Monday, October 26, 2009

Location, Location, Location!

In an earlier posting we highlighted the benefits of living in a building that is walking distance to both work and entertainment locations. The LEED Scorecard recognizes the importance of a building’s location through a number of credits within the Sustainable Sites category of the New Construction scorecard. LEED awards points for location recognizing that the simple choice of where to construct a building can have a big impact on the building’s overall sustainability. One of the points available in this category is proximity to public transit.

At the Solera project six separate light rail lines are within a half mile walking distance. These lines open up the Denver metropolitan region to a Solera resident and help make car-free living a reality. With the build-out of Fastracks currently underway, those six light rail lines will reach even further destinations within the metro area. In addition to the light rail are five bus lines in close proximity to Solera making access within the city core easy for downtown residents.

The US Green Building Council (USGBC) awards LEED points for proximity to mass transit because increased use of public transportation means reduced dependence on vehicular transit. At Solera, and buildings like it in dense urban areas, residents have the ability to live car free while still being highly mobile. For this reason USGBC encourages building developers to make a building’s location an early consideration when going for LEED certification.

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Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Construction Update: October 21, 2009

The Solera project just completed the 7th floor concrete pour last week – only four more floors to go! The first half of the 8th floor will be poured this coming Friday. Framing work – evident in the photo – is now underway on floors three through five. Masons continue to lay cinder blocks walls which eventually will be covered with drywall.

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Recycling Construction Waste

As described in September’s blog, Solera is working hard to recycle as much construction waste generated on the project as possible. This requires us to separate all waste into individual bins for weighing and then removal to local recycling plants. In this picture our construction team is emptying wood into a wood-specific bin located on our construction yard.

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Friday, October 9, 2009

You Are Where You Live

We’re all familiar with the old adage “You are what you eat” but the newest concept these days is —“You are where you live.”

Maybe it is because housing options have become more diverse with new technology, updated features, and increased sustainability that more and more people are getting the opportunity to choose a home that not only fits their needs, but complements their lifestyle.

With Denver topping charts left and right—from “best place to live” to “first city to recover from the recession” to “best place to grow up”—it’s no wonder why many people have chosen to settle down in the Mile High City. But once they’re here, what features draw an individual to one home over another?

Author and American urban theorist Richard Florida says, “The place we choose to live is the single most important decision we make. It has a profound impact on the jobs we have access to, our career path, our social network, lifestyle choice and, ultimately, the wealth we accumulate, as well as our overall happiness.”

With this in mind, we decided to come up with some (of course not all) of the groups of people who might find a lifestyle match with Solera’s philosophy and features.

Who might you be if you lived at Solera?

Environmentally Conscious: If you are an eco-friendly person, you do your part to lead a sustainable lifestyle, whether through the food you eat, the items you purchase, or the transportation you choose. Maybe you practice sustainability everyday, such as recycling, watching how much you waste, and replacing your lightbulbs with CFLs. For those of you looking to keep a light global footprint, you might be drawn to a LEED-Certified® building, such as Solera. Imagine the positive impact of a home that takes the environment into consideration, from the way it’s built to the features and appliances. If you consider yourself earth friendly, what better way to “Be Where You Live” than by choosing a home that shares your commitment to the environment.

Urbanite meets Outdoor Enthusiast: It’s hard to imagine two opposing personalities could be satisfied by one place, but Denver has a proven record of drawing people who love the action of the city and the quick access to the great outdoors. Whether you work downtown or just find yourself visiting the city, imagine living within walking or biking distance from your most-frequented spots. Enjoy the outdoors on a daily basis by spending less time in your car. And if you’re eager to connect with the mountains, you benefit from Denver’s central location to some of the best outdoor locations in the Rockies.

Value Seeker: Sustainable buildings lead to greater savings and, ultimately, greater value. Because they are built with efficiency in mind, you can expect lower heating and cooling bills and less wasted energy. Value Seekers aren’t cheap, by any means. They just want to save where they can while maintaining high quality . And who wouldn’t like to spend 50% less on utility bills?

Socialite: When you’re living in the downtown, you don’t have to go out of your way to be in the middle of all the action. Shops, entertainment, and great restaurants are walking distance away, which means you can take your time figuring out which friends are available for happy hour, rather than worrying about beating the traffic. Social butterflies would love the energy and activity Solera has to offer.

Mover and Shaker: If you’re a mover and shaker, you’re probably not ready to settle down into one place quite yet. You might be in Denver temporarily or still unsure what kind of home you’re looking for. In the meantime, you want to live somewhere that fills your needs with flexibility for the future. One of the most unique aspects of Solera is that the homes are rentals. In fact, Solera will be the first LEED-Certified rental project in Denver. Enjoy an eco-friendly, luxury lifestyle without the permanence of purchasing a home.

Design Aficionado: Developers who choose to create a sustainable building often continue their attention to detail throughout the building, which means you get a home that is both practical and aesthetically pleasing. If you have an eye for beautiful design, you want to live somewhere that complements your style. Solera includes high-end designer finishes that set it apart from your typical white-walled, standard apartment complex.
Of course we expect to see a wide range of tenants at Solera, perhaps some that fit all of the above lifestyles and others that don’t fit any. Everyone is connected to his or her home for different reasons.

As you begin to look at homes, think about what your housing decisions say about who you are and what you value. Whether it’s something practical like price or location or something philosophical such as environmental impact, you want a place that fits you.

And if we can say so ourselves, if “You are where you live,” then we’re excited to see the unique (and extremely cool) groups of people that will call Solera home.

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About Zocalo Community Developments

Zocalo Community Development builds among the most sustainably-designed and constructed multi-family and mixed-use projects in the country. We believe that the buildings which emerge from a process focused on a commitment to higher levels of sustainability are inherently higher quality and of greater enduring value.

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Contact Info

Solera
www.SoleraLiving.com

For general questions, comments or further information contact us at zocalo@zocalodevelopment.com

To contact a staff member directly please call our office at (303) 320-8611


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