Vail
Eco Conscious Trend Growing in the Vail Valley
By Administrator

Green is a word that you here a lot these days.  Green is now the symbol for the eco-conscious or friendly for the environment.  One of the areas this is particularly growing is in the housing market.  Home owners, especially those building new homes are attempting to make those new houses “Green”.  Most people assume that “green” means having to put solar heat or lighting on their roof.  This is not the case.

Does Green mean not beautiful?  Absolutely not.  In the beautiful ski resort of Beaver Creek Colorado located a short drive from the popular Vail ski resort; a home that was completed in 2002 was considered one of the leading edge homes of eco-conscious design.  Several things can make a home “green”.  In this particular home, wood taken from an old home on the east coast was used for flooring, wood beams taken from an old pier in Puget Sound were used on the ceilings. 

As natural resources should be treated as very precious, space in a home is an area that eco-conscious home owners are looking at to plan better.  If you can work with the builder and architect to find ways to utilize all areas of your home, which is truly “green”.  Also, look at ways to prevent air from becoming stale and installing systems inside the home that are more energy efficient like boilers systems with ratings at 90% efficiency.  In the Beaver Creek home, things like using a wall in a bedroom to put drawers into are one of the many things to help conserve resources.

The builder of this leading edge “green”  home in Beaver Creek who is based out of Eagle Vail, a small community just outside of Vail, was thinking green several years before this home was completed.  His plan was to develop an entire neighborhood which was green.  He built Heritage Park which is a community of 24 single family homes around 4500 – 5300 square feed located in Homestead.  Homestead is part of Edwards Colorado, a neighboring town just outside Beaver Creek and Arrowhead. As a side note, Edwards has been named one of the top cities to live in America.  What makes the Heritage Park neighborhood green?  Gas burning fireplaces with the greatest efficiency available at 94%, insulation from various materials, sealed exterior envelopes and window upgrades.  On-site recycling programs and low flush toilets are some of the more “seen” green fixtures.

So what do all these environmental changes cost a home owner?  A green home such as those in Homestead, can cost 6 to 8 percent more to build, however, they will also save the homeowner an average of 30% less to operate.  In some case the payback on this investment is less than 3 years.

The Vail Valley is one of the sunniest places in the United States, averaging about 300 days per year of sunshine, making it also one of the best places to use solar energy and contribute to energy efficiency for the environment.

So whether you are looking at luxury homes or more standard homes, “green” is becoming the wave of the future, as it needs to be for the protection of our environment.