The 2011 Built Green Conference & Festival:

Education, entertainment & excitement in Issaquah

By Aaron Adelstein, Built Green® Director

Photos from the event:

Photo Credits: Anne Gray, Ann Shi

The 2011 Built Green® Conference saw some big changes this year with the inclusion of a festival following the traditional day of education. zHome’s official opening occurred in conjunction with the conference, King County announced the winner of their Little Footprint Big Forest contest, a cargo-container design competition, and nationally renowned author David Johnston was on hand to give a national perspective on green building and zero energy projects around the country. By the time the event ended, over 200 people had taken part in some of the best education on environmental stewardship available in the region in one of the most entertaining events we have ever organized.

The event was held at the beautiful Pickering Barn in Issaquah. Amid vibrant morning sessions at the barn site, a second group of people packed in the courtyard of the zHome project for its long awaited opening. Numerous partners, including King County, the city of Issaquah, Puget Sound Energy, Washington State University’s Energy Office and Port Blakely Communities, worked diligently on the project over the past five years. Excitement filled the air as the 10-unit zero-energy multifamily community was finally unveiled. The opening ceremony culminated in flipping the switching to the 72 Kilowatt solar array on the roofs of the units to “on.” The meters are now running as the project moves in to the open house phase and will be open to the public until the end of October.

Following the zHome opening, everyone gathered at the Pickering Barn for the official conference welcome and the announcement of the winners of the Little Footprint Big Forest contest. The intent of the competition was to come up with a design for a cargo container that will ultimately be installed in one of King County’s parks as an overnight dwelling for campers. It needed to be practical, green, functional and, of course, durable, given the type of demands placed on it by campers. King County Executive Dow Constantine announced the winning design: REtain by HyBrid Architecture and was chosen based on distinguished features and innovations in principles of conservation, sustainability, public recreation, aesthetics and forest stewardship.

Both breakfast and lunch were provided by local food truck vendors, adding a nice flavor to the new format of the event. Sunspot Mini Donuts provided delicious donuts and coffee to kick off the day, and Big House Barbecue and Sambusa Wraps were on hand for lunch. While snacking on delicious wraps and ribs, attendees walked the exhibit hall where over 30 exhibitors showed the recent developments in green building products, followed by an afternoon of education at both the Pickering Barn site and at zHome.

The festival portion of the conference was kicked off by the announcement of the 2011 Built Green Hammer and Built Green Pioneer Award winners. Built Green Hammer Awards were given out to the most innovative and greenest projects certified in 2010, and the Built Green Pioneer Awards recognized individuals who demonstrated outstanding volunteerism and advocacy for the Built Green program in recent years. Following the award presentation, The Tallboys, a local old-time string band, played bluegrass on the lawn, while attendees enjoyed beer provided by the Issaquah Brewhouse and Rogue Brewery as well as an assortment of Washington wines.

The atmosphere of the 2011 Built Green Conference was markedly more celebratory than in recent years. Due to the beautiful historic venue, multitude of exciting announcements, new program launches and zHome opening, the event was an excellent opportunity for the attendees to have a lot of fun, stay current on the green building market and reconnect with friends and colleagues as summer came to a close.

BUILT GREEN HAMMER AWARDS:

Single-family Large Production Builder: Natural and Built Environments, LLC

Single-family Small Production Builder: DC Granger, Inc.; Dwell Development

Single-family Custom or Small Speculative: Shirey Contracting – Zero Energy Idea House

Multifamily High Rise (over 5 stories): Keller CMS / Urban Partners – Aspira Apartments

Multifamily Low Rise (under 5 stories): Legacy Partners – River Park

Built Green Community – Small: Martha Rose Construction, Inc. – Fish Singer Place

Remodeler: Blip Design

Built Green Advocate (Public Sector): Issaquah; King County

Built Green Advocate (Private Sector): Green Canopy Homes

BUILT GREEN PIONEER AWARDS:

Brad Liljequist, City of Issaquah

Jason Lear, Batt+Lear