Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/65909
Green Initiatives Futuristic sees the light with solar panels DENVER — Futuristic Films (www.futuristicfilms.com), here, which has a new office in Venice, CA, celebrated its fifth anniversary recently. In honor of the occasion, the digital production and post company decided to do something big — for the envi- ronment. They went carbon neutral for all of their post operations by doing an ener- gy makeover and installing solar panels on the roof of their Denver building. According to EP/partner Brendan Kiernan, this move underlines the company's overall eco-conscious philosophy. "Everyone here at Futuristic Films recognizes the impact individuals and enterprises have on our environment," he explains. "The film production industry in general can be pretty wasteful. It's important to Futuristic to Hooligan's Rosemary Quigley: biking to work is just one way to reduce your carbon footprint. were needed in the edit suites "because company fluorescents just don't work." But as much as possible they replaced all the existing lighting and new lighting with energy efficient sources. Another thing helping them achieve LEED certification is the removal of all irrigation systems, in addition to a newly designed land- scape with plants that are native to Louisiana. "This way they need much less irrigation, and they are going to thrive, " he explains. Another condition for certification is that water cannot run off of the property, so they built a bioswale. "It's like a giant French drain," he describes. "The water flows out of gutters into the French drain and percolates into the ground, so the plants take advantage it. " They also used white roofing materials on exist- ing and new roofs; white roof reflects the light and creates a cooling effect. In terms of environ- • Footage & text online searching • retrieval & download • high-deFinition video footage@hboarchives.com 1-877-426-1121 hboarchives.com 22 Post • May 2012 mentally-friendly practices by management and staff- ers, it's an evolving pro- cess, says Milneck. While they have always recycled, including computer gear and media, they have taken it a step further. "We eliminate as much plastic as possible. We are in the process of going paperless, which is a big challenge because pro- duction companies use a lot of paper." In addition to investing in scanners to eliminate prints, Digital FX has tar- geted production books — call sheets, production constantly evaluate our impact and continue to lessen the negative externalities." With Kiernan now based in Venice full-time, this project was spearheaded in Den- ver by Futuristic's head of production/EP/partner Sarah Liles and operations manager Mark Shelton. The duo point out that "green" initiatives Futuristic had already imple- mented include: purchasing recycled and organic products — from day-to-day office supplies to fresh fruit and snacks. "When you save money purchasing computer paper that isn't 100 percent recyclable, you're really just passing that cost off onto the environment," notes Shelton. "The premiums we pay for 'green' products are a simple and easy way to take some responsibility for the products we consume, less- ening the burden on our planet." Liles points out that Futuristic also "recycled" an old building in a former industrial area for its Denver operations a few years ago. "Using the structure that was already there, we renovated it into a modern work space. " Futuristic is also "bottle-less," pro- viding purified water in the office and on-set. They also created an "urban oasis" in the backyard of their Denver office building using reclaimed materials. Installing the solar panels was the final step to becoming completely carbon neu- tral for all Denver post operations, helping to power technology that includes three FCP/Adobe CS5.5 edit stations working off XSANs and a Dot Hill server; and the lighting and camera department, which includes Red Epic, Sony F3, Sony EX3, Sony EX1, Canon 5D, and Kino Flo light panels. For the installation of the solar panels and the replacement of a dated roof on the Denver building, Liles and Shelton found a local company, Stellar Energy Contrac- tors, to conduct the energy makeover and install the solar panels. During their initial discussions, they entered a barter deal with Stellar. Futuristic would produce a video case study of the transformation to serve as a marketing video for Stellar. The film begins with an energy audit of Futuristic that analyzed the current state of their building to serve as the benchmark (energy consumption, heat leaks, etc.). Afterwards, Stellar began making improvements by doing air sealing (sealing up all "leaks" around the building where interior air exchanges with the outside), installing and insulating a new roof, and installing a 9.2kW solar power system. www.postmagazine.com