An impressive achievement

The Lofts wins for best affordable green home development in British Columbia

1 of 7The Lofts is HR Pacific's green affordable townhome project in Golden. — Photo courtesy HR Pacific Construction Management

2 of 7Stage 1 of The Lofts is complete, with 17 more units planned for development. — Photo courtesy HR Pacific Construction Management

3 of 7David Ratzlaff (L) receives the award for Most Affordable Built Green Home from the Canadian Home Builders Association of B.C. — Photo courtesy HR Pacific Construction Management

4 of 7Eco-friendly features are a key focus in these homes. — Photo courtesy HR Pacific Construction Management

5 of 7 — Photo courtesy HR Pacific Construction Management

6 of 7 — Photo courtesy HR Pacific Construction Management

7 of 7 — Photo courtesy HR Pacific Construction Management

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Golden-based HR Pacific Construction Management recently took home some heavy hardware in the home-building industry in British Columbia, with awards from both the Canadian Home Builders Association Central Interior (CHBACI) and the Canadian Home Builders Association of British Columbia (CHBABC).

HR Pacific won the 2011 Keystone Award for Best Affordable Housing Project from the CHBACI as well as the Most Affordable Built Green BC Home from the CHBABC—both for the company’s affordable green housing project, The Lofts, in Golden.

A family business headed by David Ratzlaff and his four sons, HR Pacific started 15 years ago in Vancouver on the opposite end of the home-building industry—building mostly custom homes and commercial projects.

A smart move

When Ratzlaff saw an opportunity at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort in Golden to build timber-frame resort homes, he jumped at it and moved to the Interior, where he found that business was good. Along the line, he bought out his former partner and also began incorporating many green building initiatives into his developments, eventually getting his Building Green Certificate.

Ratzlaff soon recognized that there was a market opportunity in building affordable, entry-level housing developments; this led him to establish Golden Key Developments, in which he is a 33 per cent partner.

Helping more people choose green

Ratzlaff said the key to building green is to do so in an affordable manner.

“The word ‘green’ is out there and everyone is talking green,” he said. “But I’ve always thought if you can do legitimate green homes and make them affordable, that’s much more important. You can build green homes for $3 million, but who can actually afford that?

“If I can build an entry-level Built Green home, that’s what I want to do. Otherwise it’s not legitimate.”

That’s what Ratzlaff and Golden Key Developments did when the company bought a disused piece of brownfield land in Golden and turned it into The Lofts, an affordably priced, entry-level townhouse development. This project is what won HR Pacific the two recent awards in the B.C. home-building industry.

When completed, The Lofts will be a 20-unit entry-level condo development. The first phase of the project, a triplex, has been completed, with one unit rented and another sold—with a show suite remaining.

“It’s taking inner-city land and building a green project right on it in the downtown core,” Ratzlaff said. “It’s the first (housing) development in 15 years in Golden.”

He added that the former industrial land has been reclaimed and the construction has been third-party certified to ensure it meets Built Green standards.

Excelling at what they do

Ratzlaff said he had his sights set on winning the two affordable housing awards from the get-go.

“We really went for the awards,” he said. “I was actually shocked when we won (them). This is all of B.C., not just the Kootenays. I felt it was definitely something to be proud about.”