It’s only natural for America’s ski community to embrace the environmental movement: a rise in average global temperatures could dwindle vital snowpack. Last year at least 61 ski resorts purchased wind and solar energy credits. Similarly, Jiminy Peak, in Massachusetts, became the first ski resort in the country to produce its own alternative energy, installing a 1.5-megawatt wind turbine that supplies one-third of its electricity.

Eco momentum has continued to build during the 2007–2008 ski season. In November, development company Related WestPac announced phase-one completion of a new Base Village in Snowmass Village, Colorado. All 19 buildings in the $1 billion undertaking will meet LEED’s basic certification standards; two signature components, the 236-unit Viceroy Resort Residences and the 30-unit Little Nell Residences, should achieve LEED Silver certification. The project also is the largest of its kind to apply for the LEED for Neighborhood Development pilot program. Related WestPac president Pat Smith calls the sustainability push “an opportunity and an obligation.”