Style & Sustainability
Photography by Bob Winsett, Fashion Stylist Kellie Dexter
Skiing and riding aren’t the only reasons the start of Vail Valley’s winter season is highly anticipated.
It’s also the time to unveil the latest ski and mountain-leisure wear and, judging by the selections displayed on these pages, it’s going to be a hot season!
As in each of the past six years, Vail-Beaver Creek Magazine has asked prominent locals who have contributed to the quality of life in the Vail Valley to be our models.
The couples we feature this year have at least one thing in common: Each operates a business or businesses that promote “sustainability” and thus help protect our environment.
We commend their commitment and would like to introduce them to our readers.
Allison and Frank Navarro, Navarro Lowrey, Inc. & Navarro Lowrey Properties
Promoting sustainability is a major part of Frank and Allison Navarro’s lives, and perhaps most notable through their work with Navarro Lowrey’s family of companies.
Frank serves as Managing Principal for Navarro Lowrey, Inc. and Allison is the Broker for all of Navarro Lowrey Properties’ Colorado residential and commercial properties. 
Although each company can be defined individually, combined they are commercial and residential real estate development organizations whose affiliates offer an extensive menu of allied services.
The companies operate in Colorado and Florida.
The Navarro Lowrey name has always stood for environmental integrity and commitment.
In 2005, that commitment was further strengthened by the launching of their Green Initiative under the firm’s EcoPlex brand.
EcoPlex is dedicated to constructing and renovating high performance, energy-efficient “green” residential and office buildings that provide a healthier living and work space while significantly reducing a building’s negative impact on the environment.
Since its inception, the EcoPlex brand has flourished. Its EcoPlex at Centrepark West, a Class “A” office building and the Green Initiative’s flagship property, was awarded a LEED® Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, a first in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Closer to home, the company recently completed 306 Legacy Trail, the first Navarro Lowrey EcoPlex residential property and the first to achieve LEED Gold certification in the Vail Valley.
Navarro Lowrey currently is attempting to obtain a LEED Gold certification under the LEED for Existing Buildings program for Brookside Park, its Class "A" office building located along the Eagle River in Avon and in which Navarro Lowrey Properties has opened a real estate office.
Megan Gilman & Jason Weingast, Active Energies
Skiing near the top of the Tea Cup chairlift shortly after graduating from Penn State and moving to Vail as a mechanical engineer, Megan Gilman met University of Colorado graduate and avid mountaineer Jason Weingast.
Something clicked and a strong personal relationship developed, one that became professional when the two formed Active Energies, Inc. three and a half years ago.
“We felt a strong desire to challenge ourselves with building a new business, while also pursuing our passion of making a difference in the world one building at a time,” says Megan.
Their company thrived, offering such services as home and company energy audits, solar design and installation, and energy and green building consulting.
Today Active Energies has clients not only in the Vail Valley, but also throughout Colorado.
Getting the company going took not only a lot of effort, but also a lot of time.
So it was only last year the couple finally found time to get married, after which they set off on a three-week honeymoon tour of Africa.
Not surprisingly, both are very involved with community projects and local nonprofits promoting sustainability, including Habit for Humanity and the Eagle Valley Alliance for Sustainability, of which Megan is the chair of the Board.
Recently, Megan was included in Mountain Living Magazine’s Top 20 Under 40 list of the high country’s best design professionals.
Christina & Balz Arrigoni, Arrigoni Woods and Concept 4012
Balz and Christina Arrigoni have brought the best of the Old World to the New World with their Arrigoni Woods and Concept 4012 companies.
Swiss-born Balz and Austrian-born Christina had met while working in Vail.
At that time, he was a ski instructor and she was in the hospitality business. 
They later married and decided that the Vail Valley would be their permanent home.
With that, Arrigoni Woods was created and soon developed a reputation for producing some of the finest and eco-friendly flooring in the valley.
The wood is in the form of wide-plank flooring that comes from Austria and Germany.
Arrigoni imports, distresses, finishes, and installs the flooring, which includes such woods as rustic ash, oak, reclaimed spruce, walnut and European mountain larch.
Not content with producing just the flooring for a home, the couple decided to produce the entire home…literally.
To do so, they recently launched Concept 4012 as a sister company of Arrigoni Woods.
These homes, six of which are already in the Vail Valley, are designed locally but have their major components constructed in environmentally designed factories in the alpine regions of Switzerland or Austria from timbers derived from such sustainable friendly sources as recycled, centuries-old mountain barns and factories as well as newer wood from sustainable forests.
The finished components are then shipped to Vail and constructed on an already-built foundation in a fraction of the time of a traditionally built home and at an equivalent cost.
Concept 4012 homes, which can be custom designed to satisfy the demands of virtually any architect or homeowner, are the ultimate in sustainability, and their exceptional environmental virtues include superior insulation and less energy usage.
Kathy and Sandy Treat, Summit Habitats, Inc.
Summit Habitats, Inc, founded in 1983 by former All American ski racer — and a perennial Masters Podium competitor — Sandy Treat III, has gained a reputation a
s one of the most innovative and eco-friendly building companies in the Vail Valley.
He and Kathy run the company that has built and continue to build many of the Vail Valley’s finest custom homes.
Summit Habitats, together with Treat Development, their development entity, found a niche as the developer of upscale enclaves such as Mountain Retreat at the base of Arrowhead Mountain, Dakota at Arrowhead, Bachelor Springs at Arrowhead, Larkspur Villas and Haymeadows Townhomes at Beaver Creek, as well as the Club Cottages at Cordillera.
The company’s latest enclave, and the one the Treats call home, is The Pointe at Edwards.
Like all of Summit Habitats’ projects, The Pointe’s development adhered to exceptionally high standards for environmental sustainability and energy efficiency and has earned Eagle County’s ECOBUILD certification.
Summit Habitats’ many honors include multiple “Best in American Living” awards, an AIA regional award, and the National Association of Home Builders’ “Best One-of-a-Kind Custom Home” award.
Don Berger is editor of Vail-Beaver Creek Magazine.
