We’ve seen 3D printers fabricate vehicles ready to for the open road – and now California-based Signal Snowboards has shown that printers can produce quality boards for the slopes! Working with GROWit 3D, Signal was able to use a carbon-based powder to compose a board in composite pieces using a selective-laser-sintering (SLS) machine. The board has an unusual shoveled nose and wide tail, and the team tested it in its raw form in the powder of a Colorado bowl. While not the most gorgeous or speedy deck on the mountain, the board was still strong and flexible enough to handle some good carving.

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Post tags: 3d printer, California, carbon powder, colorado, growit 3d, iPad, ishred, lego, selective laser sintering, Signal Snowboards, slopes, sls, snow

Read the rest of Starbucks Opens Drive-Thru Made from Recycled Shipping Containers in Northglenn, CO

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Post tags: "leed", Arthur Rubinfeld, Cargotecture, colorado, Denver Starbucks, leed certified, modular, modular starbucks, Northglenn, recycled shipping containers, shipping container Starbucks, starbucks, Starbucks architecture, Starbucks design, Starbucks drive-thru, wyoming, Wyoming snow fencing

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Post tags: Anderson Mason Dale Architects, Architecture, colorado, Denver, geothermal, geothermal cooling, geothermal heating, green roof, highway rest area, living green roof, rainwater retention, rammed earth, Rest Area, solar, Solar Power, Southeast Wyoming, Sustainable Building, sustainable design, welcome center, wetlands, wind energy, wind turbines, wyoming

Read the rest of Reed Residence: A Zero-Energy Mountain Retreat in Colorado Made From Reclaimed Wood

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", Architecture, clean tech, colorado, eco design, geothermal, geothermal heat pump, Gerber Berend Design, green design, green roof, reclaimed wood, Recycled Materials, Reed Residence, Robert Hawkins Architects, sedum, solar panels, Solar Power, solar-thermal energy, sustainable design, Zero energy

The Basalt Public Library in Colorado has added a seed bank to its collection of books, CDs and other media in order to attract more readers, NPR reports. Visitors who collect books can be growers too by simply renting out a package of seeds and harvesting seeds from the resulting fruit and vegetables. And it turns out that at least one dozen public libraries across the United States are doing the same thing.

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Post tags: agriculture, america, colorado, Drought, Environment, Gardening, News, npr, public libraries, seed bank

Read the rest of Compact Shipping Container House Challenges Space Requirements in Colorado

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Post tags: "sustainable architecture", 'Container House, Cargotecture, colorado, eco design, green architecture, Green Building, green design, nederland, off-grid, photovoltaics, shipping container house, small space living, Solar Power, studio h-t, Studio HT, Sustainable Building, sustainable design

As winter fast approaches, the snow will beckon many of us to the mountains to play – but what if there was another reason to support your local ski resort? This month the Mountain Rider’s Alliance (MRA) announced a new partnership with sustainable engineering firm Brendle Group which will transform Colorado’s ski mountains into carbon-neutral, net-zero resorts.

Read the rest of Grassroots Mountain Rider’s Alliance Plans to Create Carbon Neutral Ski Slopes across U.S.

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Post tags: Brendle Group, colorado, Golden Eagle Ski Industry Award, Maine, Mountain Rider’s Alliance, Mt Abrams, net zero, partnership, Ski, Sustainable

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Post tags: "solar energy", Aspen, colorado, green design, La Muna, moss wall hanging, oppenheim architecture and design, Recycled Materials, Red Mountain, ski home, ski resort, Solar Power, sustainable design, Wabi Sabi

Yesterday Walmart announced the installation of six more solar projects in Denver, Colorado, bringing the total number of Walmart’s solar power installations to 100. The rooftop solar installations, built in a partnership with SolarCity, are enough to power 225 homes annually. Walmart and SolarCity say that these projects will prevent 5 million pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere.

Read the rest of Walmart’s 100th Solar Power Installation Gets Switched On in Colorado

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Post tags: "clean energy", colorado, Denver, power purchasing agreement, ppa, renewable energy, solar, solar installations, Solar Power, solarcity, tobey corey, walmart

Read the rest of Clyfford Still Museum is a Light-Filled Dedication to the Work of One Artist

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Post tags: "sustainable architecture", allied works architecture, clyfford still, clyfford still museum, colorado, Daylighting, Denver, eco design, eco museum, green architecture, Green Building, green design, Museum, skylights, Sustainable Building, sustainable design

Read the rest of Shigeru Ban Unveils Plans for a Naturally Daylit Art Museum for Aspen

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Post tags: Art, art museum, aspen art museum, colorado, Daylighting, eco art museum, eco design, eco-art, green architecture, Green Building, green design, natural daylighting, shigeru ban, Sustainable Building, sustainable design, wooden shade screen

Read the rest of Loom Artist Studio is a Tiny Pink House Boasting Big Eco Strategies in Aspen

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Post tags: "sustainable architecture", 1 friday, 1 friday design collective, artist studio, artist's studio, Aspen, colorado, eco design, green architecture, Green Building, green design, leed standards, loom, pink house, studio, Sustainable Building, sustainable design, weaving studio

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Post tags: Amorphous sculpture, Cathedral in the Wind, colorado, Crepuschile, eco design, Green Box Arts Festival, green design, Rock Mountains art, Sean McGinnis, string sculpture, sustainable design

Read the rest of HGTV Green Home Lands LEED Platinum Certification

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Post tags: "energy star", "sustainable architecture", CO, colorado, Denver, eco design, eco home, energy efficient, giveway, green architecture, Green Building, green design, green home, green materials, hgtv, HGTV green home, LEED platinum, stapleton, sustainable design

Read the rest of Innovative Wildlife Crossings for Denver’s Perilous I-70 West

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Post tags: "sustainable architecture", arc international wildlife crossing design competition, colorado, Design Competition, eco design, green architecture, green design, I-70, Landscape Architecture, native vegetation, sustainable design, wildlife crossing, wildlife crossings

Michael and Lisa Eddy dreamt of living in a home that was designed to showcase their love of nature and appreciation for the environment around them in Colorado. Designed by JCL Architecture, their fantasy home made of rammed earth is characterized by a continuous trellis that greets you at the entry and leads you through the warmth of the house and out into the open backyard towards the landscape beyond. Aside from being beautiful, the house incorporates passive solar strategies and high thermal mass. Proper roof overhangs and southern exposure were calculated to allow maximum solar gain in the winter while minimizing heat gain in the summer. The thermal absorbent qualities of the rammed earth walls and dark stained concrete floors on both levels stabilize temperature swings from night to day and mitigate the need to run an air conditioning unit during the summer. These features are then further supported by a high-efficiency geothermal radiant floor heating system as well as soy-based insulation in the roof and walls.

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Post tags: "sustainable architecture", colorado, Eco Architecture, eco home, green architecture, green design, green home, JCL Architecture, Nature, rammed earth, sustainable design, sustainable home

It seems only natural that pot should be grown in a sustainable manner with the use of renewable energy. A new law in Boulder, CO requires Medical dispensaries that grow any of their own product to offset 100% of the electricity they use to grow their plants with renewable energy. This could certainly be a boom for clean power use in the area, but there is certainly some opposition to the regulation (regarding this particular line of business) as well as how it might limit who can afford to abide by the new rule.

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Post tags: "solar energy", "wind power", boulder, carbon offsets, colorado, eco design, green design, marijuana, medical marijuana, new law, regulations, renewable energy, solar garden, Solar Power, wind energy

On Monday a bill was dropped on Colorado Governor Bill Ritter’s desk that ups the states renewable energy standard to over 30% by 2020. The bill was passed by the state legislature and will place Colorado in the number two spot in the country — behind California — in renewable energy mandates. If signed by the Governor it will lower the state’s emissions by 30 million tons of carbon, equivalent to the emissions of 670,000 cars per year.

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Post tags: "wind power", bill ritter, CO, colorado, governor, green energy, green jobs, green policy, renewable energy, Solar Power, state legislature

A new development in the north of Boulder, CO stands to be the first completely net-zero neighborhood in the US. Dubbed SpringLeaf Boulder, the project aims to bring net-zero homes “to the masses” by streamlining green technologies and driving down costs. The twelve homes are designed for LEED Platinum certification, will be fully powered by photovoltaic systems, and are very close to shops and restaurants, creating a little eco-community within Boulder.

Read the rest of First Net-Zero Neighborhood in the US Being Built in Boulder

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Post tags: "leed", boulder, colorado, LEED platinum, net zero, net zero home, net zero neighborhood, springleaf homes, Zero energy, Zero Energy Housing