ULI Colorado Highlights CSU Laboratory on Tour Linking New Energy Economy, Land Use and Development

Note to Reporters: Media interested in attending the event should contact ULI Colorado or Emily Wilmsen no later than 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21.

Members of the Colorado District Council of the Urban Land Institute – ULI Colorado – will visit the Colorado State University Engines and Energy Conservation Laboratory on Thursday, Oct. 22 as part of a trip to explore Northern Colorado’s energy efficient initiatives as they relate to land use.

“ULI believes that, with zero-energy neighborhoods and huge new manufacturing plants for wind and solar, the Fort Collins-Loveland region is becoming Ground Zero for Colorado’s emerging energy economy,” said Michael Leccese, executive director of ULI Colorado.

The event will include a panel discussion beginning at 1 p.m. on Thursday in Room 230 of the Lory Student Center on the CSU Fort Collins campus. A limited number of Northern Colorado residents can register two-for-one for $60. Otherwise, registration is $70 at the door or $45 for students and public officials. To reserve a space, contact Colorado@uli.org or (303) 893-1760.

Speakers are expected to include:

• Michael Masciola, vice president, Northern Colorado Economic Development Corp.
• Doug Johnson, director of the UniverCity project, downtown Fort Collins, who will discuss efforts to link the historic downtown and CSU campus to the Poudre River, as well as Fort ZED, a proposed net-zero energy downtown neighborhood.
• Dean Barber, vice president, Development – Office/Industrial/Medical at McWhinney.
• Randy Myers, Neenan – Archistruction.

ULI will also visit the All American Homes Factory in Milliken and New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins. All tour sites were selected because of their clean and renewable energy initiatives.

The program concludes with a VIP happy hour at New Belgium before a group of Metro Denver ULI members returns to Denver Union Station. Northern Colorado guests can join the bus tour of All-American, the Engines Lab, and New Belgium at the Lory Student Center.

The event is the second in a two-part ULI Colorado series on the New Energy Economy and land use. The first was held on Sept. 29 in Denver with Gov. Bill Ritter as a keynote speaker as well as expert speakers from NREL, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, and the sustainable development community.

ULI is an international nonprofit research and education organization that supports best practices in land use through Smart Growth programs, networking events and project tours. For more information go to http://colorado.uli.org.

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