The Beck Group and Urban Villages team selected Hunt Electric as the electrical design-build contractor for the unique Populus Hotel in downtown Denver. The project scope included working closely with the engineering team to design and install all power and lighting systems. As the first carbon-positive hotel in the US, the Populus’ novel design resembles a grove of aspen trees, paying homage to the nearby Rocky Mountain landscape.

The hotel is in the middle of bustling Denver, surrounded by busy streets. Hunt Electric’s Colorado team used our prefabrication process to reduce the staging area and utilize just-in-time deliveries to keep moving within the tight schedule. Daily coordination with the design team, general contractor, and our trade partners ensured a smooth rough-in and installation of our scope. Upfront planning allowed elements to be prefabricated off-site in Hunt Electric’s prefabrication warehouse and delivered on time for installation without additional storage and handling, effectively reducing onsite material and labor.

The building’s unique triangular shape posed a challenge for routing the electrical infrastructure. However, Hunt Electric's innovative use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) allowed us to devise a solution that involved situating the electrical rooms in the core of the building, surrounded by radius concrete walls. This solution, which required intense collaboration with other trade partners and the structural engineer, ensured the structural integrity of the building. The building's environmental efforts limited the construction materials used, so we provided detailed and exact layouts for power and lighting elements installed within the concrete walls, columns, and ceilings, showcasing our innovative approach to the project.

With Populus’ exposed structure concept, Hunt Electric employed BIM and close collaboration with other trade partners to ensure that decorative building features and installations hid the electrical infrastructure. We used a Trimble GPS Total Station, which was imperative for taking the BIM concept model and implementing it in the field installation. Our team could precisely lay out device locations and conduit stub-ups for the exterior walls from each building level. Our front-line installers had daily, up-to-date visualization with precise and coordinated measurements to ensure 100% accuracy.

Hunt Electric implemented the engineer’s creative energy-saving solutions to contribute to Populus' sustainability efforts. We installed an intuitive energy management system to limit power consumption. This system detects when guestrooms are vacant and is energized when guests swipe their keycard to enter the room. When the guestroom is vacant, the system is de-energized automatically, eliminating the need to turn off the lights or adjust the thermostat.

The design team and Hunt focused on maximizing daylight harvesting to save energy in front-of-house areas like restaurants, meeting rooms, and the rooftop bar. Although the building's distinctive window designs were challenging, we successfully installed daylight and lighting control sensors on LED lights to illuminate the common spaces.

Hunt Electric is honored to be part of this innovative and sustainable project. As the first carbon-positive hotel in the US, we are proud to have provided its complete electric framework.