‘Build Better Big Sky’ aims to empower builders, architects, developers and homeowners, supports climate action plan
By Jack Reaney SENIOR EDITOR
On Oct. 7, Big Sky Sustainability Network Organization (SNO) launched BuildBetterBigSky.org, a resource designed to motivate developers and existing homeowners to explore energy efficiency, sustainable materials, wildfire resilience and water conservation.
This resource is one of 13 strategies outlined in SNO’s 2023 Big Sky Community Climate Action Plan to give Big Sky a path to net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The CAP aims to reduce community-wide emissions, 63.3% of which come from energy utilized by infrastructure, according to a Big Sky SNO press release. Energy and buildings are one of four targeted improvement priorities from that 2023 report.
“This is a resource for everybody in the community,” said Lizzie Peyton, director of community sustainability for SNO. “… This is just a real opportunity to learn how you can have a little bit of control over the amount of energy you’re putting into your house.”
Peyton explained that many communities are mostly built out, and may rely on energy conservation initiatives. But Big Sky is still in a phase of rapid development—and being unincorporated, it’s light on permitting—so there’s an opportunity to build intentionally.
Build Better Big Sky is a toolkit to guide and incentivize businesses to do it right, she said, adding that SNO is developing a certification process to recognize participating builders. That program will be rolled out after SNO implements feedback from businesses after this initial launch.
‘To build responsibly and durably while respecting the power that nature has around us’
Peyton explained it’s not just SNO behind a curtain doing this, but an energy and buildings coalition including active industry members who truly want to create buy-in and address business needs.
This toolkit may provide especially valuable context for architects, designers and construction firms who aren’t based in southwest Montana. An architect in New York, for example, can use the resource to learn about the challenges and limitations of building in Big Sky.
Contractors, engineers, architects, and subcontractors are encouraged to fill out the online vendor form, which will allow SNO to build a list of businesses that are on board. Peyton says it’s exciting.
“That creates kind of a reliable list of people to call… It allows contractors to get their name out there for a demographic that is interested in building correctly for the long term,” she said.
Teran Foster, research and development manager with Big Sky-based Cornerstone Management Services, added support in the press release.
“We have the privilege to live and work in a beautiful place that happens to be difficult to build resilient and sustainable homes,” Foster stated. “The creation of this website is to help provide resources to build responsibly and durably while respecting the power that nature has around us.”
These environmental priorities are widely understood to be costly. It’s not always the cheap route, but Peyton is confident it will pay off.
“You are going to have upfront costs,” Peyton said. “That’s why we have an incentives page on there… particularly when it comes to energy, even when your upfront costs are higher, you will have a return on investment.”
In this dramatic climate, she said weatherization is hugely valuable. It might only take a few tubes of caulk to insulate windows in a single-family home, but it will cut down the heating bill—thus decreasing energy usage. The new website offers tips on small but effective ways to compound cost and energy benefits by improving the building envelope.
“It’s kind of like having a really good base layer for the winter,” Peyton said. “You’re not going to go ski on a really cold day without a base layer… you’re going to get cold at some point.”
The time for property owners to see a return will depend on what eco-friendly instrument is being installed. But for folks planning to make Big Sky home for more than a few years, Peyton is confident they’ll reach the threshold.
Independence
For those who might not care for environmental benefits, she said it’s really about independence—a Montana value that transcends politics.
An energy efficient home, especially one with its own sources of renewable energy, becomes independent from large energy companies, Peyton explained. It’s not only insulation from any potential rise in utility costs, but also security—Big Sky is geographically isolated from its utilities, so a natural disaster could damage the electrical grid, or prevent propane from being trucked in.
Peyton believes anyone can get on board with energy independence, and this resource will help property owners attain that.
The new website was made possible with funding from Resort Tax and the Yellowstone Club Community Foundation. Another similar resource is Alpenscapes, which Peyton said is useful for the same demographic: “new property buyers or anyone who is retrofitting any property.”
