Tours

Host Institute Tours

AASHE is proud to partner with several Host Institutes for AASHE 2010, with many campuses enhancing their partnership by including tours for conference attendees.  Please support our Host Institutions by taking advantage of the many opportunities for one-on-one and small group discussions which these hands-on, interactive tours are sure to provide.

Sunday
University of Denver
University of Colorado Denver
Wednesday
University of Colorado Boulder
Colorado State University
EPA and the Alliance for Sustainable Colorado

Sunday, October 10

SOLD OUT University of Denver, A broad-based approach towards a sustainable common good

Begin: 8:15am, meet in Convention Center Lobby
End: 12:30pm, end at Convention Center
Includes: Transportation to and from, tour, and lunch
Limit: 15 participants per specialty tour

At the University of Denver, we are working hard to promote sustainability on multiple levels.  We have integrated sustainable practices into the very culture of the University; which is evidenced by our high standards for green construction, our protection and utilization of natural surroundings, our implementation of responsible business practices, and our dedication to educating students and the community about environmental and social issues.  Each tour below will be accompanied by a student activist.  Registrants may choose from the following tour options:

• Sustainable Building: Led by University Architect, Mark Rodgers, this tour will include detailed information about DU’s building standards, including several buildings designed to LEED-Gold standards.
  SOLD OUT
• Arboretum and Permaculture Garden: 
  SOLD OUT
  Led by Martin Quigley, the Director of the Chester M Alter Arboretum, this tour will guide participants through the campus-wide designated arboretum and the newly opened demonstration permaculture garden
• Energy Initiatives: 
  SOLD OUT
  Led by Energy Engineer, Tom McGee, this tour will highlight a number of exciting and state-of-the-art energy retrofits being implemented throughout campus, as well as include a discussion of the innovative roll-over fund that finances these improvements.
• Curriculum and Research: 
  SOLD OUT
  This tour will feature an in-depth discussion of several academic programs underway at DU which emphasize various aspects of social sustainability.  Tour leaders include Professor and Dean Emeritus of the Daniels College of Business, Bruce Hutton; Assistant Clinical Professor in the Morgridge College of Education and Chair of the DU Sustainability Council, Lyndsay Agans; and Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography, Becky Powell.

Participants will ride on the Regional Transit District (RTD) Light Rail to and from the Convention Center. We hope to have an RTD representative on the train with the tour group.  Participants will meet with DU volunteers in the convention center lobby at 8:15am before boarding the H Line from the Convention Center at 8:46 am, arriving on campus at 9:01 am.

A light lunch will be provided by our food service partners, Sodexho, who will discuss their sustainability efforts they promote in partnership with the University, including a greater variety of local and organic food options.  Lunch will take place at Nagel Hall, a residence hall that is in the process of becoming LEED-Gold certified.

Finally, the tour will highlight the B-Cycle bike sharing program, the nation’s first large-scale, citywide bicycle sharing program.  The University served as a test site for the bike sharing program prior to its citywide launch on the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day.

SOLD OUT University of Colorado Denver on the Auraria Campus

Begin: 1pm, meet in Convention Center Lobby
End: 2:30pm, end at Convention Center
Includes: Walking to and from convention center, tour
Limit: 30 participants

Highlighting many aspects of the University of Colorado Denver and the Auraria Campus, this tour will focus on the state-of-the-art LEED Gold Science Building, recently highlighted by an award from the Downtown Denver Partnership.  This building was lobbied for by the student group Auraria Sustainable Campus Program, to meet the LEED Gold Standard from as far back as 2005.  Student members of ASCP will be in attendance for this tour to offer their perspective on involvement at the committee level. 

Several other tour highlights focus on curriculum, including the iGert program, an innovative inter-disciplinary graduate program on sustainable urban infrastructure. This graduate program, the first of its kind in the country for its breadth across disciplines, spans the Colleges of Engineering, Architecture and Planning, Public Affairs, and Liberal Arts and Sciences. Following discussions of iGert, the new sustainability minor in Liberal Arts and Sciences will be introduced, including what the minor provides, what is required and participating departments.

Participants will walk to the Auraria campus.  Along the way, the B-Cycle bike sharing program, the nation’s first large-scale, citywide bicycle sharing program, and the many pedestrian, alternative and public transportation options available within metro-Denver, will be showcased.

Wednesday, October 13

SOLD OUT University of Colorado Boulder, National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) Wind Research Facility, NREL Research Facility Campus Tour, Woody's Pizza

Begin: 7:45am, meet in Convention Center Lobby
End: 6:30pm, end at Convention Center
Includes: Transportation to and from Convention Center, Lunch, Dinner
Limit: 30 participants

The University of Colorado at Boulder tour is sure to impress.  This day-long tour offers attendees the chance to learn more about the integrated sustainability measures taking place at the CU Boulder campus, including a visit to the Chancellor's Residence, arguably one of the nation’s smartest homes. Through a partnership with Xcel Energy and its Smart Grid Consortium Partners, cutting-edge technology installed in this home allows residents to actively participate in decisions about their energy use, reduce their environmental “footprint” and manage their energy dollars.

Other components of the CU Boulder tour include bike station installations, learning more about the CU Environmental Center, which just celebrated 40 years on campus, and visiting the campus recycling center where students work sorting, weighing, and shipping recyclables that have been collected from all over campus. Up to 10,000 pounds of recyclables are processed at the IPF each day.  Before leaving campus, participants will enjoy a sustainably created meal from CU Boulders culinary side.

After leaving the CU campus, participants will tour the National Renewable Energy Lab Wind Research Facility Center at the foothills of the Rockies, and the National Renewable Energy campus in Golden, CO.  Among the new facilities at NREL, and first on the construction list, is the new Research Support Facility. This office complex promises to be one of the greenest buildings ever developed. It will be built in accordance with the U.S. Green Buildings Council's standards and is expected to achieve the council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Platinum rating—its highest designation.

Upon completion of the NREL tour, attendees will arrive at Woody's Pizza in the heart of downtown Golden.  Boasting a solar installation, local and sustainable menu items including 13 Colorado brewed draught beers, recycling and composting programs, water conservation efforts, biodegradable/renewable disposables and diverting up to 95% of waste, attendees will walk away with a new appreciation of what pizza should be!  Diners will be receiving a complimentary all-you-can-eat pizza, soup, and salad buffet and a non-alcoholic beverage. The pizza is topped with all-natural mozzarella cheese, a variety of local toppings, and many all-natural meats. Vegetarian pizzas are always available, and gluten free pizza is available upon request. The salad bar offers over 25 items, and features our famous Beer-Cheese soup. Leaving gratuity for your wait-staff is much appreciated.

SOLD OUT Colorado State University, Ponnequin Wind Farm, New Belgium Brewery

Begin: 7:45am, meet in Convention Center Lobby
End: 6:30pm, end at Convention Center
Includes: Transportation to and from Convention Center, Lunch, Brewery tour and tasting
Limit: 50 participants

Colorado State University welcomes tour participants to experience the best of Colorado sustainability.  Traveling north, attendees will begin the day at Ponnequin Wind Farms, home to 44 wind turbines and Colorado's first wind farm installation.  The energy harnessed at the farm is utilized in Xcel Energy's Windsource® program.

Heading to the CSU campus, attendees will visit the Ram's Horn dining facility for a sustainable meal, a facility utilizing a pulper that reduces water use and creates a compostable by-product from all food and paper waste. 

After lunch, the campus tour will commence to cover several campus sustainability initiatives.  Attendees will visit the Academic Village’s Aspen Hall, a residence hall on campus which is LEED Gold certified, an on-site thermal plant, 95% energy efficient boilers for heating water, and an innovative system that makes ice at night when electric rates are lowest and then reverses the process during the day to melt the ice and cool the building.  Participants will experience the LEED Gold Rec Center with its reuse of materials for building and 100% use of non-potable use in landscaping.  Continuing on, attendees will visit the Foothills Solar Plant, a public-private partnership among CSU, Xcel Energy, and Fotowatio Renewable Ventures, and the Bio Mass Center, which burns approximately 1,000 tons of wood chips from CSU Forest Service fire mitigation projects each year to heat water and displace natural gas use. 

Before returning to Denver, participants will have the opportunity to tour the best of local and sustainable Colorado beer that Fort Collins has to offer.  New Belgium Brewery, crafters of Fat Tire Amber Ale and Blue Paddle Pilsner are a nationally renowned, environmentally minded, local brewing company dedicated to the idea of 'Alternatively Empowered'. Alternatively Empowered is defined by New Belgium as "making business decisions based on minimizing environmental impact, encouraging the growth of our employee owners, and being a socially responsible contributor to our community. It's rewarding, challenging, and educational. It's what makes us New Belgium."  A must see tour before leaving the home of the Rocky Mountains.

SOLD OUT Environmental Protection Agency Region 8 and the Alliance for Sustainable Colorado

Begin: 8:30am, meet in Convention Center Lobby
End: 12pm, end
Includes: Public Transportation, 2 walking tours
Limit: 50 participants

Participants anxious to learn more about public/private/campus partnerships and the spirit of sustainable collaboration will consider this tour a must.  After traveling on the 16th Street Mall Shuttle, RTD's free Mall Ride which connects one end of Denver's downtown district to another, attendees will be welcomed to The Alliance Center: a living model of sustainability and collaboration at work, home to AASHE's Executive Offices.

This 6-story historic office building houses 30 nonprofits all working on an environmental, social or economic aspect of sustainability. In addition to groups like Sierra Club, Center for Native Ecosystems, and Colorado Environmental Coalition, the Alliance is home to social advocacy groups like the Latina Initiative, Consumer Health Initiative, and the American Council for the Blind Colorado. The building has been renovated "green' and has received two LEED certifications from the US Green Building Council. It provides a living model of green building practices and is a tour site for over 1,000 people a year.

Once completed, participants will cross the street to enter the EPA Region 8 offices.  EPA's Region 8 covers the mountain states of Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. The Region 8 Office occupies a nine-story building which received the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED® Gold certification for new construction. The facility, a product of more than three years of planning, design, and construction, serves as a hallmark of environmental sustainability in a prominent Lower Downtown Historic District location. In 2008, the building received the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design's American Architecture, the highest and most prestigious building award in the United States which honors new cutting-edge design, urban philosophy, design approach, style, and intellectual substance in American architecture.