Condos to run on renewable power
53-unit building in Snowmass expected to open in 2023
Developers soon will break ground on a 53-unit condo building at the base of the Snowmass Ski Area that will run entirely on renewable, electric power.
It’s the latest example of a growing trend in new construction in a part of Colorado confronted with a changing climate and reliant on snowy winters to power its tourism economy.
The forthcoming Electric Pass Lodge takes its name from an actual mountain pass south of Snowmass Village. Its power, meanwhile, will come from a rooftop solar array and other renewable sources of electricity available through local utility Holy Cross Energy, according to developer East West Partners.
Building structures to LEED program sustainability standards has become commonplace for East West, said Andy Gunion, the company’s managing partner in the Roaring Fork Valley. The company said the entirety of Snowmass Base Village, the $600 million ski resort development of which Electric Pass Lodge will be a part, is LEED-certified. But the condo project goes beyond that.
“I have been living in ski resorts for 20 years, and we’re somewhat of the canaries in the coal mine in terms of climate change and our livelihoods,” Gunion said. “If you really look at the climate issue and how buildings contribute to this, the only way is to build them is to make them 100% powered by electricity and then, either up front or over time, make sure that electricity comes from renewable sources.”
East West is budgeting $50 million to build the ski-in, ski-out building, with construction set to break ground in April. Gunion said he is still working on the numbers but that price is not expected to be a higher than what it would cost to build a structure that relies on fossil-fuel-powered systems.
“Money that would go to gas boilers and things like that you relocate and spend it on a really good building envelope,” Gunion said. “Triple-pane windows with really good seals, really good insulation.”
One design feature that will not only boost the building’s efficiency but also lines up with COVID19 safety protocols is a mechanical system that continuously cycles fresh air into each unit, using tubes that pass through the earth and heat-transfer technology to heat and cool the condo units while also continuously ventilating them, Gunion said.
Units in Electric Pass Lodge
will not come cheap. There is one income-controlled unit planned for the building, meeting requirements set by the town of Snowmass Village, Gunion said, but the rest of the two- and three-bedroom units will start at $1.4 million.
The Aspen Skiing Co., which is part of the joint venture that owns Snowmass Base Village along with East West and KSL
Capital Partners, is also working on a 100% electric building.
The Willits Center Workforce Housing building, featuring more than 130 beds for Aspen Skiing workers, is set to open this spring, according to a news release. The company is considering new building standards that would make all new structures energyefficient and 100% electrified.
“Short story on electrification: A new gas building will emit (carbon dioxide) for 50 years. But an electric building will become cleaner and cleaner each year as the grid inevitably becomes more renewable,” Auden Schendler, Aspen Ski Co.’s vice president of sustainability, wrote in an email Tuesday.
Electric Pass Lodge is expected to open in spring 2023. Its pool, which will serve the larger base village property, will not run on electric power, according to East West.