Green Canopy NODE Co-CEO, Aaron Fairchild, was recently featured for a second time on the Regenerative Real Estate Podcast by Latitude | Regenerative Real Estate in the episode "Seeing Hope Differently”.

The podcast explores our natural and built environments and how they can be used as a force for good. The show sets out to inspire impactful ideas, meaningful change, human wellness, and ecological restoration through interviews and easy to digest conversations.

In Aaron's second appearance on the podcast, and they dive deeper into his ideas about leadership, developing company culture, and hope. Aaron discusses his concept of the "arc of hypocrisy" and how he believes that the kind of hope that inspires action should not be conflated with optimism.

We’re excited about the potential for mass timber, and specifically cross-laminated timber, to help us on our quest to revolutionize construction and deliver sustainable, healthy homes to everyone.

What is Mass Timber and Cross-Laminated Timber?

Mass timber is a category of wood product made by fastening or bonding smaller wood components with nails, dowels, or adhesives. Mass timber is exceptionally strong, can be an excellent low carbon substitute for concrete and steel and is particularly well-suited for modular construction and prefab construction.

Cross-laminated timber blocks
Photo courtesy of Oregon Forest Resources Institute

Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is specific type of mass timber, made from wood that has been stacked at 90-degree angles from each other and glued together with a structural adhesive to form panels. Think of CLT as a giant, thick solid sheet of wood. Similar to plywood, but made of solid lumber instead of thin veneers.

CLT panels can be used for the entire structure of a home and has many benefits including:

• Health & Wellness: CLT can be used to create beautiful, quiet and healthier homes that can help unlock the promised benefits of biophilic design.

• Carbon Sequestration: CLT naturally stores carbon from the atmosphere, which is one significant step to moving beyond net zero energy toward an even more environmentally responsible net zero carbon building.

•  Circular Economy: As a more durable product, CLT homes will last longer than standard code-built homes. At the end of the structure’s life, it can also be more easily deconstructed and re-used rather than ending up in a landfill.

The Path Beyond Net Zero Ready Homes

If you have followed Green Canopy NODE over the years, you have known the company to be determined to innovate within the world of real estate and build much more sustainable homes than code requires. The team has built increasingly more sustainable homes over the years, proving that homebuilders can deliver net zero energy ready homes at roughly the same cost as code-built homes. However, to take sustainability in housing further and build at increasingly lower costs, the slow to transform industry needs to incorporate innovative construction technologies and leverage offsite manufacturing. 

The Power of Manufacturing & Green Canopy NODE

The team, the board, and the shareholders of Green Canopy NODE believe that through the power of manufacturing, Green Canopy NODE can realize the full potential of its mission to build homes, businesses, and relationships to help regenerate communities and environments.  To that end, Green Canopy NODE is excited about the promise of cross-laminated timber as a structural technology solution in the residential mid-to-low rise real estate space. CLT is ideal for leveraging manufacturing. As an engineered wood product, it is more dimensionally stable and easy to carve and groove using large precise computer controlled cutting machines. Controlling uniformity and tolerances allows for efficient installation while maximizing structure and sustainability. 

Innovating to Deliver CLT Housing at all Income Levels

The challenge of building with CLT is the increased cost associated with the cost of extra wood in the floors and walls, especially in mid-to-low rise residential buildings. Green Canopy NODE is working on innovative financing, wood sourcing, construction technologies, design, and manufacturing strategies to lower the cost of construction and make CLT available for housing at all income levels.

For those of you who like to mine for more information here are some links with additional detail on CLT and its benefits: 

• Vox: The hottest new thing in sustainable building is, uh, wood

• Nature in Design: The Biophilia Effect 

• Think Wood: CLT Design + Construction

By Sam Lai

Taking Bold Action to Lead by Example: Jordan Morris on Living a Net Zero Energy Lifestyle

Transformation requires celebrated leaders in the community to not only lend their voices, but also to take actions in every day personal decisions, like buying a home. 

Not only are the Seattle Sounders FC committed to social justice and inclusion, they committed to carbon neutrality in 2019. Seattle Sounders FC partnered with Forterra to offset carbon emissions by planting trees along the Green-Duwamish River. This was bold and courageous action, making the Sounders the first, and only, carbon neutral professional sports franchise in US history.

Similarly, the Sounders’ star forward, Jordan Morris, has taken bold action to lead by example with a carbon-free lifestyle at home. Initially, when Jordan started his search for his new home, he was not looking to make a grandiose statement about the environment and climate change. He was looking for a comfortable, healthy, and beautiful place to call home. But when Jordan learned about the benefits of living in a certified 5-Star Built Green, Green Canopy Net Zero Energy home, he was compelled to share his story with others.  He understood that industry transformation requires higher-end market innovation to be validated by cultural leaders before innovation can make price points affordable.

Net Zero Energy homes are still extremely rare, even in the Pacific Northwest. Early adopters are required to make healthy, carbon free, Net Zero Energy lifestyles equitable and more affordable for all community members of all income levels, not just superstars.

For Jordan Morris, actions speak louder than words. He has already earned a reputation for putting his teammates first whether donning Sounders’ Rave Green or the US National stars and stripes. Off the field, Jordan is also building resilience in our environment and community.

Special thanks to the Van Wyck and Porter team for making this video possible.

To learn more about how Net Zero Energy lifestyles can also be affordable, read about the 7-unit affordable rowhouse in Ballard.

50th Earth Day
by Aaron Fairchild

The arrival of this Earth Day comes during a punctuated time of hardship and crisis felt across the Earth.  On the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, our connection to Earth and our celebration of life may perhaps feel stronger as a result.

With Earth Day occurring during a historic global crisis, it may help highlight our need to change to a society that is more just, equitable, and resilient.

Hopefully our collective attention will shift to areas of greatest need throughout society. To help those of greatest need in balance with all life on the planet is a tall and encompassing order that requires us to behave differently. And while change is difficult, in order to realize a better future for all, change is what is required.

To fully embrace the 50th anniversary of Earth Day and all that it stands for, there may be no better manner than to read the manifesto of change that helped to usher in the first Earth Day in 1970.

I came into my twenties reading the poet philosopher, Gary Snyder. One of the fondest memories of being with my father was when he and I sat on the edge of an alpine lake together and read Gary Snyder’s Pulitzer Prize winning book, Turtle Island. In the back of what is largely a book of poetry, he embedded a short essay as bedrock called, Four Changes. Written in the summer of 1969, Four Changes quickly became the environmental manifesto that helped to lift up Earth Day and all that it stands for. The manifesto calls us to a radical shift in thinking about our relationship with the planet in four critical areas: population, pollution, consumption, and the transformation of our society and ourselves. When I first read Four Changes, I found hidden truths to living harmoniously with the Earth that changed the course of my environmental thought and perspective.

At the 25-year mark of Earth Day, in 1995, Gary Snyder wrote, “The apprehension we felt in 1969 has not abated. It would be a fine thing to be able to say, ‘We were wrong. The natural world is no longer as threatened as we said then.’ One can take no pleasure, in this case, in having been on the right track… Naïve and utopian as some of it sounds now, I still stand by the basics of ‘Four Changes.’”

Six years later, shortly after the events of 9/11 I wondered if Gary Snyder had anything he could offer in the aftermath. I found a Berkley email address for him and wrote to Mr. Snyder. I shared that his writings had influenced my thinking and my relationship with my father and asked if he had any words of wisdom to offer in reflection on 9/11. A couple weeks went by and then, unexpectedly, I received a response: “This is what my friend Wendell Berry has to say about it.” He inserted a link, an early version of Mr. Berry’s essay, Thoughts in the Presence of Fear. Wendell Berry’s essay is another manifesto, a call to change. It also reveals hidden truths and changed my thoughts on environmentalism and social justice.  

Leading up to the 50th Earth Day, with COVID-19 as the backdrop, I reread both of these seminal essays. I inserted COVID-19 where appropriate and in this way their words become a manifesto for this moment as well. Rather conspicuously, neither writing points to saving the whales, or polar bears, or forests. They are not about environmental protection or preservation per say. They are short guidebooks on how to establish a more equitable and resilient economy and society. They point the direction toward environmental and social equity as a singular issue, not as separate issues to be addressed independent of each other. In this way addressing COVID-19 and its inequitable health and economic hardship is addressing changing climate. To meaningfully address climate change, we don’t need new technologies, we need new behavior, and social, political, and economic structural changes. We are witnessing this truth right now with the collapse of oil largely due to a lack of demand. Issues of resilience require holistic solutions that are politically, economically, socially, and environmentally intertwined.

On this Earth Day 2020, I stand by Four Changes and Thoughts in the Presence of Fear, and I am hopeful.

I am hopeful that through our collective work to address COVID-19 and the inequitable health and economic devastation created in its wake, we will also be holistically addressing the intertwined issues of resource scarcity, social equity, and climate change. At the center of 50 years of Earth Days, a turning has begun, and I am hopeful.

For more on hope, here is a short writing by another one of my heroes, Krista Tippet. On Hope.

Courage for a Time of Change
by Aaron Fairchild

As the earth crosses the threshold of equinox into spring, humanity finds itself awakening to the reality that society too is crossing a threshold. The encompassing crisis and the equinox hold similarities worth noting. During the equinox, the light from the sun shines equally upon everyone around the globe. The number of daylight hours and nighttime hours are equal across the planet, and equally felt by every living thing; a shared and beautiful solar rhythm experienced across the planet. The equinox and this crisis offer us an opportunity to reflect on our shared humanity.

It takes courage to believe that this half-lit time holds a greater purpose.

Indeed, we are all linked by the spread of the coronavirus – the natural world, and our global economy – the human world. Through this moment humanity is, at some level, coming into the awareness that the natural world impacts our collective ability to survive and thrive on the planet, and how we conduct our economy collectively impacts us as well. Fortunately, we are also becoming aware that we can rapidly adjust our lives and our organizations when motivated to do so.

In this moment, can we let go of fear and focus on what present action is needed to create more equitable and resilient societies, and healthier lives?

For starters, our communities have immediate needs for temporary health clinic facilities, quarantine and transitional housing, and access to food for those in need. Take a second to find your local food bank and make donations today. And as we continue traveling further into the crisis, needs will shift into recovery and renewal.

Is it possible to consider both the immediate needs, and the mid-to-longer term needs of renewal that our communities will face?

At this time, it is hard to consider much beyond the immediate. Everyone in my community is feeling the weight of this moment. Somewhere inside I feel the question, “Is it too soon to begin thinking about rebuilding and renewal when we aren’t even aware yet how much damage will be done?” I feel this question, but I also feel another, “How do we ensure a more equitable and resilient society emerges from the wreckage of this pandemic?” I can’t help but be curious about this already.

Given the burgeoning awareness of our interdependence, can we consider new ways to provide for society’s basic needs such as, health, food, housing, education, security, and employment?

At the very least, perhaps some of us, even within this uncertain moment, can begin the work of renewal to a more beautiful future our hearts know is possible. A future where social justice and environmental sustainability go hand in hand. A future where, regardless of income or social standing, everyone can live in a net positive energy house or apartment. A future where everyone can save and invest in positively impactful and regenerative companies while earning balanced and resilient returns on their savings. A future where our wildlands are preserved and restored for the benefit of all shared life on the planet.

It can take courage to look for purpose within uncertain times.

A blessing from John O’Donohue…

For Courage

When the light around you lessens
And your thoughts darken until
Your body feels fear turn
Cold as stone inside,

When you find yourself bereft
Of any belief in yourself
And all you unknowingly
Leaned on has fallen,

When one voice commands
Your whole heart,
And it is raven dark,

Steady yourself and see
That it is your own thinking
That darkens your world,

Search and you will find
A diamond-thought of light,

Know that you are not alone
And that this darkness has purpose;
Gradually it will school your eyes
To find the one gift your life requires
Hidden within this night-corner

Invoke the learning
Of every suffering
You have suffered.

Close your eyes.
Gather all the kindling
About your heart
To create one spark.
That is all you need
To nourish the flame
That will cleanse the dark
Of its weight of festered fear.

A new confidence will come alive
To urge you toward higher ground
Where your imagination
Will learn to engage difficulty
As its most rewarding threshold!

The Future of Homebuilding is here - And it’s Powered by 100% Clean Energy

An alarm was sounded again last week by young people around the world demanding action and change towards addressing our climate crisis. “Systems change not climate change,” marchers’ signs read – a call for not just individuals, but for governments and businesses to shift behaviors and policies. Although the streets have since been emptied of climate strikers, Green Canopy is still marching alongside many who are actively doing the hard work to bring about a new paradigm and new behaviors towards systems change.

One new behavior that we are excited about is Seattle City Council’s recent step towards passing legislation that would remove natural gas from new construction buildings in the city. Green Canopy fully supports this movement beyond fossil fuels, and we have been voluntarily been selling all-electric homes since the sale of our first home in 2010.

“We’re proud of our Seattle Council members for identifying that this is the right thing to do - and the market is ready for this as evidenced by the hundreds of electric homes that we have sold.”

— Aaron Fairchild, CEO

Why does Green Canopy choose to build all-electric homes?

We cannot continue to rely on fossil fuels
Fossil fuels, including coal, oil, and natural gas are currently the world's primary energy source – but they are finite resources and cause irreparable harm to the environment and our communities. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the burning of fossil fuels was responsible for 76 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2017 — It is time to make the shift and build a clean energy future.  The gas we use to cook with and heat our homes is often fracked gas, a significant source of carbon and air pollution. When faced with the choice, building all-electric homes that run on 100% clean energy – sometimes even powered by the sun – is a no-brainer.

All-electric homes are better for your health
The dirty secret of the gas industry is that what is delivered to our homes to heat our homes and cook our food is toxic to our health and our children’s health. When heating our homes or cooking food for our children, we breath in toxins such as carbon monoxide and formaldehyde.  Studies show that this increases the risk of respiratory illness like asthma, especially in children. With our homeowners’ health in mind, we put induction cook stoves into all of our homes. While we know change is sometimes uncomfortable, induction takes advantage of the latest in technology to help you cook faster, with more precision, and the best yet – healthier.

More power costs less
We live in an advanced technological age where increasingly obsolete technology is being replaced by the latest and greatest. Appliances powered by natural gas are an inevitable relic of the past, especially as more powerful technologies already exist and are commonly used. The induction stoves and electric heat pumps in our homes are far more efficient than their gas counterparts, meaning they not only perform better, but save our homeowners money as well, allowing them to spend their money where they want to – not on their energy bills.

---

Recently, we partnered with Climate Solutions and Van Wyck and Porter to showcase one of our latest all-electric homes. With pie in hand from 314 Pie, we gathered with our community to demonstrate the benefits of the technology, design, health, and comfort of our all-electric homes.

““We know seeing is believing and highlighting what’s already happening in all-electric home building makes it easier to scale and accelerate solutions to the problem of building emissions. Building emissions are a big focus in addressing climate change and it’s exciting to see how businesses like Green Canopy are leading the way in making all-electric buildings a more accessible reality for communities across Washington State”

— Stephanie Noren, Climate Solutions

Check out some of the photos from our event!

Contributed by Emily Butterfield and Ryan Nieto

For blackberry lovers, outdoor enthusiasts, and baseball fans, summer is a cherished time in the Pacific Northwest. It is also a time cherished by Green Canopy Net Zero Energy homeowners whose solar panels are performing at their highest potential. As the sunnier months are rolling through, some exciting trends are emerging regarding the energy that our homes consume and produce.

View fullsize

The energy production of our three homes with solar panels was almost enough to offset the total consumption of all 15 homes combined!

We are currently tracking the energy data from 15 of our homes in Seattle and Portland, thanks to homeowners who have generously opted into sharing this information directly from their Sense home energy monitoring systems with us. Of these homes, 3 of them are currently producing solar power, and in June we found that the energy produced from their solar panels was almost enough to offset the total consumption of all 15 homes combined!

This is the idea of Net Zero Energy; some months will allow solar panels produce more energy than is consumed, like in the spring and summer, and some months energy consumption will surpass production. Over the course of the calendar year, it will balance out to be zero energy since the extra energy produced can be banked with the local utility as credit to offset the winter months when the sun is lower on the horizon and shining less.

The potential for net zero solar energy in the Pacific Northwest may seem far-fetched considering its reputation as a haven for clouds and rain. However, Western Washington and Oregon actually receive more solar energy than Germany – currently one of the leading producers of solar power despite their annual solar resources being comparable to that of Alaska. Our long summer days and mild climate allows solar panels to function at a higher level of efficiency than many regions. Plus, rain and clouds aren’t even all bad – energy is still produced on overcast days, and a regular shower cleans the panels.

As our tracking continues, we anticipate learning more from emerging trends, which will help us refine our processes in building highly energy efficient homes. Even though not all our homes produce solar energy, the tools and systems in place in every Green Canopy home allow them to consume significantly less than the average home, continuing the shift towards a carbon-free lifestyle and energy market. We hope to not only improve our systems, but with Sense, we seek to also empower homeowners with a better understanding of how their day-to-day habits connect to their energy usage, in turn helping them make informed decisions on the ways they live within their home.

By Aaron Fairchild

I recently spent a couple of days at SOCAP18. After the conference, I had the opportunity to screen a soon-to-be-released Australian documentary called, 2040. 2040 is a beautiful “future-fit”, utopian depiction of a potential future made possible by incorporating carbon drawdown methods and technologies. 
 
The week before the screening a new environmental philosopher friend shared a concept she has written about extensively — the Precautionary Principle. She explained this by saying, “One can’t use uncertainty as a justification for inaction. One must use precaution to mitigate harmful outcomes even in the face of uncertainty.”
 
Appling this to positive impact investors could translate to: “Investors and their financial fiduciaries can’t use financial uncertainty as a justification for inaction. Given the urgency of our social and environmental challenges, investors must use precaution to mitigate harmful financial outcomes — And still identify ways to invest in positive social and environmental opportunities even in the face of financial uncertainty.”
 
Unfortunately, in the face of our pressing social and environmental problems, the Precautionary Principle is often used as a reason not to invest in opportunities that generate positive impact outcomes. Even given our good intentions, the traditional structures of finance don’t legally allow moral social and environmental convictions to negatively influence financial outcomes. If the financial outcome is uncertain, but the social and environmental outcomes are clear and measurable — the existing legal frameworks and institutional structures justify inaction in the face of uncertainty.
 
As my mental turntable plays the paradoxical precautionary blues, I see images of the amazing people in the theater moving to a rhythm of positive change, but are we a little off the beat? 
 
How many times have you heard, “In order to attract more capital, the social and environmental enterprise must prove its ability to create market-rate returns. We need proven strategies.”? This thinking may lead to a slip-and-slide of marginalized outcomes in the pursuit of “market-rate” returns. Furthermore, the Precautionary Principle can create a disincentive to invest in positive social and environmental outcomes in uncertain market cycles or in investments labeled “concessionary.” In uncertain markets or uncertain categories, investors may justify putting the pursuit of positive outcomes on the shelf in favor of “proven” and more certain downside protection investment strategies.
 
According to Paul Hawken in the film 2040, 80% of the world’s agriculture is grown by small farm holders. However, in 2018 small farm holder investments are flat to down. Unfortunately, this is not an anomaly. Small to medium enterprise investments are flat to down, and renewable energy investments globally are flat to down as well. I recently learned of these alarming statistics on the Impact Alpha podcast, Getting to Yes. The decline observed in this podcast may be a result of investor’s growing uncertainty in the financial markets. Are we employing the Precautionary Principle? This may forecast a potential disturbing trend for urgently-needed investments in social and environmental solutions as the US economy advances into a market cycle already long in the tooth.
 
Understanding how we may be employing the Precautionary Principle helps clarify that even as we face urgent need to invest in social and environmental solutions, our desire for positive social and environmental outcomes often are left waiting on the side in the face of financial uncertainty. It is a difficult paradoxical dance to pull off. If true, I have three recommendations:

1. Engage and collaborate with the impact entrepreneurs.When the social and environmental outcomes are clear, measurable and convincing, but the financial outcomes are uncertain — engage! Offer to work directly with the social entrepreneur or fund manager to help craft precautionary strategies within the investment opportunity that mitigate potentially harmful financial outcomes. Assess the investment opportunity thoroughly, do your due diligence and collaborate to mitigate harmful financial performance while maintaining the positive social and environmental outcomes. 

2. Change the legal framework of professional financial organizations to align to the Benefit Corporation structure. Benefit Corporations structurally embed expanded fiduciary obligations to include social and environmental considerations.

3. Work with a separate advisory committee or due diligence team. As an individual investor that is not constrained by the fiduciary obligations of professional wealth management, consider working with a separate advisory committee or due diligence team or conduct personal due diligence on impact investments.

 
After the 2040 film screening, I left the theater in a crowd full of optimism and inspiration. Even with the Precautionary Principle burrowed deep within the financial structures and investment psyche of America, I am optimistic that by becoming more aware of how and why we make decisions— and the structures within which we make them— we will continue to learn how to better align capital to the future we envision. 

What impact could we have if we were all just a bunch of tree huggers united under a green canopy? Our logo is definitely symbolic of the work that we are doing to change the course of climate change - and certainly everyone knows that we have sang our share of kumbaya - but it's the fast, hard data that delivers our projects and helps us work toward improvement at Green Canopy.

Decision making and benchmarking frameworks are integral to Green Canopy’s operations. Our acquisitions team uses a data driven framework and metrics to identify and purchase attractive development properties. Our project managers use a framework for guiding construction related decisions from start to finish. The reporting outputs are used to inform and manage future acquisitions and projects.

These carefully crafted systems support us in driving toward consistent execution and continuous improvements. We learn from the successes and failures of our decisions by establishing baseline metrics and measuring and reporting against them. This ultimately makes Green Canopy a better homebuilder. And importantly, creates a stronger and more resilient company, reduces risk for our debt fund members and builds a more valuable brand for shareholders.

Investors face similar challenges, especially those pursuing positive social and environmental impacts alongside financial performance. Without a guiding framework, impact investors are left to untangle a confusing mix of information and options. An impact framework can be a transformative tool enabling investors to move beyond intuitive guesswork toward more systematic and objective decision making.  

We hope you will join us in attending an event, Impact Investing with Purpose, being hosted by The CAPROCK Group and SNW Asset Management on Tuesday, October 20th, 6 to 8 PM at Seattle Impact HUB. Green Canopy board member Kyle Mylius will moderate a panel exploring the evolution and use of impact investing frameworks and metrics. Panelist Luni Libes, a familiar face to many of you from Fledge and Pinchot University, will offer insights into The Pinchot Impact Index, the subject of Luni’s recently published book. The event will close with a preview of CAPROCK’s iPAR impact investment framework and evaluation platform.

Contributed by: Aaron Fairchild, CEO of Green Canopy, Inc.

I have often cited Daniel Goleman to explain a consumer’s desire to make an impact with his or her invested dollar. In Ecological Intelligence, Goleman explains that consumers will always buy what they perceive to be a less toxic or more environmentally friendly product given price parity with a competing product. While the consumer may not be buying the perceived “better” product to make a positive impact in the world, they are likely buying it because they view the product healthier or better for their family. 

This consumer behavior pattern offers a direct analogy for financial investors. It goes without saying that investors invest capital to generate a return. If an investor can invest in an opportunity that generates a similar risk-adjusted rate of return to competing investment opportunities yet the investment will also deliver outcomes that better align with their values, then the investor will likely choose to invest their capital in such a value-aligned opportunity. 

Enter Green Canopy. Our mission is transformational; our company was deliberately created with the mission to inspire resource efficiency in residential markets. We have two impact product offerings for consumers to buy.

Our primary impact product is our homes. We build homes that are more environmentally sustainable than what is required by city code and  have third party  audits  verifying our homes meet or exceed a local or national green building standard. In other words, a Green Canopy home is healthier for the planet, consumes less energy to operate (we guarantee that), and is simply a better home than the comparable code-built home. The kicker: we price our homes for sale on par with other homes on the market. We have to price our homes competitively with other homes because if we don’t, buyers would choose to acquire the less expensive yet comparably located and sized home. So buyers of our homes acquire a Green Canopy home at a competitive price that delivers outcomes that align with their needs and values. 

Our second impact product is our real estate fund offerings. We currently manage two debt funds that generate competitive returns for investors. If it were not for these funds, we would not have enough debt financing to build more environmentally sustainable homes at our current scale. Investors in these funds buy membership units that are designed to generate competitive rates of return and deliver outcomes that align with their values. 

I believe the United States has entered a relatively new era where the general market is looking for values-aligned solutions. I witness this daily in both of our product offerings. However, most consumers and investors remain price sensitive and will continue to be so. This is where many people believe the government and foundations can play a role. However, I don’t believe it is incumbent on the government or others to subsidize product offerings, or for that matter the market to simply accept the market-price mismatch. 

Entrepreneurs innovate. The role of being an entrepreneur is to figure out how to bring new product to market in such a way that the market is willing to pay for it. Government incentives and infrastructure are helpful catalysts and support structures for market change. But the role of efficiently bringing new product to market is ultimately the role of entre- and intra-preneurs. 

Additionally, foundations, the government and other mission-driven sources of capital can aid in providing lower cost of capital to kick-start product offerings and help stimulate demand (think of the Bullitt Center or the ZHome development). However, values alignment should not be seen as an impediment to bringing socially and environmentally impactful product offerings to market—it should be used as a competitive advantage. Sound business people focused on values-based product offerings will continue to innovate within the cost/price constraints of the market and ultimately bring more and more highly sought after product to meet consumer demand. Impact alignment and the balance between supply and demand are really just a matter of time and innovation.

Leah Missik - The new Director of Built Green talks to happy hour guests about the Built Green program.

Last month we had the honor of hosting Greendrinks with a fantastic group of organizations. The Youngstown Cultural Arts center was buzzing with folks from Built Green, Sustainable Seattle, Green Canopy and the Washington State Housing Finance Commission; all there to answer one question for the happy hour attendees - "How can we make green homes more accessible to first-time homebuyers?"

Promoting green building in the retail, real estate market is a paradigm shift in the way we have traditionally shown and sold homes in the past. Value in real estate has always been determined by location, price, amenities, neighborhood, school districts, etc. with little thought given to long term investment in things like utility bills or walkability.  However - as we see the Millennial generation step into the homebuying arena - a generation known for their values-based consumerism -  we can and should expect these individuals to be more interested in long term savings from resource conservation, healthier and local materials that benefit the local economy, and access to amenities in walkable locations that will keep them out of their car. It's not just the Millennials making these decisions though. Today, the typical homebuyer is tech-savvy and non-traditional. They tend to research more or their own and, while decisions still weigh heavily toward cost and location, energy efficiency is topping the charts on the "Must Haves" list for new buyers.

That being said - there are still not a lot of resources to help first time buyers get exactly what they want from the traditional real estate market - and certainly not many incentives to help aid in that decision to go green. Speaking from my own home buying experience, you tend to throw your values out the window when things start to get competitive!

Greendrinks was a perfect opportunity to explore the ideas and programs that are currently at the intersection of the market and values. Folks left the following comments on our interactive ideas board - and conversations circled many of these topics and solutions all evening.

• More education - many people do not know where to start when it comes to homebuying for the first time. Green homes can quickly become less of a priority as bidding wars heat up the market and first time buyers are forced to keep searching when product is scarce.
  

• Incentivize green building - making it worthwhile for builders to actually build green product is a huge part of the equation. Programs like WSHFC's Energy Trust and Built Green - make it easier for builders to finance projects and adapt green building practices that make an impact in our market.
  

• Incentivize green home purchases - Green mortgage loans and new products like WSHFC's Energy Spark program are paving the way for buyers to experience real financial relief on their mortgages for purchasing a green home. Additionally, programs like Green Canopy's Energy Performance Guarantee give buyers the peace of mind that their home will perform as it was modeled. This 3 year guarantee means the builder will pay any utility bill that exceeds the amount modeled in the Energy Performance Score.

As mentioned above - the Greendrinks event was an opportunity to talk about a new program from Washington State Housing Finance Commission that was launched just this month. We were especially excited to be alongside WSFC as they revealed Energy Spark - a program that works hand in hand with their down payment assistance program for first time buyers. This incentive comes in the form of an interest rate reduction for mortgages on energy efficient homes. You can learn more about it in this short clip from Kiro News. 

By Caitlin Hoeberlein and Krystal Meiners

Recently you may have seen several of our Green Canopy project managers and a few of our support staff breaking bread with the rest of the greenbuild community at this year’s NW Ecobuilding Retreat. This is one, special event that gets our construction team worked up and inspired by the big fresh thinking of our peers. Out of all of the conferences that we have attended and supported this season – this one is especially aligned with what we love about our work and the future of our work in other NW markets. 

Nine of our team members attended this gathering and here is what inspired them.

1. Green Appraisal – Thanks for the Green Genius name-drop Fiona! This is one topic that we have really hit home with in real estate education, and a topic that builders battle constantly when trying to encourage change in the valuation of green building. Like this article from Builder Online recently stated “Many builders are fed up with a financing system that doesn’t put enough value on sustainable features and the savings they yield for homeowners.” The fact is that buyers who purchase energy efficient homes have a lower default rate – because these homes simply cost less to own! A point that we often drive home in our Green Genius classes. Change comes from within and we are especially thrilled to see the number of appraisers that frequent our classes.

2. Reclaimed Materials – The topic of deconstruction and reclaimed materials is one that Green Canopy is head over heels for at the moment – so don’t be surprised if you see it mentioned here again! The case study HOME reclaimed, presented by Ryan Mankoski was excellent. Ninebark Design Build is doing some stand-up work and also recently won the Built Green Hammer Award for Project of the Year for this re-envisioned, reclaimed Tudor, also mentioned here on Curbed Seattle.

3. Greenfire Campus: What DON’T we love about the Greenfire Campus? The alternative green building strategies like cisterns and geothermal energy is pretty amazing and a cool addition to the Ballard neighborhood. This project was brought to our attention a while back when Redfin asked for our help in teaching a “How to Buy a Green Home” class for their buyer clients. Redfin Builder Services represents the Greenfire and Solo Loft Developers and have had huge success marketing this project and its cool resource efficiency strategies. Well done!
   

We really enjoyed the energy of the event and the community of smart, greenbuilding pros working together to raise the bar and impact big change in the Pacific Northwest. Can’t wait until next year!

When the founders of Green Canopy first launched a homebuilding business in 2009 in Seattle, the temperature of the room was tepid to say the least. Presenting a real estate venture in the middle of a recession doesn’t exactly make you look smart, even if you can say it with a straight face. But, what may have seemed like a huge risk then, was also humbly presented as having its rewards. The rewards were transformational, the cause was inspirational and the drive to create a deliberate and intentional homebuilding business that could move markets and protect mountains – somehow made it worth the risk.

Green Canopy recently closed on our first Portland project in the Arbor Lodge neighborhood of North Portland and we are incredibly excited for our expansion. We will be launching a Portland-centric real estate debt fund in the coming months so stay tuned. This is our climate change solution and we are making it happen! You can read more about our Portland Expansion by downloading our official press release here.

 “... Some homes are worth saving. Some aren't.”
-Bradly Gunn, The Seattle Demo Project 

Contributed by Caitlin Hoeberlein, Project Engineer for Spec Construction

At Green Canopy, we are committed to resource efficiency. For us, this goes beyond installing solar panels and thicker insulation. When the structure of an existing home is unsalvageable, we are in a rare position to be able to decide how to dismantle the home, and how those resources are re-used and re-purposed. This means that we have the ability to save the embodied energy of the existing structure--talk about resource efficiency! 

We aren’t the only ones who are inspired by deconstruction. Bradly Gunn is a local Seattle painter and architect who started the Seattle Demo Project, an art and architectural program documenting and memorialising soon-to-be demolished homes in Seattle. According to Gunn, “the Seattle Demo Project is focused on bringing light to a relatively misunderstood or ignored facet of Seattle’s urban condition. We want to activate soon-to-be-demolished structures and provide an opportunity to learn, explore, and engage the community one last time before they are gone.” 

As a builder, we hear a lot of criticism against development. Gunn claims he was in the “anti-development camp” just a few years ago. He wanted to keep his neighborhood the way it was, but soon realized that “some homes are worth saving. Some aren’t.” When he found out that more than one home per day was being torn down in Seattle, he realized that his art could shed light on this staggering statistic by converting these homes, a formerly untapped resource, into an artistic and educational opportunity. “Houses are an art medium of a very different scale, that only a handful of artists have gotten to play with,” he says. As a medium, there’s a lot of potential and many stories to uncover. 

Unlike our team here at Green Canopy, Gunn didn’t come to deconstruction from a sustainability standpoint. He was not interested in the repurpose value of the materials, but rather the value that documenting these projects could have for communities, architects and students. He envisioned transforming these run-down homes into a touchpoint for neighbors to learn about architecture and development in an open and engaging way, by abstracting it. “When it’s not the house or the walls, it becomes another story,” says Gunn. He sees his work as an avenue for architects to reexamine failed systems, and for students to gain firsthand experience in the field. He likens student involvement in his project to doctors studying cadavers--documenting the deterioration of a house provides invaluable lessons for those designing new homes.  

When the structure of the existing home is unsalvageable, Green Canopy is committing to deconstructing instead demolishing whenever possible, saving as much embodied energy as we can. We are happy to support Gunn in his artistic and educational quest. Gunn is currently documenting two of our deconstruction projects in Ballard and West Seattle: Gertrude and Aura. We are deconstructing these homes by hand, and will reuse and recycle 100% of what we dismantle. Together, we can build a new, sustainable future by learning from and respecting the past.  

You can learn more about the Seattle Demo Project here, and about Green Canopy RePurpose by contacting Justin Hooks. Green Canopy is soon to offer our Green Canopy RePurpose services to other builders. Stay tuned! 

To hear more about our reuse and the deconstruction process, join us for this year’s Green Genius Awards and the Built Green Conference on September 18th. Justin Hooks will be a session speaker and Green Canopy is the Reception Sponsor. Click here for more info about the conference.