Eco-Friendly Colorado Neighborhoods Through the Years: Boulder’s Holiday Neighborhood

The Holiday neighborhood in Boulder, Colorado is a proposed, world-class model of sustainability, affordable housing, and commercial development. This forward-thinking neighborhood consists of houses and yard designs that are relatively smaller than average and also built with high energy efficiency in mind. There are all important amenities and employment opportunities are also available. The proposed neighborhood will stand on 27 acres of one of Boulder’s last undeveloped land. The vision by the developer was an affordable neighborhood, pedestrian-friendly, and also eco-friendly. A team of experts was brought in to work on the project as well.

Reducing overall building impact of buildings to the environment was part of the mission. 40% of things made and used in the U.S goes into buildings and is a contributing factor to pollution. Almost 35% of all raw energy used is attributable to buildings and 66% of electricity goes into buildings too. 70% softwood is also used in buildings every year, explained green building expert David Johnston. Another plan was to preserve the earth’s resources. The Holiday neighborhood plans on an ecologically sustainable environment with pedestrian-friendly plans in order to reduce how much people drive hence reducing emissions.

Conservation of land was also improvised to reduce the amount of water and energy used. Building fewer homes per acre means more usage of utilities and infrastructure. The Holiday neighborhood built 30 homes per acre. Another strategy used was passive solar, high-efficiency appliances, water-based heating, and flat roofs for mounting solar panels.

More than 400 middle and low-income earners will live in The Holiday neighborhood. The cost of living will be fairly low for those who reside there.