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Even though Global Dance Festival Day two was cancelled under inauspicious circumstances, namely Colorado weather choosing to do a 180 and hail down, lash out with winds, and blow down stages, we can rest (at least somewhat) easy in the fact that Global Dance Festival Day 1 was, for lack of a better phrase, fuc*ing epic. In the course of my day one, given that I went to the festival by myself, I ran into a friend name Heavenly and we were able to have a wonderous time roaming around, dancing, drinking, and otherwise letting ourselves go.

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I’d be a liar if I didn’t point out that there was talk throughout the day, from various corners of the attendant populace, that Day 1 had a better line up than Day 2, which is an interesting thing to hear considering day 2, or the final day at any festival, is usually a finale blowout event. Whatever it is, it is, and we are left with nothing but memories and pictures. The fact is, Black Caviar, Black Tiger Sex Machine, Diplo, and others including Kascade, absolutely destroyed Day one and made for a one day festival that was well worth it.

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While everyone has been writing about the closure of Day 2, we are not. It doesn’t really matter to us. In fact, we were going to leave Day 2 early to go to the see The Growlers at The Ogden Theater anyways. That’s on another post, which you should check out, because The Growlers are awesome and their opener, Bronchos, are as dope. In any case, cheers to all the friends we made, to all the dances danced, to all the drinks we had, especially all those free ones we got at the Patron House tequila booth, and the perfect weather; we say thank you. Until next year, and until we meet again. May the Colorado weather gods bless us next time. And all the Coloradans say P.L.U.R.

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Enjoy some random photos we managed to snap in the madness. That’s our managing editor, De La Vaca, and his friend Heavenly. Represent.

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DLV and Heavenly

Heavenly smile

Explain this

You got the shot?

In the matrix

GLOBAL flag

GLOBAL

Wobblin

DANCE

“I see you and your camera”

and…POSE

Spirit animal

Universal

“I’m feeling myself”

Aliens.

“This is my daughter”

Cheeeeese

Lit

Mohawk

“So…you like my cabana?”

The worst investment

Ride it

Girl squad

Phoebe

Flower for the pretty lady

That smile

Live

Happy

IDK

GO GO DOLL

Stilts FTW

Chilling

Our first friends

Patron Tequila

Heavenly less than sober

Ecstatic

Heavenly makes friends with a tree

Pixellation

Carnival rides

Go go’s killed it

Give us more

Light it up

Explosive

That crowd during Kaskade tho

Heavenly

The Most Fabulous

Badass

A little sick

Patron Tequila popup

Our general mood

Finale

End of night emotions

The post Global Dance Festival: Day 1 (the only day) | Pictures appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Thousands of miles away, the Gulf Coast is hemorrhaging oil. Global temperatures are increasing, coal-fired power plants continue to pump toxic emissions into air and water, and let us not forget the polar bears on the melting icebergs.

That’s the big picture.

Here, in north Boulder, the geothermal-powered air-conditioning softly hums while the 9.99 Kilowatt photovoltaic system on the roof powers the LEDs in the kitchen, and the super-duper air-sealing package (also referred to as “a guy with a calking gun”) keeps the coolness in, the heat out and everyone happy.

This is Spring Leaf, a net-zero energy infill housing project that is like no other in the county and probably even in the country. The model home—which will be one of 12 total homes in the development, including six single-family homes and six townhouses—is net-metered, and it will produce as much energy, if not more, than it consumes annually. It boasts what is possible with cutting-edge materials, conscious planning and contemporary design, and it’s the culmination of lessons learned on numerous low-energy and net-zero energy projects.

This, however, is still a home: its “greenness” does not outshine the warmth or the simplicity, the mountain views or the lux tub in the master bath. The home has a contemporary, clean aesthetic with warm woods dancing with steel, white walls and big, well-placed windows.

“We want the material to be expressive of its own use and its history,” architect George Watt said. “…When it comes down to it, we build homes that are welcoming. It’s your house, your sanctuary. All these systems and materials need to fade into the background.”

To Watt, the hominess trumps the sustainability. It’s more important to have the home feel like a home, he says, than for it to be fanatically green. Still, the systems and the materials lend to the aesthetic—and ultimately make this project extraordinary.

The all-electric home is crowned with a sleek-looking, inlaid photovoltaic system that can produce more than enough power to keep this house cool and calm in the summer and produce more than it uses over the span of a year; in the winter, the home will occasionally use the electric grid for backup.

Watt and the developers have also focused on conservation, insulation and sealing. Likely to receive LEED-platinum certification, which is the highest of all LEED achievements, the house is filled with sustainably harvested woods, passive solar, xeriscaping, toxin-free and low-flow water systems, sustainable and recycled countertops (the kitchen counters are made of concrete and wine bottles, which is more beautiful than it sounds), cabinets and other materials. Beetle-killed trees find a second life here as fencing, and a permeable pavement stormwater drainage system to filter water is just part of the landscape.

The home is a treehugger’s dream and a modern environmentalist’s haven. And it satisfies many of the promises made by urban development. The project is across the street from a Lucky’s Supermarket, a coffee shop, restaurants and all the essentials.

“When we do a project, we can create the technical pieces, but the lifestyle is up to the homeowner. Here, we enhance the ability to live an efficient lifestyle,” Watt said.

Overall, the house and the future homes and townhouses are placed, planned and designed to maximize their efficiency and conservation as well as the efficiency of the future homeowners. It’s overwhelming in its attention to the details of sustainability and eco-awareness. Yet, it’s all about simplicity. Which is why the architect and the developers wanted to put everything on an electric system (a reason why the house doesn’t have a solar thermal system).

But green doesn’t always translate to green…as in, cold hard cash. And a photovoltaic system can seem like an ancillary investment in this economy. So, adjustments have been made, like giving homeowners the option of not having solar panels or the geothermal system. Instead, the next 11 homes will be “net-zero ready” unless a buyer is willing to fork out the extra money right now.

“We are giving people the opportunity to grow into their house,” Watt said.

According to Deanna Franco at 8030 Realty, it’s a consumer-driven change. She said the townhomes will start at $650,000, which is down from $800,000; the single family homes will start at $800,000. If the consumer does want to make the net-zero plunge, the single family homes could reach $1.2 million, which is big bucks in this economy but not unheard of in the Boulder area.

“What we provide for them is an incredibly energy efficient home. If they want to be a team player, they can,” Franco says.

Mary Coonce, principal of developer Porchfront Homes, said while the decision was not part of the plan, it does allow potential customers to have freedom to pick and choose what their homes look like. At the same time, it’s making them more realistic.

The post Home Sweet Net-Zero-Energy Home appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.