Mountain Pacific is changing perceptions of sustainable luxury living.
The real estate investment firm specializes in value-driven projects throughout the western United States and custom structures its capital allocation to individual investments to result in high-quality, risk-adjusted performances, according to its mission.
“We have been developing in Park City for about 15 years, and we created the development company as what I call ‘a mission-driven’ company, with our primary focus on affordability, sustainability, community benefit and profitability,” said co-founder Brian Shirken. “We’ve done a range of I’d say very high-end projects and affordable projects. And we’ve incorporated community benefit in all of our projects, while thinking about sustainability along the way.”
The Elevation at Canyons project, which features six 5,000-square foot, ski-in and ski-out duplex townhomes is a good example of Mountain Pacific’s intent to create a net zero, high-end luxury product in Park City, according to Shirken.
“My partners and our families are committed to the concept of environmental responsibility and sustainability, particularly in the mountains, where we’re dealing with an existential threat to our climate,” he said. “We realize that we, alone, can’t solve the problem, but we feel working on projects that demonstrate how these issues can be addressed and sharing the benefits of our experiences gets us part of the way there.”
One of the ways to address sustainability issues is to reach toward certain standards, Shirken said.
The company aspires to the highest LEED standards, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, which measure sustainability, as well as passive house standards, a performance-based building design framework that reduces the heating and cooling energy of a home by up to 90%.
It has also looked at the Department of Energy’s National Green Building Standards, which focus mostly on energy efficiency and renewables.
“We have attempted all of what we can in this project to accomplish to the highest extent that is possible and practical,” he said.
One of the first and simple sustainability steps is deciding the structure’s orientation that provides desired views while considering sun exposure, Shirken said.
Other steps include:
- Rooftop solar arrays that offset between 60-65% of the residents’ annual electrical usage.
- Heat pump heating and cooling systems.
- Mostly electric appliances.
- Induction cooktops instead of gas ranges.
- Locally sourced materials wherever possible.
- Triple-paned windows and heavy insulation.
There are significant differences between luxury and affordable projects, Shirken said.
“One reason is by definition the margin associated with an affordable project is much lower, and you don’t have the flexibility to absorb the amount of cost you might with a luxury project,” he said. “On the other hand, we did the largest private solar installation on our slopeside project in the county to make sure we were using renewables.”
The new project the company is building at the base of Canyons, SkyView Residences, is an all-electric project that will use renewables as well, Shirken said.
“We are incorporating best practices to the extent that they are commercially viable,” he said.
Mountain Pacific is also involved philanthropically, primarily in partnership with the Park City Community Foundation, in addressing local environmental issues, Shirken said.
“We’re working on issues like zero waste, advocacy and other areas around sustainability,” he said. “We don’t think there is any one solution, but we are focusing on areas where we think we can make an impact.”
Shirken has been in real estate investment and development for about 40 years.
“My wife, Kirsten, and I are avid skiers and snowboarders, and we’ve been coming to Park City for 35 years,” he said. “Our kids learned to ski at the Canyons, so we have a strong affinity for what was the Canyons.”
In 2006, the Shirkens decided to build a house in Park City.
“My wife loved the process of building the house so much that she wanted to build another house,” he said. “She started building high-end stack homes in Park City.”
Around the time in 2010, a couple of years after the housing market crash, Shirken felt like there was a lot of opportunity, given the distress.
“So I started buying land in and around Park City, without a strong idea of what we were going to build,” he said. “The idea was we felt at some point the market would recover because Park City was such a great town and we would be able to develop at our sites.”
Shirken met his future business partner, Tony Tyler, at that time.
“We started planning some of the sites we acquired,” Shirken said. “The good news for us was that we’re not necessarily focused on the lost dollar of profit, because you can’t when you incorporate those values into your business. Myself and Tony and our third partner, Joan Kramer, feel very strongly about our mission, and we are committed to executing in a way that is consistent with that mission.”
The challenge comes when they try to spread the word, Shirken said.
“I’d say the understanding is still somewhat limited, and the premium that people are willing to pay for sustainable projects is also limited,” he said. “The reality is we’re trying to create demonstration projects where people can have access to what we’re doing on an open-sourced basis and, hopefully, consider incorporating some of these concepts into their own projects.”
The research and design are the most complex aspect of what Shirken, Tyler and Kramer do.
“(It’s) because the theories aren’t fully developed or evolved,” Shirken said. “So there is a lot of research and investigation that happens on the front end of these projects in order to ensure we can meet our sustainability goals.”
Shirken believes Mountain Pacific is on the cusp of understanding new technologies and construction materials as soon as they are developed.
“This is a continuously evolving universe of products and measurement tools that have become more available to meet these goals,” he said. “It requires a team of experts to stay on top of and become aware of these things. We’re very concerned about climate change and the consequences of climate change. We are focused on concrete actions we can take to mitigate climate change, educate people about the consequences of climate change and provide these tools to others.”
Climate change is an existential issue in a mountain town such as Park City, Shirken said.
“Our seasons have become shorter, and our snow is much more unpredictable,” he said. “We’re pleased with the work the resorts do and collaborate with them when we can. But this is going to take a lot of people and organizations doing many things to slow the rate of climate change.”
The best Mountain Pacific can do is demonstrate what it has been doing, Shirken said.
“We need to communicate what we’re doing and encourage other people to adapt some of the methods and technologies we are using,” he said.
Still, the work has been rewarding for Shirken.
“We’ve always felt we’ve had a responsibility to leave this Earth a better place than we found it,” he said. “We spent a lot of time on how we can give back, and this is a very important part of giving back.”
For information about Mountain Pacific and its projects, visit mntpac.com.