TURNING GREEN – A Builder’s Experience

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An Article from Harris Woodward, FinishWerks Homes

Last week I got a call from a lady that wanted to build a
green shopping center. She envisioned green countertops and lifestyles. Stuff
of fantasy that I realize now would draw little seed money. 5 years ago I would
have been excited to learn more. Instead I just sighed, wondering when this
doe-eyed person would allow me to get off the phone. I’m not being sexist –
I’ve experienced plenty of ramblings from crunchy green men too.

Five years ago I was wandering in the wilderness, wondering
how I was going to take my home building business green. I attended multiple
green networking meetings, interfacing with green architects, dozens of geothermal
and solar power guys, permaculture specialists, ecobrokers, and every sort of
earthy crunchy quasi-building related vocation you can think of. Everywhere
were business cards with the “coveted” LEED A.P. credential. After hundreds of
hours, I got exactly ZERO leads. I will, however, give credit to this mostly
useless exercise for having met my county executive and Governor and placing photos
with them on our website. Good credibility builder here…

So, in addition to understanding that I had to “go green” I
also learned what I had to do: study green building methods, confirm my mod
factory can build to a minimum Energy Star standard, read and post quality news
articles on our website for prospects consumption, and join my local Builder’s
Association newly formed Green Building Council. I took NAHB’s Certified Green
Professional course and got the certificate framed in my office (and posted on
the website). I attended all the free Energy Star for Homes webinars I could. Suddenly,
I was learning what green building was about: credibility and economics.

CREDIBILITY

If there’s one thing our clients understand its green
building. Our messaging must convey same. The folks that call on us for a
higher-performing home are the same ones that surf the Net, scouring for energy
efficiency, indoor air quality and, to a lesser extent, sustainable building
methods. We realized in 2008 when oil was $142/barrel that we had to retool our
website with as much energy efficiency information as possible. We placed
Energy Star logos everywhere. I sent my team and key subs links to the Energy
Star webinars. We became members of multiple green home building groups &
associations.

We built pages discussing heat pumps and insulation and
water saving toilets. We created pages with information on savings calculators
and tax incentives from the government and local utilities. We found that by
providing more information prospects – and most have been women gathering
information for their husbands! – were already primed when they called our
office. They had buy-in that we actually knew how to build green.

ECONOMICS

Let’s not kid each other. It’s hard enough to build a code
home and eek out a profit. It can be harder still trying to include green
features. Here in Maryland
we were forced on January 1^st to learn high performance construction
methods with the adoption of IECC 2012. So at least we had some economic parity
with other builders. But the focus for everyone, including construction lenders
and clients, remains Cost. Upgraded insulation, windows, and heat pumps must be
cost-justified. I explain ROI directly from what I learned in the CGP course:
$150/mo in energy savings pays for a lot of energy-efficiency upgrades on a
30yr mortgage (which also bring more comfort and quality construction). I show
how a really well built home with half the HVAC load requires half the number of
ground loops (a costly part of Geothermal). If I’ve been fortunate enough to
get the prospect’s ear, it’s my sale to lose if I cannot carefully explain the
economic advantages of a well built, extremely energy efficient home.

In this vein, what I cannot explain is how Blu Homes got
M$60 as recently
reported here! That’s a stunner.

In the end, I turned green because I had to remain
cutting-edge and to provide a value-add differentiator from my competitors. What
I learned is that I needed to educate myself so I could control the
conversation with our well-educated prospects. I needed to convey my expertise
at every opportunity. To this day we have not built one home to LEED standards,
nor will I ever seek LEED AP credentials.

A fundamental and thorough
understanding of Energy Star for Homes is all that you really need to go green.
No tree-hugging required.