Due to confidentiality agreements, the project's name, and any words or phrases that might reveal its identity, have been omitted. Please note that the following is a two page excerpt from the original 15-page document.
Introduction
"In the not-too-distant future, all development will be green. Developers, builders and buyers will discover that green not only enhances their pocketbooks, but also their health and the quality of their lives."
- William S. Becker, U.S. Department of Energy
For millennia, people have been fascinated by the dream of an ideal environment...a place that embodies humanity's best aspirations...a modern-day paradise that inspires visitors to discover their own personal potential. Through the years, some of the world's greatest thinkers and dreamers have described such perfect man-made environments-from Plato's Republic to Sir Thomas Moore's Utopia.
In recent times, Walt Disney envisioned a city...an "Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow,"...where the only acceptable form of transportation would be a network of electric monorails, no-emission electric vehicles and people-movers. He dreamed of a living city, destined to become "a community of tomorrow that will never be completed...always introducing, demonstrating and testing new materials and new systems...a showcase to the world for the ingenuity and imagination of American free enterprise"
When Walt Disney's original vision died with him in 1966, the bold, experimental plan for Epcot was reduced to a gated theme park. Since then, other far-sighted thinkers and dreamers have carried Disney's grand utopian vision into the 21st century. But none of these visions is more sustainable, more environmentally responsible, and more innovative than (NAME OMITTED). Designed to be the world's largest enclosed and integrated structure, this unique destination will feature a daring blend of experience and experiment.
Whether visitors stay for a just few hours, or linger for several days at one of the resort's 60,000 hotel rooms, everyone will enjoy the sight of America's legendary spirit of creativity once again in full flower. Here, the passion for discovery and invention permeates every aspect of the guest experience as the dreams of history's social visionaries finally become reality.
While the wide range of cutting-edge attractions and world-class hospitality are certain to be appealing enticements for visitors, the true heart and soul of the project is its sustainable and revolutionary design. The development will employ 100% renewable energy resources...a target never before attempted on such an ambitious scale. The plan's commitment to sustainable design will demonstrate practical and attractive ways to break the world's addiction to oil.
Green Principles
In his forward-looking and cogent book The Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability, writer, futurist and entrepreneur Paul Hawken describes principles that are very much in line with the core philosophy of this project. Hawken defines "sustainability" as "...a state where the demands placed upon the environment by the people can be met without reducing the capacity of the environment to provide for future generations."
To attain this state of sustainability, NAME OMITTED has adopted some of Hawken's basic principles, such as reducing absolute consumption of energy and natural resources, providing secure, stable and meaningful employment, and striving for an aesthetic outcome. But the project also aspires to being progressive, fun and engaging.
In the same spirit of achievement, NAME OMITTED has developed new standards of sustainable innovation...a set of overarching Green Principles designed to demonstrate the practicality, viability and profitability of renewable energy. The project's focus on sustainable solutions is an effort to fundamentally shift the public's long-held assumptions about non-fossil fuels and renewable energy resources. Those standards aspire to
Make all strategic and operational decisions from a green perspective, which will foster environmental excellence.
Provide a living model of sustainable, fossil-fuel free living, to stimulate change locally, regionally, and globally.
Achieve a positive environmental "footprint" through sustainable climate control.
Adopt a holistic view of how the project affects the environment...considering where things come from, what they are made of, and how they can be reused or recycled.
Train all resort team members to be knowledgeable green ambassadors, representatives building awareness and inspiring customers, suppliers, and partners to create a healthier, more secure world.
Require the development's partners and suppliers to share and adopt green principles.
NAME OMITTED's Green Principles will make environmental history by setting new standards for green building. The construction of the project will ultimately help balance the environment through the application of good design practices, good business principles and of course, conservation. When the development is fully on line, its design will reduce operating expenditures, cut maintenance costs, lower emissions, and prove to the American people and the world sustainability is not just a dream.
Reaping the Benefits
The keystone of NAME OMITTED's standards of sustainability rests on a rejection of traditional fossil fuels. The project will tap into proven alternative energy technologies...large scale wind farms, solar energy, biomass, micro-hydro systems, and hydrogen fuel cells...for heating, cooling and power. All transportation systems will run free of fossil fuels. By building in other architectural innovations, like efficient insulation and passive solar design, this project will use far less energy than comparable developments.
