Vail Resorts Supports CU-Boulder New Green Development Standards Research
Boulder, CO — The University of Colorado at Boulder Leeds School of Business and Vail Resorts, Inc. are partnering on research that will create new, more comprehensive green development standards. A gift from Vail Resorts announced today will fund the research. Faculty and graduate student leaders from The Real Estate Center at Leeds will collaborate with the Initiative for Sustainable Development and the School of Engineering and Applied Science on the project. This first-of-its-kind research collaboration at CU will provide a comprehensive resource for integrating green design and sustainable building methods into both residential and commercial developments. The research will attempt to go beyond other green development standards, which generally just address only one or two audiences. CU is setting out to create a more holistic approach to internal green building codes for all development industry stakeholders.
Development teams, executives and managers across the development industry will have access to resources from the research including a searchable database that will provide access to advanced and effective real estate development solutions. These research materials will cover all aspects of development, giving designers and builders the necessary framework to plan and execute green projects from initial due diligence to operations. CU will engage industry leaders as advisors for the project such as OZ Architecture, ProLogis, and Vail Resorts to help identify best practices and current development models as part of its research.
“We think it’s incredibly important to have green building standards that are a baseline for every building project we do, from lift houses on the mountain to high-end real estate developments. We believe supporting this research had the potential for creating something to benefit the entire development industry.” said Rob Katz, CEO of Vail Resorts, Inc.
Dennis Ahlburg, dean of the business school says the project is also another avenue for educating students about emerging sustainable practices. “Our students will have a firsthand look at current and emerging best practices in sustainability in the real estate development industry. They will have a hand in creating the comprehensive resources to be made available to all development professionals; this takes them way beyond the classroom.”
The Vail Resorts gift that enables this research was facilitated by the University of Colorado Foundation.