Beyond the call of green: Colorado sustainable awards recognize outstanding design in residential and commercial properties and master-planned.

• Author: Cote, Mike

It's a fine achievement if you build a structure that meets a set of established guidelines for saving energy and reducing your carbon footprint. The goal of the Colorado Sustainable Design Awards, however, is to shine some solar light on the architects, builders and their clients who strive to exceed what once sounded like lofty expectations.

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Case in point: The winning entry in the residential category--which required lobbying the city of Boulder to allow recycling of gray water--was commissioned by a homeowner who scoffed at the city's new "green build" guidelines. The sustainable features he had in mind for his home, he told his architect, would trump anything the city required. And he was willing to spend a lot of money to include them.

As our judges reviewed the finalists, what attracted them was not just buildings with smart designs and imaginative ways to save energy but those that could serve as models for future projects: prototypes for civic and...