These homeowners wanted to remodel their garage into a music studio but wanted to preserve the adjacent flowering shrubbery and impact the site as little as possible. With careful planning and workmanship, Eagle Creek Natural Building installed new doors, windows and siding without damaging the landscaping.
Finding a sustainable builder can be a challenge. It’s even tougher to find a builder who’s eager to consider the “human element” of building or renovating your home.
If you’ve ever attempted a “green” remodel, you probably resigned yourself to choosing your battles with your builder. You made concessions because your contractor maybe wasn’t knowledgeable or skilled in renewable resources.
You likely either ended up way over budget, or with a much less energy efficient, low-toxicity, or sustainable than you had hoped. It’s very common. And it’s another factor that makes up the reason 50% of homeowners would not recommend their home improvement contractor.
Sustainable Builders Are Out There
But there’s a new breed of builders out there. And now, at the height of our collective interest in energy efficiency and indoor air quality, these builders are emerging and ready to turn the construction industry on its ear.
How about this fresh attitude about home building? “I see a family’s home like a living entity. It’s there to sustain and nourish people. It can be a refuge and sanctuary. It’s a place where a person can deeply participate in the creative daily process of living their own life. That’s why it’s important to build with care and quality. What you build means something in a person’s life – and often for years to come.”
That’s how Ron Hays of Eagle Creek Natural Building, Eagle Creek, OR, views his work. Ron has been in the construction business for 40 years. His first involvement in green or sustainable construction began with his own energy company in 1980, where he sold and installed solar water systems. But his interest in building healthy homes began eight years ago when his wife went through chemotherapy for cancer.
“We resolved to build a home that would eliminate indoor environmental pollutants. I first worked with the architect and author Paula Baker-Laporte, who has written an authoritative book, Prescriptions for A Healthy House,” says Hays. He then went to Germany to study and work with plasterers who finish interior walls with natural clay plasters. Clay plasters prevent mold and mildew and may help absorb indoor air pollution. He continues filling his personal desire to learn more by conducting his own research and speaking with other healthy building professionals.
Hays speaks to the vision of a healthy home: “Crafting a home includes constructing the building. But it is also about the relationships, the visions, the quality of work, the participants in the work, the space itself; and, the care that goes into its creation.”
Green Home Design Recommendations
If you’re looking for safe and healthy options for your home, Ron Hays offers the following suggestions:
- Marmoleum flooring instead of vinyl
- Low or zero VOC paints
- Kiln-dried construction lumber for framing
- Plywood sheathing instead of OSB
- Natural clay plasters and clay paints
- Cork “plank” flooring
As a general rule, Eagle Creek Natural Building chooses materials and techniques that will be the most durable and least toxic for the home. They also take care to upgrade the insulation, use energy efficient windows, and seal air leaks when modifying a building structure. The overall energy use of the home is part of the package that makes a home sustainable over the long run.
They also recycle and where possible reuse materials from the existing building. For example, they can sometimes re-hang the existing doors and use them in new locations. Not only saving the door from the landfill, but helps to maintain the same door style throughout older homes.
Environmentally Friendly, Considerate of Your Family
During a live-in remodel, your relationship with the contractor and the workers can be a dream or a nightmare. Eagle Creek has taken this into careful consideration, as Hays says, “First we want our customers to know that we anticipate that we will be working closely with them throughout the project. We will strive to inconvenience them as little as possible. But when you remodel someone’s kitchen, for example, they need to have strategies for coping during the construction. I like to think of it sometimes like having a distant cousin come for an extended visit.”
Their subcontractors make every effort to protect their clients’ homes from damage and dust, maintain a high level of courtesy and decorum, and are considerate of their unique needs while working in a home.
These new eco-conscious builders aren’t afraid to try new materials or methods. They thrill at the challenge of finding new ways to use existing items. As they strive to build more sustainable and healthy options, homeowners are living up to learn from them and work with them.
These builders are helping to prove that sustainability isn’t just healthier… it’s good business.
Eagle Creen Natural Building is a featured exhibitor at the Energy Trust Better Living Show. For more tips, read about these green building products.
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