Clean tech as civic duty: government embraces sustainability to save costs--and serve as a role model.

Look no further than the front of Denver's city hall for a testament to how government and sustainability can dance seamlessly.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

As is the tradition, the City and County Building again this winter was lit up heel and toe with holiday lights during December, continuing through the Stock Show in January. This year, however, there was something different: 585 LED lights. The emerging technology, along with a policy of shutting off the display an hour earlier, was projected to cut the electrical use 80 percent.

It's a handshake of form-meets-function. Less carbon dioxide goes into the atmosphere, the electricity bill goes down, and the public still gets to see the show.

Governments, be they in Colorado's smallest towns or largest city, commonly wear multiple hats. They strive to be role models, while meeting very real bottom lines. Unlike the federal government, state and local governments cannot have deficits. Governments also are typically partners in economic development and environmental sustainability, the foundations for quality of life.

In the case of Denver's LED lighting, the display serves as a role model. The new lighting display cost $325,000, but the lights will last six times longer and reduce staffing needs. It's also a bottom-line issue. The city government, wracked by revenue shortfalls, figures to save $ 180,000 annually. That's a quick payback.

Governments have also strived to serve as role models in their public buildings. Denver policy mandated that new libraries and other municipal buildings must be built to attain certification for silver LEED, the second highest of four levels offered by the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Again, there's commonly a higher up-front cost with green buildings, but improved efficiencies yield savings down the line.

Such forward movement can be found across Colorado. Located on the edge of the San Juan Mountains, Ouray's town government has retrofitted all of its streetlights with LEDs. Cortez, in the southwest corner, in March expects to be producing 240 kilowatts of electricity by yoking the power of water flowing into its treatment plant. And in Avon, 110 miles west of Denver, the town government a few years ago had an energy audit, to calculate how the town government was heating and electrifying buildings. The audit found that the community recreation center used energy as if the cost were an afterthought.

In Avon...