When I use the term "green building," you may have a certain idea of what I mean. If you're like most Americans, you're probably thinking of those coiled light bulbs, a weak-flushing toilet, maybe a solar panel or two.

But architect and PUC Class of '96 alum Jarrod Denton sees that as just a snowflake on the tip of a massive, environmentally-friendly iceberg.

"We're starting to push it into a whole new level that maybe the average person isn't thinking about," says Denton, a Napa Valley architect who is part of a new generation in environmentally responsible architecture and construction. "When you start going through the process of not only the use, but the building of the structure, really the ultimate goal is to get to a carbon-neutral point."

Denton is certified by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), a program of the U.S. Green Building Council. In order to further bolster his green building credentials, he also participated in a training program in Germany this year called the Passivhaus program. This training focuses on creating buildings that not only run efficiently, but are also constructed efficiently, in order to be as close as possible to carbon-neutral from conception to everyday living.

"I'm finding kind of an exciting development where people are starting to take a fresh look at how buildings are put together more efficiently and use less waste with materials," he says. "The building industry, actually putting buildings together, has a huge impact on the environment." That's why Denton and other eco-friendly architects are advocating sweeping reforms in the processes of design and construction of new buildings. These changes include using only materials within a 50-mile radius in order to reduce the need for trucking, and the use of new software that allows designers to create interactive virtual models to simulate the entire project before breaking ground, in order to find ways to maximize efficiency.

Denton has earned a good deal of recognition for his application of these advances to recent projects. He designed the new additions to HALL Winery in St. Helena, improving the efficiency of the facility's storage areas with state-of-the-art radiant flooring and virtually eliminating the need for outside energy with 35,000 square feet of rooftop solar panels. The project, completed late last year, won LEED's Gold Certification for green design-currently the only winery in California to hold this high distinction. The facility is so efficient, he says, that "if you were to look at the energy meter right now, I would imagine that it's running in reverse."

He's currently working on a retrofit of a house in Sonoma, which may upon completion be the first house in the U.S. to be built to Passivehaus standards. Plans call for a ventilation system that extracts energy from the air and uses it to heat the filtered, incoming air without contacting it, resulting in always-fresh air that stays a uniform, comfortable temperature with a fraction of the energy cost. "If the house is designed optimally, you can actually forgo heating and air conditioning," says Denton. "I know that's a bold statement."

After earning a B.S. in engineering technology and drafting design at PUC, Denton forwent architect school in favor of working his way to a license through an apprenticeship. This unusual route into the career may have been a factor in giving him an outside perspective on the possibilities of his craft. "The construction field really hasn't changed in several, several decades," he says "The majority of architects have always had these principles and they've used them. It's easy to replicate the things that we've done for years and years."

Denton's holistic approach to environmental responsibility in architecture is a brand-new concept that hasn't gained much of a foothold in the U.S. yet. "I think what I'm starting to gather now is somewhat unique to the architecture profession," says Denton. "Currently there are probably only about 20 people in the nation that are Passivehaus certified. When I attended in Germany there were a thousand people from around the world and I think I was probably one of three or four architects from the U.S."

But he's hoping that the concept catches on here in a big way. He's been working with the Napa Valley Register to try to spread the word about new developments in green architecture, and recently published an article in the magazine NorthBay Biz touting the virtues of the Passivehaus approach. "Ironically it was the United States that invented this back in the late '70s, and then it went to Europe and the U.S. kind of forgot about it," he says. "Now it's come back here and hopefully we run with it."

Denton is running with it, and the emerging trend he sees presents a bright outlook for the future of the industry. Next year he estimates about 140 architects in the U.S. will be trained in Passivhaus standards, and more designers and consumers are learning that sound green architecture can improve housing quality and reduce the carbon footprint without prohibitive additional costs. "We're starting to look at the whole picture," he says. "These are exciting times."

Read Jarrod's NorthBay Biz article on the future of green design at http://www.northbaybiz.com/Special_Features/Green_Scene/Passive_House.php.