PRESS RELEASE
Habitat for Humanity of the Roaring Fork Valley was Awarded the Best Multi-family Home Design Award
Nationwide recognition for the exceptional Basalt Vista multi-family home design was achieved with this award. Additionally, this award recognizes the hard work and dedication that went into every Basalt Vista home through the collaboration with 2757 design co, Holy Cross Energy, CORE, NREL, our Habitat construction team, Basalt Vista homeowners, and our volunteers
“It is an honor to have received this recognition for the best multi-family home design from Habitat International. Basalt Vista has proven that we can combine energy efficiency with all electric utilities and affordable homeownership, while blending in with the high quality housing standards of our valley,” said Habitat for Humanity RFV President, Gail Schwartz, “We were only been able to accomplish Basalt Vista with the support of our partners here in the valley, including governmental entities and the energy conservation community. I like to say that we broke the glass ceiling on energy efficient, affordable housing. We are proud to provide the template for the affordable housing community going forward.”
The award winning Basalt Vista is the first net-zero development brought to reality in rural Western Colorado. The Basalt Vista neighborhood consists of 27 affordable homes for working families and teachers in the valley, built with a mix of duplexes and triplexes located behind Basalt High School. Each of these homes generates more energy than they use, resulting in utility bills that are significantly less than comparable homes. Most homeowners are paying as little as $14 a month for their utility bill, which is approximately the connection fee to Holy Cross Energy.
“By design, Habitat for Humanity homes provide a strong foundation for families to flourish,” Habitat International states, “That foundation begins with homes that are affordable, durable, healthy and easy to maintain for years to come. Habitat house plans are often uniquely crafted to meet the needs of individual communities, with local Habitats across the U.S. building homes inspired by local styles, climate and materials.”
Over 100 different applications were received in this year's contest, all containing the different needs and desires of the community they are serving. Seeing the nationwide impact of the Basalt Vista Net-Zero project recognizes the desire to build more energy-efficient homes that are affordable.
Habitat for Humanity RFV is truly grateful for receiving this award and will continue to set the standard for building the best affordable homes with hard-working families right here in our communities. Our next development, Wapiti Commons, in South Rifle will be no different.
Habitat for Humanity of the Roaring Fork Valley was founded in 1999 when a group of concerned residents set out to form a Habitat Affiliate with a mission to build homes in partnership with local families in need of affordable ownership housing. The new organization served the Roaring Fork and Colorado River Valleys—from Aspen to Glenwood Springs to Parachute. Originally, Habitat RFV built one home at a time on donated land and was completely volunteer operated. In 2004, we started hiring staff to provide structure and help us better achieve our mission. While starting slowly, building one home every two years, in 2015 we began to quicken our pace of construction and built four homes. In 2021, we completed nine homes. For each of our 22 years, our Affiliate has worked closely with our Habitat partner families through every step of the homeownership process and have provided safe, affordable housing to over 200 adults and children.
If you have any questions please reach out to the Habitat for Humanity of the Roaring Fork Valley President, Gail Schwartz at GailS@HabitatRoaringFork.org or (970) 309-1411