East West Partners will begin construction this April on Electric Pass Lodge in Aspen Snowmass — one of the first of its kind slope-side, ski in/ski out for-sale residences that is 100 percent powered by renewable energy. The building will include 53 ski-in/ski-out, for-sale residences at the base of the iconic Snowmass ski area. The project is projected to be completed in spring of 2023.
The Scandinavian-inspired two-and three-bedroom residences — starting at $1.4 million — are designed by two Colorado-based firms – 4240 Architecture and River+Lime. 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.
“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’re 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.”
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 of 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).
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.”
Electric Pass Lodge joins a collection of other LEED certified buildings in SBV, which, as a whole, is a LEED certified neighborhood. East West partnered with KSL Capital Partners and Aspen Skiing Company (ASC) in 2016 to acquire and complete the village at the base of the Snowmass ski resort.
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 of the company’s new buildings be highly energy efficient and entirely electrified. It’s 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’re 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.”
