' _ c, Ifs ;
~~l :arc , ( t ~ 1 ~ . ~yP
All woodwork, including the floors, is of sustain- ~ ~ r,- i ~ , ~ ~ ~ .I ' ~ i I , ~ ~
ablyharvestedwalnut. ~ lam- y _ i~ li ~ ~ - -
Other features are pure 21st century. Evezy `"'z 1 ~ '
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room is wired with Cat S LAN, coaxial and fiber. ~ ~ , ti a ~ G -
n I
optic cables to handle any kind of computer, t ~ ,:'i 3 ~ l ;r jr.._
communications or entertainment device. The { ry _ _ ~ i, L;
cables even feed a tiny kids' playrogm under the ~ ~ ~ ~ ~v ~ 3 ~ F~x,t ~ M.
eaves with its own yard-high door. All the Goan- ~ ~'•'t4 4~ I p-~ ~i ~ ~ ~q~~%' I i
tertops areAmerican-made mineral quartz com _ f I _ _ ~ ~
posite; the tiles are of recycled glass composite. j .f ~ ~ i
Lighting thro..gliout uses LED lamps. They J Js ,3~ ~
`<bum" at 98'F, (37°C} -skin temperature - ~ l - w1~~~ z ~ , ~ ~
and thus are about 30 percent more efficient than ! - - - - l ~ lr ;
y ; ~ ' ' ,
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fluorescent lanips, with the same color balance as ~ `.~'~1} a~v-y x _ '~,1~,~ f` '
the incandescent bulbs we i•e used to. .liters} of seawater daily. It also drives an air con- , g'~- ~e ~I
~ J ,N.
Domestic water, cold andhot, travels in dedi- ditioningunit in the inverter room. - - - - ~ - ~ i
Gated PEX tubing- that is, each faucet in each In 2005, the Orecks retrofitted their century- !.ett, yray ~.r?atcr tank and batteries. Turning or a
of the four and a half bathrooms has its own utsu- old borne in Boulder. T1~e old house is a labora- hot-water tap anywhere in the house moves water
lated line. Turning on ahot-water tap anywhere tory of sorts. In addition to efficienry upgrades, from the heater tank by the mostdirect, unbranched
in the house moves water from the heater tank it now has both a solar water-heating system and route. Hot water is nearly instant, without the use of
by the most direct, unbranched route. Hot water a PV array, but Oreck says, "We've done a lot of booster tanks or pumps. Right, inverter room with
is nearly instant, withouttheuseofboostertanks experimenting there to find out what's doable. hea?er cooler.
or pumps. Gray water is captured and purified It's a work in progress."
to be cycled to the toilets. "Your pet could drink The reliance onoff-the-shelf products meant
it," Oreck notes. that Next West went up quickly. Planning began.
Next West is the third solar project for Bruce early in 2007, and the certificate of occupancy
'and Cody Oreck. In 2001, they built an off-grid came in October 2008.
beach house in Baja California, Mexico, using "We set out to prove that sustainable can be
a 1S-kilowatt array to light four buildings, heat luxurious," Oreck says. He thinks they've done
the hot tub and desalinate 1,800 gallons (6,800 a pretty good job. sr
_ solartoday.crg SoLRR TODAY March 2009