History and “green” thinking are two things we kept foremost in our minds as we built our new Aspen office, one of the historic Connor cabins we purchased at the corner of Hunter and Hopkins.

It took a lot of work to delicately move the cabins out of the way, to build the subgrade space, then to move them back. In addition to the difficulty of modifying a 120-year old residential structure to meet today's strict commercial building codes, we were required to follow historical preservation guidelines during building, as well as ADA requirements (American Disability Act); the three of these are not always compatible. And on top of all that, we decided to make the building as environmentally friendly as possible.

The office features five private spaces for brokers, a glassed-in conference room with high-tech A/V, a fireplace, a 3-sided, floor-to-ceiling resource library with rolling ladder, and enough space for 7-8 additional staff. Upstairs is a blend of the contemporary and the historic; downstairs, with an entire wall of reclaimed brick, has the feeling of an artist’s loft.

We used Associates III and SPECs of Denver, two design firms that have worked with us for years, as our environmental design consultants. Associates III is one of the leading “green” design firms in the country. Founder Kari Foster has 35 years of experience and her daughter, Kim Foster, who owns SPECs, is an experienced designer as well. Associates III has focused on environmentally friendly design for the last decade, and Kari, who speaks nationally on the subject, is in the process of writing the first book on the greening of residential interiors.

Kari and Kim did everything in their power to make our Aspen office as green as possible. Some of those things include using hickory from an environmentally responsible company for the floors, low-toxic solvents and sealants, water based paints, cork floors, counter tops made from recycled paper, recycled glass tiles, low flush toilets, non-toxic carpets and energy-efficient lighting. A recycling center will be on site, to separate waste, so that as little as possible goes to the landfill.

Associates III has their own residential green checklists, and they embrace Pitkin County’s green guidelines. But “green design” is not simply about using environmentally friendly products — it’s a different way of thinking.

For example, Associates III and SPECs use products and services they can find within a 500-mile radius whenever possible — shipping and transporting things over long distances contributes their "environmental cost". So, while bamboo is an environmentally friendly choice because it’s a highly renewable product, since  it comes from so far away, it’s not as energy-efficient as something found closer at hand.

Upholstery fabrics for the furniture are what are called “cradle to cradle”, biodegradable products that can go back into the earth at the end of their life cycle. And leftover carpet from the brokers’ office spaces was used to fill in other areas.

“Another tenet of green design is to use no more square footage than we need,” says Kari. "The less material we use, the less the impact on the earth. We try to make every inch functional, like a yacht, where every square inch counts. Michael Adams, the interior architect, has found cubbyholes under stairways.”

Along with environmentally sustainable thinking comes a health-conscious approach. By making every effort to use non-toxic products to glue, seal and finish everything in the interior, a healthier environment for team members and clients was created.

“There are a lot of things people don’t think about,” says Kari, “like the toxins in paint and formaldehyde in the substrate of the floors. Those things you can easily eliminate with products out there now such as ice stone (recycled glass) and wheat board (made from agricultural waste).”

"The ultimate goal," says Kari, "is a functional, beautiful environment that’s a good working space for the staff and pleasant for clients, but one that’s also healthy for planet earth. Subliminally, it feels more peaceful that way.”

Green building and green design have come a long way in the last few years, Kari says. She wants to dispel the myth that there are just a handful of green products available on the market. Also, you can be green with any style you choose — mountain, southwestern, contemporary, Victorian, etc. And the result is subtle — you won’t necessarily be able to tell you’re in a “green” office.

So what does the Aspen office look like now that it's done?

“Simple and clean, a tad contemporary but with hardwood floors, for example, that hearken back to the mining days,” says Kari. “You’ll know it’s a historic cabin because of the use of wood, even reclaimed brick. And it has a serenity and a sense of peace. It's really a place of respite.”