Sometimes, the local news business is just about being in the right place. Wednesday afternoon, CHS took a few minutes to enjoy a Little Uncle lunch in the triangle park in front of the under-construction and super-green Bullitt Center at 15th and Madison. Then CHS left. Not long after, we’re told, “dozens of F.B.I., secret service, and Seattle Police officers” arrived — and so did the president of Bulgaria.

According to people familiar with the details of the visit, Rosen Plevneliev included a visit to the construction site for the greenest commercial building in the world as part of a “NATO Summit trip to Chicago.” We’re told he was the former Minister of Construction and is very interested in green building and spoke on the need for human behavior change to meet ambitious and important energy efficiency goals.

The Bullitt project is working toward a late 2012 completion and was most recently approved to include a massive solar array in its green plans. The University of Washington integrated design laboratory and Northwest headquarters of the Green Building Council are slated to join the Bullitt Foundation in the low energy building.

Meanwhile, if like Plevneliev, you have an interest in things “eco,” you’ll want to mark your calendar for May 29th’s Capitol Hill Housing forum on creating a Capitol Hill “EcoDistrict” — 

Creating an EcoDistrict:
How do we make Capitol Hill a model of sustainable development?

Capitol Hill Housing presents the 7 annual Capitol Hill Community Forum

Date:               May 29, 2012

Location:         Broadway Performance Hall

1625 Broadway

Seattle, WA 98122

Time:               5:00 PM Doors Open

                        5:30 PM Presentation and Panel Discussion

7:00 PM Reception

An  is sustainability applied at the neighborhood scale.  provide a framework for realizing advanced sustainability – increasing efficiencies, reducing pollution, restoring ecosystems, and improving communities – through behavior change, building design, and infrastructure investments.  commit to achieving ambitious sustainability performance goals, guiding  investments and community action, and tracking the results over time.

In March 2011 the Bullitt Foundation awarded Capitol Hill Housing a grant to spearhead the creation of an  on Seattle’s Capitol Hill. Working with architecture firm GGLO, Capitol Hill Housing spent six months researching the establishment of an in our neighborhood. On May 29, we welcome the community to our annual Community Forum as an opportunity to present our findings and open a dialogue between local representatives, national  experts, and our friends and neighbors on Capitol Hill.

At the forum, CHH will unveil the  report, an in depth study of starting an  on Capitol Hill. An ambitious plan to create the state’s first neighborhood , the report organizes goals into six areas: Community, Transportation, Energy, Water, Habitat, and Materials. Members of the community will have opportunities to volunteer to work on  projects that match their interests and areas of expertise.

Following a presentation of the  report, there will be a panel discussion led by moderator Ron Sims, former HUD Deputy Secretary and King County Executive

Distinguished panelists:

• Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn

• Denis Hayes, President of the Bullitt Foundation and Founder of Earth Day

• Naomi Cole, EcoDistrict Program Director at Portland Sustainability Institute

• Llewellyn Wells, President of Living City Block

• Rebecca Saldaña, Equitable Transit Oriented Development Program Director at Puget Sound Sage

The event is free and open to the public. Space is limited. Press is encouraged to attend. RSVP required:  http://chhforum2012.eventbrite.com/

The  overview and full report are available online: http://capitolhillhousing.org/inthecommunity/ecodistrict.php