Speaker Series: Building Sustainably - Keep Tahoe Blue's Spurlock/Evers Environment & Education Center
Join Keep Tahoe Blue, W| Y Architects, and Sierra Sustainable Builders for a conversation about sustainable design, building, and renovations - with a sustainable wood product demonstration by Tahoe Earth Institute.
Discover human and environmentally centered philosophy that brought the Spurlock/Evers Environment & Education Center to life, and how others, including homeowners, can apply Keep Tahoe Blue’s sustainability building to future projects.
Join us for an engaging panel featuring Ward Young Architects and Sierra Sustainable Builders, who designed, sourced, and are working towards constructing Tahoe’s first LEED-certified office building, now the new home of Keep Tahoe Blue.
Learn how this once-dated structure was reimagined into a cutting-edge, community-focused center, and how learnings from this project can help shape other regional commercial and residential projects, so we’re building a better Tahoe for all.
*Please Register for easy check-in.
Attendees can also learn about materials that are beautiful, sustainable, robust, and can easily be incorporated into projects, including:
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Recycled denim insulation, to repurpose fabric waste and enhance energy efficiency
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A living roof, designed to capture carbon and reduce heat islands
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Salvaged wood from the 2021 Caldor Fire, thoughtfully integrated into structural and design elements
This building exemplifies Keep Tahoe Blue's legacy of turning science into sustainable solutions, offering interactive exhibits, a native plant garden, a conference space, a retail store, and an outdoor amphitheater designed to host this very speaker series. We’re thrilled to share this special place with our friends and neighbors and help others navigate their potential future projects.
Join us at 3:30 for a live demonstration of how to make nail-laminated timber, a low-tech, low-cost engineered wood product with inherent fire-resilient qualities that can make use of wood sourced from local forest restoration and wildfire risk mitigation activities. We will be providing a brief overview of code-compliant manufacturing techniques, how this product can be utilized in local construction, and how strengthening local wood supply chains can support a range of local environmental, economic, and community resilience goals.
Event Info:
Date: Thursday, May 14, 2026
Time:
- 3:30 pm to 4 pm | Sustainable Wood Product Demo with Tahoe Earth Institute
- 4 pm to 5 pm | Cocktail party
- 5:15 pm – 6:30 pm | Panel Discussion
Location:
- Spurlock/Evers Environment & Education Center
Please contact rosie@keeptahoeblue.org with any questions.
