Like many who grew up in the Roaring Fork Valley, Andrew Wickes left home to pursue his studies, a career, and an urban lifestyle in Europe. And like many natives who decided to come back, he faced the quintessential local challenge: affordable housing.
Andrew and his wife, Adriane, whom he’d met while living in Berlin, didn’t shy from this challenge. They lived with […]
Paul Soldner loved the sun. The pioneering ceramist, teacher, founder of Anderson Ranch Arts Center, inventor (of Soldner pottery equipment, among a dozen patents), and self-taught green builder employed the sun’s power, energy, light, and symmetry in both his artwork and in the design and construction of his home and studio — which spanned 40 years and incorporated local, natural, and recycled materials whenever possible. Now, with CORE’s help, his […]
It was a near miss and chance encounter that started The Arts Campus at Willits on its Path to Zero. But as the arts organization winds up construction on its new Contemporary Center for the Performing Arts, AKA The Contemporary, and gets ready to welcome audiences in […]
Greg and Connor Hoffman have been spending a lot of time in their garage lately. But not on your average father-son garage project.
On a Sunday in early February, Connor, a Basalt High School sophomore, was painstakingly placing hundreds of battery cells into a large, slotted container. It was part of a three-day process of building a custom battery pack for a retrofitted electric snowmobile.
For Connor, who has been fascinated with robots and electric cars since he was 5 years old, […]
When buying a new car, most people pay attention to — and factor in — the gas-mileage sticker in the window. But did you know that there’s a similar, nationally accepted energy rating system for homes?
It’s called the Home Energy Rating System, or HERS. Developed by RESNET, a nonprofit focused on achieving a nationwide, net-zero-energy residential sector by 2040, the HERS Index is the industry standard — recognized nationally and internationally — by which […]
Have you ever thought about what more electricity can do for you? For the planet? As it turns out, it’s a lot more than you might expect. When it’s beneficial electrification — yes, we know, this is the kind of terminology that might make your eyes glaze over — it has the potential to move us firmly toward a cleaner, more efficient, and safer energy future.
