Two big reservoirs possible
U.S. Energy Corporation has filed its “résumé” of conditional water rights. The company has plans for a major molybdenum mine on Mt. Emmons west of Crested Butte. In a full-page legal notice published in the August 15 Crested Butte News, the mining company outlines all of its water and what it is doing to keep the water rights current for its proposed Lucky Jack project. Read More »
Company specializes in molybdenum
One of the largest molybdenum mining companies in the world has dipped its toe in the pool and signed on to test the waters with the proposed Lucky Jack Mine on Mt. Emmons. Thompson Creek Metals Company USA has signed an options agreement with U.S. Energy Corp. that gives Thompson Creek an option to acquire up to 75 percent of the project. Read More »
Company reports on plans for remainder of 2008
U.S. Energy Corp. is determined to move ahead to develop a molybdenum mine on Mt. Emmons, just outside of Crested Butte, the company told investors this week. Read More »
Anthracite Place being built to the standard
by Olivia Lueckemeyer
Over the past two and half decades, building standards have evolved to address a growing concern for energy efficiency. Because the motives behind owning a “green” home span a broad spectrum, it is rare to encounter a prospective buyer who has no vested interest in sustainable living.
Many builders have adjusted their practices to conform to these values, and as a result energy efficiency has become a pillar of the modern day housing market. And while international guidelines have been set for builders to follow at a baseline level, there is a higher set of standards that isn’t always adhered to.
The Energy Star for Homes program, introduced in 1992 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, goes above and beyond the conventional standards to ensure a home is of the greatest quality, comfort and durability.
Earning an Energy Star certification boils down to several key factors, including third-party testing to verify energy efficiency measures. Locally, Tyler Sweeney is the only active Energy Star certified rater.
“What you get out of an Energy Star rating is that you have a third-party quality assurance inspector who, during various stages of the process, is there to make sure things are being done correctly,” Sweeney explained. “There are certain details that have to be paid attention to during the building process, and the builder has to spend a little more time and effort and focus to ensure that the building will comply with Energy Star.”
Homes that comply with Energy Star guidelines receive a targeted score on the Home Energy Rating System Index, HERS, the industry standard by which a home’s energy efficiency is measured, set forth by the Residential Energy Services Network, RESNET. To determine the desired score, several factors come into play.
“To determine a HERS score, factors such as volume, square footage, window type and orientation, insulation values, efficiency of heating, water heating equipment and tightness of the building shell are taken into account,” Sweeney explained. “The higher performance of the building’s system, the lower the HERS score.”
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, a typical resale home scores 130 on the HERS Index, while a standard new home is rewarded a rating of 100.
Energy Star’s first version, established in 1995, required homes to meet a HERS score of 86, which equated to 30 percent more efficient than a home built to the 1992 Model Energy Code. Since then, Energy Star has released two additional generations of guidelines in response to increased codes and standard practices nationwide, causing guidelines to grow more stringent.
In Energy Star’s 3.0 version, released in 2010, new checklists were created to take into consideration thermal enclosures, HVAC quality installation and water management.
In Crested Butte, current building codes require that a home be built to the minimum 2009 International Energy Conservation Code requirements. Sweeney said that Energy Star improves on these requirements, taking energy efficiency to a higher level while adding requirements that ensure proper indoor air quality and durability of the home.
“Homes built to the new 3.0 guidelines will be at least 20 percent more energy efficient than homes build to 2009 IEC codes,” he said.
Still, achieving Energy Star standards doesn’t significantly hinder the builder’s process. Sweeney says that in the Gunnison Valley, many builders meet this higher set of guidelines, yet few go through the trouble of acquiring the Energy Star certification.
“It does take a little bit of extra effort, but not a whole lot,” Sweeney said. “I think a lot of builders aren’t educated enough on it or don’t see the value in it, and they just aren’t jumping through the hoops to take the next step and get that certification.”
In many areas, Energy Star homes represent 20 percent or more of local home starts. In the Gunnison Valley, the trend isn’t as widespread. Sweeney believes fewer than 20 homes valley-wide have earned an Energy Star certification, not because of a lack of concern for sustainability, but due to a small amount of housing stock historically. However, within the past five years, the local housing market has grown dramatically, leading to a higher demand for sustainable home starts.
In response, many builders have committed to building energy efficient homes, but only a handful push the boundaries by adhering to Energy Star standards.
Of those local builders, Dusty Szymanski of Straw and Timber Craftsmen is the only contractor committed to building 100 percent of his homes to Energy Star Version 3.0 guidelines, even if it means sharing the cost of the certification with his client.
“I got interested in natural building about a decade ago, which led me to study the building science of it in order to make sure we were able to build really high-quality, high-performance, low-impact homes,” he said.
Szymanski specializes in straw bale construction, a sustainable method for building that uses bales of straw as structural elements, building insulation or both. When compared to conventional building systems, straw bale construction is energy efficient by its renewable nature and high insulation value. After learning about the energy-saving benefits of natural building, Szymanski’s curiosity about energy audits was piqued.
Over the next seven years in Gunnison County, Szymanski certified six Energy Star-rated homes under the 3.0 guidelines, but as his career advanced, he opted to put his job as a rater on hold to focus on his building projects. Having seen the benefits of Energy Star-rated homes firsthand, Szymanski became an Energy Star-certified builder.
“Dusty sees the value in this because he used to be a rater himself,” Sweeney explained. “He is setting a higher bar for himself and in doing so is building a reputation as more and more people understand the value of the certification.”
Since earning his certification, Szymanski has built or is in the process of building three Energy Star-rated homes in the county.
“The commitment to building Energy Star is one that, even if it’s not the client’s priority, it is my priority and my commitment, so even if we have to pay for it, I’m willing to pay for half of the cost of certification,” Szymanski said. “That is how important it is to me.”
In a nutshell, the benefit of having an Energy Star-certified home is that it is tested and verified, and therefore should cost less to maintain and holds a higher market value.
Features required to meet Energy Star performance guidelines include effective insulation systems, tight construction and ducts, efficient heating and cooling equipment, and high-performance windows and appliances. Perhaps most significant is the ongoing presence of an independent home energy rater who conducts onsite inspections and testing to verify the energy efficiency measures.
Currently, Energy Star requires compliance with the 2009 International Energy Conservation Codes, in accordance with what the town of Crested Butte also requires. Besides the mechanical ventilation and exterior water management requirements, the main difference between what the town and Energy Star mandates, according to Sweeney, is advanced insulation and framing to reduce heat lost through thermal bridging.
“Energy Star tries to mitigate that by requiring that the house is either wrapped in rigid foam insulation, or utilizes advanced framing to minimize the amount of wood framing to reduce the amount of bridging,” Sweeney said.
This may be the reason that some builders are hesitant to strive for Energy Star standards. To wrap a home in rigid insulation could cost several thousand dollars; the alternative is to retrain framers in an advanced technique that they may be unaccustomed to.
Energy Star also requires mechanical ventilation of the home to ensure that indoor air quality standards are being met. According to Szymanski, in an effort to tighten up homes, many builders have overlooked proper ventilation, which leads to problems like buildup of internal moisture and poor indoor air quality.
“You could build a super tight house with spray foam and new carpet and new paint, but if there is no ventilation in the wintertime and all of your windows are shut, you could be breathing in heavy concentrations of poor indoor air,” Sweeney explained. “That is definitely where Energy Star is beneficial—you know you are getting the proper indoor air quality that makes for a healthy home.”
All of these factors contribute to a home’s overall durability and maintenance costs. Although Sweeney and Szymanski say it is difficult to assess an exact savings figure, the idea is that your upfront investment will pay off in the form of reduced maintenance and utility bills, and a higher market value.
“Knowing that certain things occurred during the building process that will lead to more longevity and durability of the home means fewer repairs and less money to be spent down the road because things were done correctly up front,” Sweeney said.
Locally, the trend toward building Energy Star-rated structures has resonated with the town of Crested Butte, which recently required that Anthracite Place affordable housing units to be Energy Star-certified. Sweeney will perform the ratings and says it will ensure the units are built to last and protect occupants from exorbitant utility costs.
“The operating cost of the units will be reduced because they are being built to a higher standard,” Sweeney said.
For Szymanski, isolating the Energy Star niche of the market has bolstered his reputation and generated business. Still, his ultimate wish is that more builders in the valley would adhere to these higher standards.
“I’ve spent a lot of money and done a lot of training to nail that corner of the market, but at the same time I’ve learned it would be better if more and more people did it,” Szymanski said. “Cooperation and collaboration within this thing is actually the way to sustain resilient communities, more than a lot of competition and ugliness, and I find that especially true in our valley.”
With the upsurge of building in the valley, Sweeney and Szymanski believe Energy Star will become more prevalent and Gunnison County will emerge as an example of a community that considers the bigger picture.
“Not only can we build a better building, but we can also care for our children’s children because we are paying attention to resources,” Syzmanski said. “Now that we are starting to build again, the bar is slowly being raised and people are starting to do a better job of implementing these things.”
To learn more about Energy Star for Homes, visit www.energystar.gov.
The Gunnison bird is “not the main event”
By Adam Broderick
As U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper sparred over protection of sage grouse, the governor made a move for Colorado and its ability to self-govern last month when he told state agencies to take additional conservation measures for the greater sage grouse. That includes the Gunnison sage grouse, whose population stretches south of the Colorado River in both Colorado and Utah.
The executive order directed state agencies to take a number of actions into their own hands to reduce impacts to the greater sage grouse and its habitat, including taking inventory of, and improving habitat within, state lands with grouse populations.
States from California and Nevada all the way to Missouri have populations of greater sage grouse, and Hickenlooper said in the release that the state of Colorado firmly believes state-led efforts are the most effective way to protect and conserve the greater sage grouse and its habitat. Not, he argues, by a federal agency listing the bird as threatened or endangered.
“A decision by the federal government to list the greater sage grouse under the Endangered Species Act would have a significant and detrimental economic impact to the state, as well as threaten the very state-led partnerships that are working to protect the species,” said Hickenlooper.
On a local level, county officials believe the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) inappropriately listed the Gunnison sage grouse as a “threatened” species last year and improperly designated critical habitat for the bird, actions the state of Colorado also considers violations of the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
Both entities believe those decisions were made based on inaccurate information from inadequate studies conducted by the agency in Gunnison County. The rules set forth following the listing and critical habitat designation restricted local land use (private and public) to a level that would have significant fiscal impacts in the county, and the county has already spent considerable time and money preserving the bird’s habitats and restoring its population in the area.
So the county joined two separate lawsuits against the FWS, and is about to join a third.
Hickenlooper’s executive order regarding the greater sage grouse could help expedite recovery of the greater sage grouse population and protection of its habitat in other states. But Gunnison County commissioner Jonathan Houck doubts the order will have much bearing here in Gunnison County, where significant efforts have already been made to protect the Gunnison sage grouse in particular.
“The state and the county have spent close to $40 million on Gunnison sage grouse and after seeing how FWS ruled to not list the bi-state greater population based on millions pledged, [Hickenlooper] is getting it out there that Colorado is putting its money where its mouth/grouse is,” Houck said.
Hickenlooper believes the state’s actions to protect the bird and its habitats, in conjunction with the efforts of local governments, landowners and many others to protect the greater sage grouse, have been extensive. “With this executive order we are directing our state agencies and our partners to do even more to protect this treasured species,” the governor said in the press release.
The county is making headway in the fight for the bird via persistence and participation in lawsuits against the FWS, which is seen by many as yet another example of the county fighting federal bullies for the rights the county deserves.
County attorney David Baumgarten told the Crested Butte News it has become apparent to him that the Gunnison sage grouse is a feint for everyone, but it’s real life for us here in Gunnison County (“feint” is a boxing term for flicking your glove at your opponent and pretending to throw a punch). “The real skirmish in America today is the greater sage grouse, because it’s in 11 states,” Baumgarten explained. “If listed, [the listing] would thwart a lot of natural gas and oil development. The part of America that says we need energy independence based on natural gas, they’re all freaked out. The Obama administration is schizophrenic. [The president] wants oil and gas energy independence, and he wants a protected species at the same time. And each of the states is also freaking out, because this affects the economy of the states.
“In the preliminary sparring to get ready for the deal, each side had to show they were tough. The side that wants the bird listed, and the side that doesn’t want it listed,” Baumgarten said. He explained that secretary of the interior Sally Jewell made her stand to prove she is tough when she listed the Gunnison sage grouse as “threatened.” Then Hickenlooper came back to sue her because her actions directly affected the greater sage grouse—and to prove he is also tough and means business.
“We’re not the main event,” Baumgarten said. “As soon as they settle on the greater sage grouse, which I think they will by September, everybody will move on and we will be left with the damage from the preliminary sparring because everybody had to get tough.”
There has been some political clout involved in disputes over the bird, and they’ve had to be fought out to the very end. According to Baumgarten, the Gunnison sage grouse should have never been listed, but Gunnison County is now positioned to go to court and duke it out, all over a preliminary fight.
Fortunately, Baumgarten predicts there will be a deal struck that keeps the greater sage grouse from being listed as threatened or endangered.
Lots of details to come before final decision…
The state has determined that property owned by U.S. Energy near the old Keystone Mine site is eligible for a potential Voluntary Cleanup Plan (VCUP). But there are still a lot of details that need to be submitted and reviewed before a final approval is considered. Read More »
Connection between mountain snow and desert reservoirs apparent
Despite the significant snowpack in the Gunnison Basin that’s been at, or above, average throughout the winter season and the corresponding melt that will likely fill Blue Mesa Reservoir this summer with almost 800,000 acre feet of water, there’s still a lot of concern over a drought-impacted future. Read More »
A hard look at the plan is in order…
U.S. Energy formally filed an amended VCUP (Voluntary Cleanup Plan) application for the old Keystone Mine site with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) on February 5. U.S. Energy (USE) was compelled to do so after issues were brought to light with the original VCUP application at the end of 2013 and the state decided that the application was not appropriate.
USE application “materially misleading”?
The High Country Citizens Alliance, the Red Lady Coalition (RLC) and the town of Crested Butte have all submitted comments to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment asking the agency to rescind its original approval of a Voluntary Cleanup Program (VCUP) granted US Energy last fall.
Finding funding and
savings for businesses and homeowners
With rebates, grants and new low-interest financing, the Office for Resource Efficiency (ORE) is giving local businesses and homeowners plenty of reasons to make energy efficiency improvements. Read More »
The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
