Boulder, CO: The Solar Access Ordinance
In 1991 the city of Boulder, Colorado decided to look toward the future and implement an ordinance that would prove to be the gold (green?) standard for municipal building codes. Due to the rising cost of conventional sources of energy in the late 1980’s the “Solar Access Ordinance” was enacted to make sure that everyone in Boulder considering erecting a new building or structure had to keep sunlight in mind. The ordinance mandates that each new building leave room for a 12’ or 25’ “hypothetical solar fence” allowing for enough sunlight to produce energy. Construction planning has taken shadow cover and movement and the angles of shadows over the heavily graded terrain of Boulder into the development process. If the shadows don’t comply then a new blueprint must be written. For 19 years now sunshine and solar has found its place in the small Colorado city outside of Denver. The rest of the country might want to take a page out of Boulder’s book.
Workers install a solar fixture on a Boulder home.
