The City of Denver is planning to power the new clubhouse and maintenance building at the course with solar panels that will ideally result in a 54 percent reduction of energy costs. The design of the new facilities, in keeping with a city requirement to meet LEED Golf Certification standards, will include floor-to-ceiling glass windows and use of materials that blend with the natural landscape.
The City of Denver, Colo. earlier this year cut down hundreds of trees at its City Park Golf Course, despite protests from environmental activists, as part of a storm drainage project that will overhaul the whole course, Westword.com reported. But now the city has announced that on the positive side of the environmental ledger, the new course will be at least partially powered by solar energy.
A request for proposal by the city calls for solar panels on the roof of the new maintenance building, which will power that structure and the course’s new clubhouse, Westword.com reported. The panels would ideally result in a 54 percent reduction in energy costs, Nancy Kuhn, a spokeswoman for Denver Public Works, told the website. The city hopes to have the panels installed by May next year.
“The new, modern clubhouse will have a west-facing back patio with expansive views and enough space to accommodate golf and community events concurrently,” the city says on a website for the project, Westword.com reported.The design includes floor-to-ceiling glass windows, materials that blend with the natural landscape and is designed to achieve LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification.
The panels would tie into an executive order from 2013 that set a requirement for new city buildings and major renovations to meet the LEED Gold Certification standards, Westword.com reported.
“In this case, solar turned out to be a good opportunity to meet those requirements,” Kuhn explained.
The golf course is undergoing a major renovation that hasn’t been without controversy, Westword.com reported. The city says the work will allow the course to temporarily hold and slow floodwaters, and the project is supposed to help protect some neighborhoods from flooding. The course is slated to reopen next year.
Before the course closed, activists tried to prevent the removal of the more than 200 trees that were to be taken down as part of the project, Westword.com reported. The city says the project will eventually result in a net gain of 500 trees.
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