Photos and Updates

August 11, 2011:

Part 1: How Toyota Elephant Passage is Making Denver Zoo a Green Leader

Denver Zoo's goal is to be the greenest zoo in the world. The design and construction of Toyota Elephant Passage is further proof of the zoo's commitment to achieve that goal.

You've probably heard of the zoo's biomass gasification system, which will convert animal waste and human trash into clean energy to power Toyota Elephant Passage, thus reducing our landfill contributions by 1.5 million pounds per year.

But did you know there are many more sustainable practices occurring on the Toyota Elephant Passage construction site? For example:

• Solatube (right) is an innovative system that reflects sunlight to provide natural, clean light into a space, will be used in six Toyota Elephant Passage buildings, including the Clayton F. Freiheit Elephant Building, the rhino-tapir building and Asian Pavilion. The Solatube system reduces the use of electrical lighting.

• Five buildings will utilize skylights, which, less so than the Solatube system, will decrease electric lighting use. Plus, UV rays drawn from natural daylight are important to the health of bird species in the rhino-tapir building and Asian Pavilion. Skylights, windows and the Solatube system will provide natural daylight for at least 75 percent of indoor spaces.

• Lighting systems will be controlled independently for each small area, rather than by a large area. This will enable a worker to turn on a task light in the specific area they are working, rather than having to turn on lights to the entire building.

• Heating and cooling systems also can be controlled independently for each small area.

• A special filtration system will recycle water throughout Toyota Elephant Passage. Recycled water will be used to fill animal pools, clean animal areas, provide drinking water for animals and irrigation. Animal pools will hold 1.1 million gallons of recycled water, which costs half as much as potable water.

• On the construction site, Kiewit Building Group crews are separating and recycling paper, corrugated cardboard, plastics, glass and metals (below).

• All storm water runoff that comes through the project will be filtered to remove large particulates, dirt and debris before being discharged into the city's storm sewer.

• Roofs and hardscapes are being installed with light colors to help reflect sunlight, thus keeping the project cooler.

• An efficient irrigation system and native and adaptive plant material will help create sustainable landscaping that uses less water than a typical project.

Next week: Sustainable practices behind the scenes at Toyota Elephant Passage.

- Download Toyota Elephant Passage Fact Sheet PDF

• View more Toyota Elephant Passage Videos
• July 21, 2011: Plenty of Progress Behind Construction Fences
• May 19, 2011: Denver Zoo Planners Double-Checking Punch List
• April 7, 2011: More Projects on Toyota Elephant Passage Site Close to Completion
  
• February 23, 2011: Toyota Elephant Passage Nears Half Way Mark
• January 6: Schoelzel Family Village Begins to Emerge
• November 19, 2010:  Bridge to Provide Overhead Passage for Pachyderms  
• October 28, 2010: Toyota Elephant Passage construction update
  
• September 23, 2010: Toyota Elephant Passage Progress in Pictures
• September 2, 2010: Virtual Project Becoming a Virtual Reality
• August 19, 2010: Lots and lots of work under way
• August 5, 2010: The Walls Are Coming Up
• July 15, 2010: Gibbon Islands and Deepest Foundation
• July 6, 2010: The walls are coming up on Toyota Elephant Passage!
• June 23, 2010 - More rock work, excavation and installation of utilities
• May 28, 2010 - Weekly Toyota Elephant Passage Construction Update - Rocks/Trees
• May 20, 2010 - Weekly Toyota Elephant Passage Construction Update - Greenhouse
• April 30, 2010 - Weekly Toyota Elephant Passage Construction Update
• April 2010 - Springtime Update
• December 2009 - North Side Warehouse
• December 2, 2009 - Groundbreaking
• March 2009 - Artifacts
• November 2008 - SITE WORK UNDERWAY!