Traer Creek Plaza updates roof, leads green efforts as a LEED-certified design

September 29, 2017

AVON — Traer Creek Plaza completed Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification in 2010 and was the first such building with this distinction in Eagle County. With a newly revamped roof, the development continues to drive sustainability and green design in the Vail Valley.

"Achieving LEED certification on projects is a Traer Creek priority," said Marcus Lindholm, manager of Traer Creek LLC. "Traer Creek Plaza serves as an example of our commitment to sustainability in Avon and the Vail Valley. Our hope is that more projects see the benefits in going green so that future generations can enjoy the valley our community loves so much."

LEED is the preferred method for third-party verification of environmentally friendly buildings, communities and construction projects. LEED-certified projects utilize resources such as water and energy more efficiently and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. During construction, building materials must be sourced in a way that reduces carbon footprint.

Traer Creek Plaza's eco-roof, which was revamped this summer, is covered with a living material called sedum, a hardy succulent native to the mountains. By using a vegetated roof, Traer Creek Plaza avoids a rubber-based membrane that would heat water runoff, negatively impacting the temperature of streams and rivers. The sedum also captures storm water for its own use. The eco-roof plays a major role in insulating the building and assists with converting carbon dioxide into oxygen.

Other Highlights

Other plaza highlights include the extensive use of glass, which maximizes natural light. This improves every user's circadian rhythm, helping employees stay on a normal 24-hour cycle and improving sleep patterns. Circadian rhythms can influence sleep-wake cycles, hormone release, body temperature and other important bodily functions. The light also helps reduce energy consumption by design.

Another highlight is "green" carpeting, which is offered free to office tenants and is made from biodegradable corn products, as opposed to regular carpeting, which emits harmful gases during the degradation process due to its petroleum-based components.

Onsite showers allow employees to run, walk or bike to work, reducing their personal carbon footprint and helping contribute to their own personal well-being. In addition, Revolution Power Yoga offers a free wellness class each week to plaza tenants.

"We believe designing a building with the tenants in mind is a great way to attract and retain the best talent in the valley," Lindholm said. "The abundant natural light, fresh air and breath-taking views of the mountains from inside Traer Creek Plaza all play a factor in keeping employees satisfied."

Gigabit-level internet speed is coming soon to Avon’s Traer Creek Village

August 9, 2017
AVON — Traer Creek LLC and broadband service provider forethought.net will bring 1,000 megabits (one gigabit) per second fiber optic
internet service to Traer Creek Village by the end of October.

"The goal with offering gigabit speed in the Village is to provide users with a higher-quality service from a speed, pricing, customer
service and internet reliability standpoint," said Marcus Lindholm, manager of Traer Creek LLC. "With more people needing to connect
to multiple devices, we sought out a provider that we believe will bring first-class service to the Village's tenants, customers and
businesses."

As part of the agreement, forethought.net has guaranteed 99.99 percent service availability, which equates to a total downtime of
roughly 52.56 minutes per year.

"We are designing our Village network based on advanced MPLS technology which can reroute around failures in a fraction of a second
such that subscribers don't usually even notice there was a problem," said Jawaid Bazyar, president of forethought.net.

Traer Creek Village includes The Home Depot; WalMart Supercenter; Traer Creek Plaza commercial building; the Buffalo Ridge
affordable housing complex and Eagle County Ambulance Response Station. For more information, call Erich Schmidt at
970-306-0313.

Revolution Power Yoga settles into new digs at Traer Creek Plaza in Avon

AVON — For more than four years, Revolution Power Yoga was crammed into the second-floor office space in the R.A. Nelson building
in Eagle-Vail. Owner Julie Kiddoo and her staff made it work, but when they started turning people away due to a lack of space, it
became obvious the studio needed to find a new home.

On July 1, Revolution unveiled its new digs in Traer Creek Plaza in Avon, boasting a back office area, two larger class spaces — one
that holds 25 students and one that holds 60 — expanded retail space and showers. With the move, Kiddoo said the studio is able to
better accommodate its yogis and upgrade its class offerings.

"We were able to add more classes and offer kids' yoga classes," she said. "We offer privates with companies, and by having a bigger
smaller room, we're able to offer them privates while we have classes going in the bigger room. … We're going to be bringing in other
teacher trainings. We're able to reach more people, too."

A nature lover, Kiddoo has brought the outdoors into the new studio, with beetle-killed pine softening the industrial feel of the concrete
floors and plumbing-pipe fixtures. Large windows illuminate the brightly colored walls, completing the "modern yet classic" look,
Kiddoo said.

"I think people really like it," she said, adding that a lounge space near the front desk is also in the works. "As a business owner, I took
a risk to do something bigger and better for the community. One thing people really like is the feeling of community — the space is
bigger and there's a better flow, places for people to chat and hang out.

"People do love the showers, who use them. They said, 'before I couldn't come to this class because I'd have to go home and shower;
now it's great that I can shower and go right to work from yoga.'"

As a Baptiste yoga affiliate studio, Kiddoo said the classes at Revolution focus on Baron Baptiste's blend of "hot, sweaty power vinyasa
yoga."

"It's yoga for every body, and we want everyone to feel included, and it's a good physical workout," she said. "We live in such an active
community that the style of yoga that we offer is complimentary to biking, skiing, running — things like that.

"There's also the mental aspect, where people come to feel well mentally. I do yoga for the physical practice, and it's also part of my
mental health care. I think a lot of people come for that, whether they deal with depression or stress. … It's really individual."

Kiddoo said Revolution's mission is to elevate, transform and empower people so they live with possibility, connection and purpose.

"With Revolution, I want this to be a place in the community where everyone feels welcome, regardless of what color, size, shape that
they are, and that they get connected to their own purpose, their own gratefulness, whoever they are," she said.

"You don't have to have a fancy yoga outfit. Just come as you are and this is a home for you, no matter what you're dealing with or
have dealt with in the past or are dealing with in the future. And it's fun — one of our core values is fun."

Avon ambulance station will open Tuesday

AVON, Colorado – Three ambulances and a full-time crew will staff a new, 24-hour ambulance station that will open in Avon Tuesday at
7 a.m.

The 11,000-square-foot facility sits above Avon, serving as a centralized station for the Eagle County Ambulance District that stretches
from Vail Pass on the east to west of Wolcott.

“We constantly evaluate our service to the district, and long ago we identified that a centralized station in Avon would be optimal,” said
Fred Morrison, the ambulance district’s general manager. “We were able to build a state-of-the-art facility to serve our district for years
to come, at the best possible location. Not to mention, the building’s proximity to I-70, which is of course the main artery through our
response area, will serve us well.”

The $4.2-million Traer Creek station is on land donated by developer Magnus Lindholm. The district has applied for Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design certification. In addition to the ambulance crews, two administrative staffers will work out of the Traer
Creek station.

Stephanie Lord-Johnson, senior architect and planner for VAg, Architects and Planners in Avon led the design team; and Brian Deem of
TCD, Inc. in Breckenridge oversaw construction as the project superintendent.

“We estimate the new Traer Creek station will allow us to improve response times to popular areas,” said Morrison. “We’ll cut our
response time to places like Minturn and Eagle-Vail by five-and-a-half minutes, and we can get to the center of Avon three minutes
faster. That’s important as we watch our communities grow.”

Letter | December 6, 2007

Traer Creek's "Green" Commitment

To the Vail Valley Community:

True to the spirit of the Vail Valley, Traer Creek has been a pioneer in sustainable development and, in many senses, has dared to go boldly where others in this Valley have not.

I am a professional landscape architect who has practiced in the Vail Valley since early 1997. I have been directly employed by Traer Creek since 2002 and accomplished the landscape design of Post Boulevard, the Park between Wal-Mart and Home Depot, Traer Creek Plaza, and other smaller projects. Since that time I have and continue to work closely with the Traer Creek development team.

By profession, I consider it my duty and responsibility to advocate sustainable development and green building. This, in fact, is one of my areas of expe11ise, and I am extremely passionate about my work. Unfortunately, I have found it difficult in most instances to convince my Clients to pursue sustainability and environmental stewardship. Often developers take a bottom line and profit driven approach above all else, and sustainability issues take a back seat. My experience with Traer Creek has been quite exceptional in contrast to the 'traditional' development approach that I am used to encountering.

By sheer scale of the project and what has already been implemented to date, I am confident in stating Traer Creek has been and is the foremost leader in sustainable development, green building and environmental stewardship in the Vail Valley. In 2002, when we first began discussions about the landscaping of Post Boulevard and the roundabouts, Traer Creek immediately bought in to the concept of xeriscaping, landscaping with indigenous plants, and irrigation using only non-potable ditch water. Sustainable design concepts I have long struggled to convince Clients of were accepted with passion, good faith, and enthusiasm by the Traer Creek group.

While the LEEDS movement was gaining momentum and still relatively unknown to the public at large, Traer Creek made a significant commitment by pursuing the LEEDS certification for new construction of the Traer Creek Plaza building. While others are only now considering such a commitment, today the building stands as the only 'mixed-use' building of its scale on the western slope of Colorado that has pursued this certification. Traer Creek is leading by example and others are clearly following. The Traer Creek Ambulance Station, another project I am closely associated with, being developed by Eagle County Health Services District is also pursuing the LEEDS certification. I doubt this would be the case, were it not for its location within the Village at Avon community.

Other direct examples are: the Plaza building's green roof remains the only such roof of its type in the high country as a pilot project and testament that 'it is not easy being green'; the large boulder residing prominently between the Wal-Mart and Home Depot is a powerful statement and symbol of the local landscape, and a creative re-use of a remnant of the former site integrated into a special public space; the use of water conserving alternative 'fescue' turf instead of traditional blue grass; and the list goes on.

Suffice to say that it has been and continues to be an honor to be associated with Traer Creek and the Village at Avon project. I am proud to be associated with this group on a professional level, especially given its commitment to innovation and sustainability. It has been in many ways a 'dream' project for someone with my professional interests in promoting sustainability. While not perfect, I have long felt Traer Creek has not yet received proper recognition for their efforts on this front.

Sincerely,

Pedro Campos, ASLA
Senior Land Planner & Landscape Architect
VAg, Inc., Architects & Plam1ers