Colorado Green Now

The latest ALCC news, including Colorado Green NOW articles, legislative updates, and programming announcements. 

ALCC's 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award Email
Written by Colorado Green Now   
Monday, January 22, 2024 12:00 AM

Colorado Green Now

Bob Cannon Lifetime Achievement Award: Judd Bryarly, Timberline Landscaping

Though he attended both Mesa State College and the University of Colorado, Timberline Landscaping CEO Judd Bryarly says his real education came from hands-on work, making mistakes, reading and learning about the industry, and listening to leaders around him. Bryarly’s first job was with Timberline, when the company had five employees in the 1990s. Now, as CEO, he leads a team of more than 250 people. He credits Timberline owner Tim Emick, his mentor and friend, for inspiring him to take risks and trust in employees. Bryarly was the first Timberline employee to earn the CLT designation in 1996 and participated in developing the first Landscape Training Manuals in partnership with ALCC and NALP in the late 1990s. He has served on the Certification Committee, which he chaired in 2011.

 
Northern Water wins fourth WaterSense Sustained Excellence Award Email
Written by Colorado Green Now   
Monday, January 08, 2024 12:00 AM

Colorado Green Now

Northern Water, a public agency that provides water for food production and municipal, domestic and industrial uses in Northeastern Colorado, received a WaterSense Sustained Excellence Award for its work promoting WaterSense and water efficiency in 2022.

This is the fourth year Northern Water has won the award from WaterSense, a voluntary partnership program sponsored by EPA. In its efforts to help commercial customers save water, Northern Water performed 48 landscape consultations, inspecting landscape conditions and irrigation components and recommending WaterSense-labeled irrigation controllers and sprinkler components. Northern Water also helped save more than 7 million gallons of water by funding 11 projects through its Collaborative Water-Efficient Landscape Grant Program, which requires WaterSense-labeled equipment to be installed.

“The WaterSense program and products provide an ideal foundation to promote, facilitate and celebrate water efficiency,” says Frank Kinder, Northern Water’s Water Efficiency Department manager. “The public-private partnership delivers sustained water savings and high performance, allowing comprehensive conservation of this vitally important resource on which we all rely. We appreciate the value WaterSense provides to all stakeholders.” 

Since 2006, consumers and businesses using certified water-efficient plumbing products have saved 7.5 trillion gallons of water; 880 billion kilowatt hours of energy used to pump, treat and heat water; and $171 billion in water and energy bills. These efforts have also helped prevent 337 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions—equivalent to planting 5.6 billion trees.

“With extreme weather affecting water supplies and quality, saving this precious resource is more important than ever,” said Veronica Blette, chief of the EPA’s WaterSense Branch. “The 2023 award winners helped Americans look to WaterSense and save not just water, but the energy required to heat and treat it, reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with energy use.”

 
ALCC GreenCo set to defend green industry during election-year session Email
Written by Stefan Stathopulos, Hicks & Associates   
Monday, January 08, 2024 12:00 AM

Colorado Green Now

The Second Regular Session of the 74th General Assembly will convene on Jan. 10 and adjourn May 8. A recurrent theme throughout the last several years doesn’t seem to be changing this upcoming session. Colorado businesses will continue to be on the defensive on many issues. Yes, it is an election year, so we could see less earth-shattering legislation than last year, but that’s not guaranteed.

With the 2024 elections less than a year away, Democrats will look to gain a super majority in the Senate, which they already have in the House, and Republicans are looking to pick up seats in both chambers. The 2023 session was a busy interim for ALCC/GreenCO. We attended multiple interim committees, including the Sales and Use Tax Simplification Task Force, Transportation Legislation Review Committee, the Committee on Ozone Air Quality and the Water Resources and Agriculture Review Committee (which just became a year-round committee). As usual, there were multiple bills approved in the interim committees that addressed sales and use tax, non-functional turf in new developments and many more that we continue to stay engaged on.

We also participated in multiple rulemaking meetings, including on pesticides, and attended other regulatory meetings during the interim. The most pressing matter we engaged on is the possibility of new restrictions on the use of handheld and push gas-powered equipment by the Air Quality Control Commission (AQCC). ALCC submitted comments in tandem with NALP for consideration. ALCC has asked to limit the regulation to 10 horsepower or under and push the implementation date out, so the incentive program and manufacturers have a chance to catch up.

This year, Gov. Jared Polis called a Special Session, which convened on Nov. 17 to address property taxes in the state after Proposition HH failed to get voters’ approval in the November election. The session lasted four days, and multiple bills were passed to address not only property taxes but also TABOR Refunds and assistance for renters. We expect property taxes to continue to be an issue during the 2024 session.

As we prepare for the upcoming legislative session, we will continue to stay engaged and craft our 2024 legislative priorities, which include water, pesticide regulation, sales and use tax issues, industry regulations, and workforce development.

As we get closer to the 2024 Legislative Session, we ask that all ALCC/GreenCO members stayed engaged. The more engagement we have from members, the better outcomes we will have at the General Assembly.

If you have any questions or would like additional information, please feel free to reach out to us at [email protected].

 
ALCC members bring home NALP awards Email
Written by Colorado Green Now   
Monday, January 08, 2024 12:00 AM

Colorado Green Now

The National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP) recognized three ALCC member companies during its 2023 Awards of Excellence ceremony at the annual Elevate conference and expo in Dallas this fall. The winners are:

Lifescape Colorado, Denver COO LeAnn Ostheimer, Women Leader of the year award; Residential Design/Build Gold Award for Hillside Beauty; Residential Landscape Management Gold Award for High Style in The Pines; Residential Design/Build Silver Award for Family Chic Retreat; Residential Landscape Management Silver Award for Twist of Sophistication; Residential Landscape Management Silver Award for Verdant Ascent

Singing Hills Landscape, Aurora Residential Landscape Contracting Silver Award for Amongst the Pines; Residential Landscape Contracting Gold Award for Monaco Modern

Timberline Landscaping, Colorado Springs Commercial Landscape Contracting Gold Award for Panorama Park

 
Pickens Tech continues to ramp up horticulture program Email
Written by Colorado Green Now   
Monday, December 11, 2023 12:00 AM

Colorado Green Now

Pickens Technical College in Aurora continues to train people for landscape industry jobs by providing hands-on learning in areas such as health, insect management, irrigation skills and more.

For the past year, Pickens has been building up its program and increasing enrollment, according to Pickens instructor Rachel Durkan. The horticultural program’s name has been changed from Urban Horticulture and Landscape Management to Environmental Horticulture. “This new name encompasses more industries within horticulture and will hopefully continue to attract more students,” Durkin says.

Last year, Pickens students did a once- a-week internship/shadowing experience in which they spent 10 Mondays working on projects, apprenticeships or internships with industry leaders. This program will start again in January 2024.

The 2023-2024 school year will include six field trips in the fall semester, including the Colorado State University trial gardens and seed collections, Denver Botanic Gardens, Arbor Valley and the Waterwise Gardens in Aurora. As part of the program, all students will now earn a Sustainable Landscape Management (SLM) certificate. “All students are excited to be attending ProGreen EXPO this year,” Durkin adds.

 
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