SNOWMASS VILLAGE, COLO.—Snowmass Base Village (SBV) introduces the all-electric and appropriately named Electric Pass Lodge. Designed to be 100 percent powered by renewable energy, this development will be one of the first of its kind in the country. The building will include 53 ski-in/ski-out, for-sale residences at the base of the iconic Snowmass Ski Area.
“If you own a home at a ski resort, you’re inherently invested in the preservation of snow,” says Andy Gunion, Roaring Fork Valley Managing Partner for East West Partners. “Nobody wants their ski home to contribute to climate change, but the reality is most do—either through the burning of natural gas in the home itself or by receiving electricity generated from fossil fuel sources. With Electric Pass Lodge, we are thrilled to offer buyers beautifully designed, high-performing, healthy residences that come with the piece-of-mind that when you turn up your heat, you’re not melting our precious snow.”
These Scandinavian-inspired residences will be 2-and 3-bedroom with prices starting at $1.4 million. Each owner will have access to private amenities, including the village pool complex being built in conjunction with the building (not part of the development’s electric system), Zoom rooms, SBVfit health club, a lounge, courtyard, ski locker room, storage, and underground parking. These private amenities compliment the abundance of public offerings available right out the front door, ranging from ski slopes to summer trails to all the events and activities the newly completed Base Village has to offer.
Construction to Begin in April
Buyers and their local brokers will enjoy an innovative, COVID safe, digital-driven purchasing process that begins with reservations on the project website (www.ElectricPassLodge.com). Construction on Electric Pass Lodge is scheduled to start this April and is projected to be completed in spring of 2023.
Electric Pass Lodge was designed and engineered for sustainability from day-one with a holistic approach led by Paul Anseeuw, Senior Principal at Integral Group—an industry leader in “deep green engineering.” The first step in this approach was to minimize the amount of energy required to power the building. This included the incorporation of triple pane windows, robust insulation, phase-change ceilings that retain and release heat and a mechanical system that significantly pre-heats (or pre-cools) incoming fresh air through heat recovery ventilators, earth tubes and passive free cooling. The next step was to power the whole building with nothing but electricity. The final step is to source all this electricity from a combination of a rooftop solar array and off-site renewable sources provided through Holy Cross’s network (the local utility cooperative). While Electric Pass Lodge will be specifically purchasing renewable electricity, Holy Cross recently announced that it is ahead of schedule on its plan to source 70 percent of all its electricity from renewable sources and has now set a new goal for its entire network to be 100 percent renewable powered by 2030. At that point, all electric buildings within the Holy Cross network will effectively become “Net Zero” carbon.
Electric Pass Lodge’s design was crafted by two Colorado-based firms—4240 Architecture, who also designed One Snowmass, and River + Lime, an interior design firm that specializes in mountain resorts.
“We set out to design not only a contemporary Scandinavian-inspired alpine lodge, but the most sustainable, all-electric condominium building in the Colorado Mountains. Electric Pass Lodge will set a new standard for the future of building design in Snowmass and hopefully for ski resorts across North America,” says Christian Barlock, Principal with 4240. “This next-generation of mountain architecture is not only designed to stand the test of time, but to prioritize comfort and wellness—bringing the human-side of design forward to promote a culture of sustainability,” added Ian Wilson, 4240’s Design Lead.
Lots of Natural Light
River + Lime’s goal with the building’s interiors was to create comforting spaces that offer laid-back sophistication and approachable luxury, while drawing inspiration from a Scandinavian design aesthetic. Natural tones, clean lines, playful patterns, and lots of natural light combine to create spaces that feel modern, but warm.
The design team for Electric Pass Lodge has focused just as much on the health of the building’s occupants as on its climate impact. “One of the great things about designing a sustainable building is that we end up with a building that is extremely healthy for our owners and their families,” says Ellen McCready, Project Manager for East West Partners. “We really focused on indoor air quality at Electric Pass Lodge by selecting non-toxic materials, providing a continuous flow of fresh air through the residences and plenty of operable windows, including our signature Infinity Living Rooms. The indoor air quality is also automatically improved by the elimination of any gas being burned in the homes—a factor that studies indicate significantly reduces the risk for childhood asthma.”
Along with the construction of Electric Pass Lodge comes the adjacent new village pool. This 25-yard outdoor pool, featuring lap lanes, a water slide and hot tub, is designed with a saltwater system to provide a healthier swimming experience. Surrounded by an expansive sun deck featuring a seasonal cabana bar and shade pergola the pool will be available to Electric Pass owners and guests, as well as a variety of other residential owners in Base Village. The village pool is not a part of the building’s renewable electricity program as it is gas-powered. “We tried hard to find a way to also power the village pool with sources other than gas, but the size of this zoning-required village amenity was too large to allow for any practical solution,” says East West’s Andy Gunion. “A smaller hot tub would potentially allow for renewable solutions.”
Electric Pass Lodge joins a collection of other LEED certified buildings in SBV, which is a LEED certified neighborhood. East West partnered with KSL Capital Partners and Aspen Skiing Co. (ASC) in 2016 to acquire and complete the village at the base of the Snowmass ski resort.
ASC Committed to All-Electric Buildings
ASC is no stranger to sustainable building, renewable energy, and climate initiatives. ASC was the first ski company to develop a set of green buildings, and they participated in the creation of U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership Energy and Environmental Design Program, known as LEED. As a result, the company built one of the first 11 LEED-certified buildings in the world—the Sundeck Restaurant atop Aspen Mountain. Today, several of their on-mountain and off-mountain buildings in Snowmass are LEED certified. Moving forward, ASC’s proposed building standards include having all the company’s new buildings be highly energy efficient and entirely electrified. Its first 100 percent electric building, the Willits Center Workforce Housing, is set to open in spring 2021. The 52,000-square-foot residential project will add 138 beds to Aspen Snowmass’s workforce housing portfolio.
“Electric buildings powered by renewable energy are the best way society can decarbonize the built environment, which is a hugely important, but difficult task,” says ASC’s VP of Sustainability Auden Schendler. “I love that SBV is going all-electric with this development. They are modeling the future of climate solutions in a very high-profile place. But more important is that the people who buy these residences will be introduced to cutting edge technology. It’s awesome.”
The electrification of buildings is not just a sustainability goal in Snowmass. Across the country and the world, there is a growing movement towards buildings powered by solar, wind and other sources of zero-carbon electricity. Around 30 cities and counties in the United State have already passed ordinances either strongly encouraging or mandating new construction be all-electric. California leads the charge with cities such as Berkeley, San Jose and Santa Rosa banning natural gas equipment in new buildings and promoting a shift to all-electric. “Building electrification is a key step on the pathway to a net zero future,” according to Marta Schantz, Senior Vice President for the Urban Land Institute’s Greenprint Center for Building Performance. “A highly energy efficient, all-electric building powered by renewable energy is the gold-standard for leadership in the built environment.”
