Conscious Choice Seattle: Green Team: The Human Side of Remodeling

July 2004 | EM Roundtable

Green Team: The Human Side of Remodeling

Remodeling with an eco-friendly model can save the planet — and your relationship. This month’s EM Roundtable shows the how-to and can-do

by Heather Nordell

Evergreen Monthly brought together a group to help shed some light on the human side of a “green” — i.e. eco-friendly — remodel. We gathered in View Ridge at the newly reconstructed green home of Bob Scheulen and Kim Wells. Sitting around the dining room table in the south-facing great room, we admired the abundant natural light, open, airy layout, craftsman design accents, and striking salvaged wood around the windows, cabinets, shelves, and floors. Every surface, nook, and feature told the many stories of Bob and Kim’s lives and their journey to create their lifelong home. It set a perfect stage for a vibrant dialog. Here are some excerpts from the discussion.

EM: What is your background and involvement with green remodeling?

Robin Rogers, Architect and Director of King County Master Building Association’s Built-Green Program: For me, green awareness started during a trash cleanup project while I was in high school. My family enjoyed organic gardening and my depression-era parents had an ethic of conserving and saving. Today, I am heartened by the recent growth in the green building industry. Our program has been very successful. It started with five green builders in 2001 and now has 58 and more than 4,000 certifications in the local area. Many of our builders do green remodels. I have also been through my own remodel.

Jon Alexander, Sunshine Construction, Green Contractor: I have done residential remodels, additions and new construction for 21 years — 14 years doing green. I’ve seen green building evolve significantly over that period of time. Most clients come to me because they want their project to be green. Others come for the quality that good green construction offers. Most clients make choices to use green materials as long as it doesn’t compromise their budget or aesthetics, and often, I need to educate people that “green” doesn’t necessarily mean “expensive.”

Ben Kaufman, Real Estate Agent and Principal, GreenWorks Realty: I studied urban planning and permaculture, sparking my interest in innovative and environmentally healthy building design. My dad and I started GreenWorks to specialize in green and community-focused real estate. We are starting our first development project in Newcastle, which will create cottage-style, green homes using low-impact development. We also offer a service to help homeowners “green” their homes with what we call CHED, an assessment and gift package to enhance Comfort, Health, Efficiency, and Durability.

Terry Phelan, Architect and Owner, Living Shelter Design: We have specialized in sustainable design and alternatives such as straw bale since 1996. It is inspiring that there has become such a market for green design. In the last three years, my company has grown from one to six people, which is an exciting sign. Remodels are currently about 50% of our business. Personally, I have lived through two remodels during which my husband and I lived in the house. As an architect, seeing the process up close was fun, but it was long, stressful, and dusty — an experience I remember when I work with clients.

Lisa DiMartino, VP of Marketing, Environmental Home Center: I have been interested in health and sustainability for a quite a while, but green building was new to me when I started at Environmental Home Center a few years ago. Since then, it has been a wonderful journey. Our company was founded by Matthew Freeman-Gleason in 1992, a former carpenter who was disillusioned with the industry and its lack of access to green products. Working at the store, I have learned a great deal about how buildings impact our health and environment, and the process people go through when choosing green products.

Bob Scheulen, Owner, Silver Platters; Past President of the Northwest Eco Building Guild and Home Owner: I grew up in New Jersey and started picking up aluminum cans when I was 12. Later, I started hiking as a teenager and grew a love for the outdoors. When I moved to Seattle during the Reagan and big-logging years, I became interested in green homes. Then I met Jon Alexander, who worked on two of my three remodels. Jon recruited me to the Eco-Building Guild. As an engineer, I am compelled to do much of my own research on green building and discovered that green building and remodeling are both an engineering and environmental “problem” all in one.

Kim Wells, Chairman of the Board, Silver Platters and Home Owner: Since my background is in the fitness industry, I am very interested in health. We moved into this reconstructed house in April, which was completely redesigned using all green materials and design principles. We wanted to create a sensible house and a home we could live in the rest of our lives. I am very conscious of space and was intentional about functionality and design choices. I am the “creative head intuitive” and Bob is the “data head engineer” which was a good blend but presented some differences in approach to making decisions along the way.

Tamra Fleming, Life Architect, Tamra Fleming LLC: My work is about helping people create conscious interiors and conscious lives. I use life coaching, Feng Shui, clutter clearing, and explore the way people live to help them make their spaces reflect what they stand for and put meaning into their daily lives. A house is like your third skin. Your skin is your first, clothes are your second, and your home is your third. The external often reflects the internal. Your space echoes who you are, as Clare Cooper Marcus’ book House is a Mirror of Self: Exploring the Deeper Meaning of Home conveys.

EM: What is different about the process of a green remodel vs. a conventional project?

Terry: Education is the biggest difference, since clients often have many ideas without a lot of information about what it will take to accomplish them. Their ideas need to be thoroughly assessed, and we need to educate them about all the factors.

Jon: There are hundreds, if not thousands, of decisions made in the construction process. In a conventional project, they are largely made based on cost, aesthetics, personal taste, and functionality. Green remodeling adds additional filters to the customer’s decision process that include indoor air quality, durability, life-cycle costs, energy efficiency, waste reduction, and overall impact on the larger environment. The decision process is much more complex and the education process is longer. But the results can be well worth the effort.

EM: How do you maintain good relationships during a green remodel?

Bob: The most important criteria are clear communication and expectations. One has to have the right level of information to make the right choices.

Tamra: I start the process with the client’s vision. That has to be clear. Together, we discuss their vision, strategy and personality quirks that will inevitably come up during the process. If the vision is not clear from the beginning, it will likely run off course and cause challenges.

EM: How do you keep your sanity and a strong relationship during a remodel?

Jon: Homeowners should take a vacation during the project to help them be more relaxed with the process.

Terry: I strongly recommended not living in the house during a remodel. It is very stressful on a relationship. Relationships need to be very strong before any remodel, because they will be tested and challenged during the process.

Bob: Remodels always put stress on relationships. In a previous relationship, we lived in a house and I did all of the work myself. I would come home from work and start hammering into the night. It didn’t help the relationship. The second time, I hired a contractor and didn’t live in the house.

Kim: Bob and I have been together for six years. We did not live in the house during the reconstruction since there is so much deconstruction before there is reconstruction. Bob and I had many differing opinions. (She points to the tiles in the kitchen.) These were almost a relationship breaker. At first, we knew what we wanted, but we didn’t find the right materials.

Bob: I wanted colorful hand-painted, glossy glazed tiles. When we couldn’t find what we wanted, she picked more neutral natural stone tiles, but I couldn’t get away from my original vision.

Kim: The final decision maker was that Bob asked me, “Do you love it?” I said, “98%, yes I love it.” He said, “Well, okay.” This is how we made several decisions. One of us had to love it and neither of us could hate it. Also, you cannot be shy about what you want. Sometimes you have to share intimate details about your life in order to get the right functionality in your design. I went so far as to demonstrate the height of where I put my leg when I shave my legs so the shelf would be in the exact right place in the shower.

Tamra (laughs): When I meet with clients, I warn them that the process will be intimate. I’ll even look through their underwear drawer. If done consciously, these decisions really are intimate.

Kim: Maybe that’s why people don’t do it consciously — because it is too intimate.

EM: What drives success, and how do you define success?

Robin: I know it was successful if it was done in a reasonable amount of time, didn’t cost outrageously more than expected, and has the right functionality.

Ben: Every home tells a story. If you do it right, you have not only increased the value of your home, but you are also differentiating your home with your personal story.

Jon: Having a team of compatible people with good attitudes makes all the difference. Your customer, contractor and architect need to work well together. (He jokes.) Play Pictionary first and see how you communicate, especially visually. A good team will help you be successful.

Tamra: Know yourself. Are you an introvert or extravert? It’s important to let others know what type of communication style works for you.

Kim: I agree. I am visual and intuitive, and Bob is auditory and data-driven. If he only described something to me, it wouldn’t do anything. I have to see it to make a good decision.

EM: What are typical challenges?

Terry: Cost and setting expectations. Clients often cannot afford to do everything they want to do.

Jon: Decision fatigue. The construction process requires so many decisions for the customer. Some people get worn out by them by the end of their project.

Lisa: Misperceptions. Many people perceive that green is more expensive. It’s the quality and durability that makes the upfront cost difference, but the longer life of the product makes up the cost difference later.

Ben: Time investment. There is a good deal of research to be done before getting started. On the professional side, clients may approach you and require a great deal of time working with you for research purposes before actually being ready to move forward. This can be a difficult time-balancing act.

Bob: Balancing decisions. Making decisions that balance green, cost, (he laughs) and, of course, the “dreaded aesthetics.”

Robin: Materials availability. Since the green building industry is still so young, there is not always reliable access and availability of materials. This is a concern of builders. However, over the last several years, the commercial industry had increased both demand and supply of many materials, so hopefully this will keep increasing.

Lisa: Yes, most of the vendors who make most green building materials are small in a very new market.

Kim: Storage. I was not prepared for how long it would take to search for certain materials. When we got them, it wasn’t always at the optimum time. Therefore, we had a tremendous need for storing materials needed later on in the project. Materials storage would be a great business opportunity! I also felt that while the contractors we hired were green-savvy, many subcontractors are not. Therefore, we had to educate them about what we wanted and why.

EM: What benefits do you enjoy as a result of creating a green home?

Robin: Creating a healthy home environment for my daughter — or any child for that matter.

Jon: Making a difference and feeling a connection to the wider green building community.

Terry: Green aligns with my personal values.

Lisa: I enjoy the beauty and like being at home.

Bob: Getting together with like-minded people. During our construction, this home created connections in our neighborhood. We also received a great deal of community support about what we were doing.

Kim: The house feels better. It’s cleaner and feels cozier.

Tamra: Raising consciousness on the planet, increasing balance in people’s lives, and connecting them with nature.

Ben: Being true to my values of care for people and care for Earth.

Following the roundtable, the group continued our conversation as we were treated to a home tour that featured design elements including a rich multicolored hardwood floor from salvaged wood; Bob’s painting studio with a funky Oriented Strand Board (OSB) wood floor; Kim’s writing room, complete with a Victorian-style wainscot made from metal coffered ceiling pieces from the Re-Store; a sauna; a rainwater catch; and an automatic plant-watering system in the shower that they can use to keep plants alive while they are on vacation.

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