SEATTLE, Washington (January 17, 2023) – Green Canopy NODE was recently named one of Seattle Business magazine’s 2022 Washington’s Best Companies to Work for. “We are both humbled and excited by this recognition. In good and hard times, we always keep our company’s mission and co-created values centered and guiding us forward,” said Aaron Fairchild, co-CEO of Green Canopy NODE.  

Washington’s Best Companies to Work for was created by Seattle Business magazine and Best Companies Group to identify, recognize, and honor the best employers in Washington, benefiting the area's economy, workforce, and businesses.  

“Our team shows up with courage and vulnerability to co-create a culture in which we can all see our fingerprints, nurturing us to be more caring and aware,” remarked Ami Nieto, HR Director. Green Canopy NODE’s talent management strategy prioritizes diversity and inclusion, cultivating a work environment in which all team members can thrive in authenticity.  

This accolade acknowledges companies based on workplace policies, practices, and philosophy. Employee experience is also surveyed, and this component is key when deciding. Green Canopy NODE believes that employees resonate with a culture they can call their own. “Together, we're building the future of housing. We're deeply committed to being a team – driven by innovation and collaboration. We know that it’s people working together that brings change,” concluded co-CEO Bec Chapin.  

Green Canopy NODE recently took another step toward inclusion by pushing to democratize company investment through its first Equity Crowdfunding campaign – allowing everyone to invest in more sustainable and healthy homes for all. Learn more about Green Canopy NODE’s offering and how to invest at https://www.startengine.com/offering/greencanopynode 

 
About Green Canopy NODE 

Green Canopy NODE is an integrated construction technology, real estate development, and fund management company. Over its history, it has sought to embrace the innovation required to change the current paradigm of housing development and deliver on its commitment to help regenerate communities and environments. The company works with its clients and investors to develop high-performing, deep green, all-electric, and healthy housing.  

For more information, please contact:  
Susan Fairchild  
Chief Marketing Officer  
susan@greencanopynode.com  

Green Canopy NODE’s team was pleased to host its first equity crowdfunding webinar. For those of you that were able to join the call, on behalf of the team, thank you for taking the time and for asking such insightful questions! 

Still, considering investing? Here are some key takeaways! 

Q: What do you plan to do with the money you’re raising or why are you raising money on start engine? 

A: We are raising money on start engine to democratize investing in sustainable housing. We know a lot of people are passionate about finding sustainable housing solutions and until now, only accredited investors could invest in new construction technology.  

Additional capital will allow us to go at an enhanced speed and eliminate more friction for added growth next year. 

Learn about our mission and values here. 

Q: Why is the construction industry slow to change, and what is Green Canopy NODE doing about it? 

Stakeholders in construction tend to work in silos, which is not very seamless or efficient. Combined with the long development timelines, innovation in construction is difficult. Even those that can break ground and innovate face an industry in which adopting new technologies can be a hurdle. The hack we are most excited about is integrating real estate development with a product that creates the speed to bypass long development timelines and expensive customer acquisition costs. We have already proven this out! 

Green Canopy NODE’s Construction-Tech Systems – including a whole house set of Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) structural and component products – improve the quality and timeliness of construction.   

Q: When is the best time for a developer to explore purchasing Green Canopy NODE’s products?   

Product inquiry usually comes during the pre-development phases of a project. Working with our Real Estate Development Services team, clients can optimize the construction process ahead, reduce timelines and increase project efficiency. We work with clients to build out a thoroughly engineered and manufactured structural solution for their project. 

Interested in knowing more about our Mass Timber model home? Sign up for our newsletter and stay tuned to our progress! 

Q: What is Coming up for Green Canopy NODE? 

Green Canopy NODE made greater progress in 2022 than anticipated. In 2023, the company will launch its fifth real estate investment fund, and it is excitedly working toward opening a new MEP light-manufacturing facility in a new region while continuing to fulfill more product.  

Likewise, we continue to be excited about the opportunity to democratize investing in our company. This is the first time the company has been able to raise capital from non-accredited investors who are interested in our company and what we are doing. Thank you for considering joining our team as a shareholder!  

We invite you to learn more about our StartEngine campaign and invest today.  

Together, we can scale sustainable, healthy homes for everyone! 

Private equity investing has long been used by high-net-worth individuals as a strategy for diversifying portfolios and building wealth. Unlike investing through the public stock exchange, private equity investing is buying shares in a privately held company. 

For most, even the thought of investing in private markets can be daunting – and no wonder. Historically, the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations have prevented companies from publicly marketing their offerings. As a result, most people don’t even hear about private investment opportunities. Since 2011, regulations have been changing, and we would like to share more about why the move to democratize investment is so significant.   

Have you heard about Regulation Crowdfunding? 

Previously, only accredited investors could take part in private capital markets. Investors currently qualify as accredited in one of three ways: 

• If they earn an annual income of $200,000 for two consecutive years ($300,000 for couples) and reasonably expect to earn that for the following year. 

• Have a net worth of $1 million – excluding their primary residence. 

• Professional qualifications –such as investment professionals holding Series 7, 65, or 82. 

Private market investing is generally known to have higher risks than public markets, but also for having potentially larger rewards. While any investment offering should always receive proper review and due diligence, excluding the rest of the population from private investments also excludes them from the same opportunities to build wealth.  

The SEC took a giant step toward democratizing investing with game-changing Regulation Crowdfunding. Also known as equity crowdfunding, this revolutionary way of raising capital enables companies to offer and sell securities through crowdfunding and openly market their offering. This means that basically, anyone with access to the internet and a banking system can now become a private investor. 

 But there is more to it than expanding access to private capital markets. Keep reading! 

Democratizing the Economy  

As the global population rises and climate challenges escalate, we are awakening to the realization that how we invest and what companies we invest in shapes our economy and can impact our communities and environments.  

Equity crowdfunding empowers people to choose the kind of economy they want, offering the possibility of aligning values with a company by investing in its growth in anticipation of a financial return. 

What Green Canopy NODE Stands For 

At Green Canopy NODE, we believe that SEC’s regulation to democratize private equity investments offers the opportunity for values-based investments to non-accredited investors, which is why we are both proud and excited to launch our first equity crowdfunding campaign through StartEngine!  

We continue to work to revolutionize how housing is built, delivering more sustainable, healthy homes faster and for less cost. Equity crowdfunding is an exciting opportunity to include more people in our mission to help regenerate communities and environments – addressing some of the most pressing challenges of our time: the climate and housing crises.  

Today, anyone can invest in Green Canopy NODE! By doing so, they receive shares in our rapidly-growing company and invest in the kind of business we stand for – socially responsible and purpose-driven. 

We invite you to learn more about our StartEngine campaign and invest today. Together, we can scale sustainable, healthy homes for everyone! 

The Seattle Construction Tech Company is Raising Capital to Scale its Innovative Construction Products that Enable Developers to Build Healthier Homes Faster and More Sustainably

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SEATTLE, Washington (December 1, 2022) - Green Canopy NODE is pleased to announce the launch of its first crowdfunding campaign, now available for investment to the public on StartEngine. The Seattle-based construction technology, real estate development, and fund management company has long believed that investment in private companies should be democratized. Launching this campaign allows everyone, not just institutional or accredited investors, to invest in revolutionizing the construction industry to build more sustainable, healthy homes faster.

“We are excited about crowdfunding because it gives more people an opportunity to be a part of transforming how homes are built, while at the same time offering real positive social and environmental impact for our communities and the planet,” said Co-CEO Aaron Fairchild. “When individuals with normal incomes align their values to their investments, they become direct participants in positive transformation with us –they become impact investors for a better world.”

Green Canopy NODE is raising capital to scale its technology development with innovative construction products that simplify construction while boosting productivity – building faster and more sustainably. The company leverages its integrated construction ecosystem, proving product-market fit on-site through its certified green real estate development pipeline and real estate funds.

In 2023, Green Canopy NODE plans to install millions of dollars worth of utility and structural products on site and develop a new region of expansion across the US – selling to other developers and builders directly and through channel partners with its configurable product catalog. “Our roadmap is clear – we’re here to scale healthy and sustainable homes from everyone,” said Co-CEO Bec Chapin. “Given the labor and supply shortages, traditional homebuilders simply can’t produce enough.  It’s time to revolutionize the industry, and we see our integrated construction ecosystem as the model required for scale.”

The vertically integrated company is also an experienced fund manager. Green Canopy NODE Capital has successfully launched and managed four real estate funds and is soon to launch its pioneering fifth fund on mass timber. Learn more about Green Canopy NODE’s offering and how to invest at www.startengine.com/greencanopynode

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About Green Canopy NODE
Green Canopy NODE is an integrated construction technology, real estate development, and fund management company. Over its history, it has sought to embrace the innovation required to change the current paradigm of housing development and deliver on its commitment to help regenerate communities and environments. The company works with its clients and investors to develop high-performing, deep green, all-electric, and healthy housing.

For more information, please contact: 
Susan Fairchild  
Chief Marketing Officer 
susan@greencanopynode.com 
206-792-7280 

Making investments in privately held companies is considered high risk. Before making an investment, please review the full campaign page on StartEngine, which includes risks and disclosures. 

The U.S. Department of Energy’s ARPA-E HESTIA program awarded $2.63 Million to a research project in partnership with the Pacific Northwest National Lab (PNNL), Washington State University (WSU), and Green Canopy NODE. The project’s team will be working together over the next two years to develop ways to create affordable carbon-negative homes.

Keep reading to learn more about why this project matters and get an insider’s perspective from Green Canopy NODE’s VP of Product and Technology, Darrin Griechen.

Q. What is the project trying to do?

DG: Our goal is to research ways in which we can create not just net-zero, but also carbon-negative buildings affordably. Finding the intersection between affordability, net-zero and carbon-negative buildings is no small feat. We believe the requirements to achieve this are two-fold: feasible low-carbon construction and cost efficiency at scale. The research project will develop an innovative approach toward modular design and construction of residential buildings that centers around the reuse, recycling, and reimagination of building components, leveraging advanced manufacturing processes.

Q. How are you going to do it?

The Circular Economy

DG: We are taking a holistic project-solving approach, involving design and materials considerations with a focus on bringing about a circular economy – that is, a systemic approach to eliminating waste by reusing, recycling, and refurbishing materials, and products to expanding their lifecycle as long as possible. Rather than reusing the materials of existing buildings, our goal is to plan for new construction using bio-based materials and create the path for a circular economic cycle, where the materials can be reused or re-purposed once their lifespan in buildings is completed.

Q. What are the main challenges?

DG: We need to challenge those materials and methods that haven't really evolved in the last century. We feel that with Cross Laminated Timber (CLT), we have a product that allows us to leverage advanced manufacturing to scale a solution that will be cost-competitive, while also contributing to enabling a carbon-negative home. It is also a material that can be adapted and re-used later in life without a significant amount going into the landfill, thus keeping the carbon it stores from being released into the environment.

Q. Why is this partnership between PNNL, WSU, and Green Canopy NODE the right mix for this project?

DG: This project involves a strategic partnership to realize the vision of sustainability for everyone. PNNL brings considerable experience and knowledge in understanding embodied carbon, energy efficiency, and building science, to name a few. The WSU team has expertise in engineering with composite materials, and structural engineering, alongside testing materials for certification to building codes. Green Canopy NODE intends to leverage our expertise in supply chain, CLT product development, and residential design and construction, to take it to the next level. Together, we strive to provide the needed scientific, engineering, and business foundations to innovate so others can integrate these approaches into their construction projects and scale the impact of affordable carbon-negative homes.

A Cradle-to-Grave Circular Home

A key tenant of this research is that the carbon intensity in residential buildings can be significantly decreased by using factory-built bio-based solutions.  We believe that an all-electric, modular design will allow us to minimize cost while retaining the flexibility to adapt to project needs during construction and over the lifecycle of buildings. These homes would be flexibly assembled on-site and later disassembled and reassembled into new buildings, increasing their lifespan from the traditional 50 years to over 150 years over multiple building iterations. This results in a carbon-neutral lifecycle of the building itself and the used materials.

More details about this research’s process and outcomes will be shared as it develops. Follow us to stay updated on this transformative project!

The Built Green Conference is an annual gathering designed to provide valuable and cutting-edge information on green building and sustainability.  At the convention, it is easy to notice attendees’ general desire to keep up with industry advancements, and what innovations builders are pushing out. Green Canopy NODE’s Co-CEO Bec Chapin was selected to lead a session on “Construction Technology for Low and Midrise Residential,” engaging project managers, city inspectors, architects, and other guild professionals to explore together the opportunities for innovation in the industry.  

Given the current affordability and climate crises, how do we use the power of technology to build more efficiently, affordably, and sustainably? Bec focused on three key innovations: material and component products, robotics, and automation software.  

1. Materials and component products range from mushroom insulation to prefabricated modular buildings. They can increase efficiency and sustainability. Green Canopy NODE creates products that fit into the manufactured component category: these types of products deliver efficiency by reducing on-site construction schedules, the labor hours needed, and by allowing for manufacturing levels of product quality control.  

2. Robotics are an unfolding possibility – the technology is here today and will continue to evolve in the future, but there is a gap to bridge when it comes to its adoption. However, construction is driven by safety to protect individuals from dangerous tasks or from those that are repetitive and hard on the human body. For instance, drones are setting a new frontier for safety, efficiency, and accuracy – allowing builders to conduct quality controls and mapping with more security. Drones doing roof inspections or cleaning windows make for safer and more efficient construction sites. At the same time, robots can undertake time-consuming and risky tasks for a fraction of the cost, like cleaning the windows of a skyscraper. Still, we see people on ladders, risking life and limb.  

3. When it comes to automation, software is something anyone can act on today – by implementing a CRM for customer relationship management, running bids, supervising client updates, and so much more. “If you find yourself doing the same task over, again and again, automate it!” advised Bec. Currently, there are countless software suites available to solve many real estate development tasks, such as estimating, construction management, take-offs, site updates, and payments, to name a few. Technology can save builders precious time while getting rid of complex spreadsheets. “If we work smarter and get those minutes back, what would we do with them? Burn out less and invest more time in building better and greener,” added Bec.  

From Working in a Silo to Collaborating Together 

As we think about even greater levels of efficiency, it’s time to embrace the possibility of AI in the industry. Harnessing the potential of technology and innovation in construction requires a shift out of our silos.  There is real value in streamlining the various channels within the construction cycle. Green Canopy NODE’s vertical integration helps our clients and developments avoid the inefficiencies of segmented project execution. Our commitment is to build better and work smarter, by doing it together. 

Learn more about how we're leveraging the power of technology. 

Sign up for our newsletter and social media to become part of the Green Canopy NODE community. 

For Immediate Release

Funding Part of Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) HESTIA Program to Increase Total Amount of Carbon Stored in Buildings

[Richland, WA] – Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has been selected, along with its collaborators Washington State University (WSU) and Green Canopy NODE, to receive $2.63 Million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). The funding is part of the ARPA-E HESTIA program, which prioritizes overcoming barriers associated with carbon-storing buildings, including scarce, expensive, and geographically limited building materials. The goal of the HESTIA program is to increase the total amount of carbon stored in buildings to create carbon sinks, which absorb more carbon from the atmosphere than released during the construction process.

The project team is led by Principal Investigator (PI) Dr. Chrissi Antonopoulos, senior analyst at PNNL, with Co-PI Dr. Adam Phillips leading the Washington State University research team and Darrin Griechen representing Green Canopy NODE. Other senior researchers and collaborators on the project team include Patricia Gunderson (PNNL), Edward Louie (PNNL), Dr. Karl Englund (WSU), and Dr. Ji Yun Lee (WSU).

The research project will develop an innovative approach toward modular design and construction of residential buildings that centers around reuse, recycling, and reimagination of building components. The project’s goal is to produce a net negative carbon residence using advanced manufacturing techniques, biobased materials, de-constructable connection details, and circular design planning to create residences that have the durability and flexibility to be sustainable, modifiable, and reconfigurable for generations to come.

For additional information about Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Washington State University, and Green Canopy NODE please visit the institutional websites. More information will be forthcoming as the project starts.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering WSU

Green Canopy NODE

Contract Susan Fairchild with questions.

We were honored to participate in the 2022 Built Green Conference. Every year, it provides valuable and cutting-edge information on green building and sustainability. Green Canopy NODE’s Co-Founder Sam Lai was invited to moderate the panel Partnerships for Delivering Sustainable Affordable Housing. “The point of convening today is to come with humility and listen. The group of people in this space is amazing. I hope every one of you can leave this room having learned one or two things that you can apply in your work,” he said.   

In a nutshell, panelists were clear on a generalized goal: residential real estate projects need to be increasingly community-led. Unhelpful structures need to change. That change can be hard, painful, and sometimes even feel impossible. But if the brave people in the industry continue to gather and partner, willing to look at problems, racist structures, or blind spots – within our communities and organizations – everything is possible. 

We want to share the key insights from each of the panelists on creating partnerships to help ensure real estate development meets community needs. 

South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity – “When someone tells me something is impossible, I am more motivated to do it and partner with smart people that will help me accomplish it. We need to plan different types of housing for all people at all income levels," said CEO Carly Colgan. Habitat for Humanity builds affordable homeownership opportunities for current and future generations. Each home is built closely with the future homeowners, so they are part of creating a better life for themselves and their families, developing strength, stability, and independence in the process. 

Africatown Community Land Trust – “Do developers impact communities in the way the latter would like them to do? It is only by working together that we can bring about a new paradigm in which communities are fully taking part in developments,” explained Muammar Hermanstyne. Africatown Land Trust works to acquire, steward, and develop land assets to empower the African diaspora in the Greater Seattle Region, fostering civic participation and equity.  

Artisans Group Architecture Planning – “We feel a strong call to action from our industry: we need to address racial equity and affordable housing. We should all be fighting for something,” shared Tessa Bradley, Principal Architect. Artisan Group Architecture Planning is a women-owned firm committed to artful design and building science for a better world. The firm currently works 70 percent on Passive House and 30 percent on affordable housing, partnering with South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity, Homes First, and other actors in the process. 

Homestead Community Land Trust – "Too often we are given a forced choice to either build for affordability or sustainability. It's urgent that we build more affordable housing. It's urgent that we address climate change. We must reject this false choice. We must do both now," urged Kathleen Hosfeld, Executive Director. Homestead Community Land Trust preserves and advances access to affordable homeownership to create thriving, equitable and inclusive communities, empowering individuals, families and neighborhoods in the Greater Seattle and King County area.  

Washington State Housing Finance Commission – “There is more need for resources than we have resources to provide. How do we prioritize which projects to finance? Through a community-based approach and partnerships informing a scoring criterion to distribute resources,” shared Lisa Vatske, Director of Multifamily Housing and Community Facilities Division. The Commission is dedicated to expanding housing access, safeguarding racial equity values, and committed to actively dismantling structural racism in the housing industry. 

City of Seattle – “The growth strategy in Seattle has been almost the same for the past 30 years, that is, concentrating most new developments –apartments and townhomes – in the same areas,” explained Senior Urban Planner Nick Welch. “We are now in the exciting phase of rethinking that; addressing the historic underproduction of housing and creating more opportunities in affordable and income-restricted markets,” he added. As prices rise and economic and racial segregation continues, Seattle’s Land Use division strives to shift these issues by rethinking how to distribute housing opportunities throughout the city. 

Building Communities 

There are many ways to go about including communities in real estate projects. The spectrum ranges from ignoring or merely informing groups to collaborating, co-developing, and even delegating responsibility for different parts of the project. Collaboration allows for creating the housing that communities want, and future generations need.  

Green Canopy NODE has long recognized that to build sustainable homes for everyone, we cannot work in isolation. Building partnerships is key to creating a better future where good homes are affordable, communities are resilient and inclusive, net zero carbon homes are the norm, wild lands are preserved and impact investors earn profits.  

Interested in exploring a partnership opportunity to deliver more sustainable and affordable housing?  

Green Canopy NODE and Timber Finance Initiative to Lead Working Group on Carbon Methodology for Mass Timber Construction

Seattle, Zurich, 29th of September 2022 – The Timber Finance Initiative, Green Canopy NODE, South Pole and Gordian Knot Strategies are pleased to announce they have joined efforts in creating the first mass timber carbon credit methodology. They are developing a globally applicable carbon credit methodology for mass timber construction in Verra’s Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) GHG crediting Program. Verra will serve as the independent standard-setter for the methodology.

The Working Group will bring together a team of field and technical experts. Together, it will develop a concept note to be submitted to Verra’s VCS Program, the world’s leading greenhouse gas program, later this year. The final methodology will then be developed by the Timber Finance Initiative and South Pole. A rigorous carbon methodology will help realize the climate value of stored carbon in mass timber construction and help scale mass timber as a negative emissions technology and low-emissions building material.

Current estimates show that up to 40 percent of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions originate from the built environment. Furthermore, up to 60 percent of the world’s existing building stocks will be built and rebuilt within the next two decades, laying a tremendous challenge and opportunity to set more sustainable trends in the construction sector. Mass timber has been identified as a renewable and low-emissions alternative to concrete and steel. If timber is procured from sustainable forest management, mass timber mitigates climate change twofold: By removing CO2 (Carbon Dioxide Removal) from the atmosphere and storing it long-term in buildings and by replacing Green House Gas (GHG)-intensive conventional building materials.

About Timber Finance Initiative

The Timber Finance Initiative is the Swiss competence center for timber investments. Timber Finance promotes sustainable investment opportunities of the forest and timber industry through the development of new financial products, carbon removal credits, whitepapers, and advisory services. Timber Finance launched the world’s first timber carbon capture and storage index in February 2022. www.timberfinance.ch

Co-Founder of Timber Finance Initiative, Thomas Fedrizzi: “The United Nations Climate Council has recently recognized the potential of mass timber and its multiple benefits: Timber not only functions as a carbon sink, but – when used in building construction – achieves emission reductions by displacing carbon-intensive materials such as concrete and steel.

About Green Canopy NODE

Green Canopy NODE is a vertically integrated construction technology, real estate development, and fund management company. Over its history, it has sought to embrace the innovation required to change the current paradigm of housing development and deliver on its commitment to help regenerate both communities and environments. The company works with its clients and investors to develop high-performing, deep green, all-electric, and healthy housing. www.greencanopynode.com

Co-CEO of Green Canopy NODE, Aaron Fairchild: “I am encouraged about the potential to further scale mass and cross-laminated timber through building our shared future. Housing that utilizes mass-timber is longer-lasting and can be more cost-effective, making climate-smart homes accessible to people of all income levels.”

About South Pole

South Pole, a social enterprise recognized by the World Economic Forum's Schwab Foundation, is the world's leading climate solutions provider and carbon project developer. Since its creation in 2006, it has developed nearly 1,000 projects in over 50 countries to reduce over one gigaton of CO2 emissions, and to provide social benefits to less privileged communities who are particularly vulnerable to climate change. South Pole's project work spans sustainable agriculture, forest conservation, waste management, energy efficiency, and decentralized renewable energy. www.southpole.com

Associate Director  at South Pole, Nicolas Roduner, “The climate benefit of using timber instead of conventional building materials is currently not monetized. We will change this by developing this methodology and subsequently support mass timber projects with climate finance.”

About Gordian Knot Strategies

Gordian Knot Strategies is a strategic problem-solving consulting company with a focus on natural climate solutions and expertise in climate finance, impact funds, and carbon markets, and has developed numerous go-to-market plans in these areas.  https://gordianknotstrategies.com/

CEO of GKS, Sean Penrith: “Voluntary carbon markets have the potential to route billions of dollars from firms committing to net zero to projects and technologies that reduce or eliminate carbon emissions. The successful introduction of a mass timber carbon methodology is key to help finance the shift to carbon storing, green buildings.”

About Verra

Verra is a nonprofit organization that operates the world’s leading carbon crediting program, the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program, as well as other standards in environmental and social markets. To date, Verra has issued over 970 million carbon credits to over 1,800 projects around the world.

Verra is committed to helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve livelihoods, and protect natural resources by working with the private and public sectors. We support climate action and sustainable development with standards, tools, and programs that credibly, transparently, and robustly assess environmental and social impacts and enable funding for sustaining and scaling up projects that verifiably deliver these benefits.  www.verra.org

The Mass Timber CDR Working Group

The Timber Finance Initiative, Green Canopy NODE ,South Pole and Gordian Knot Strategies have created a Working Group of issue area experts to develop a globally applicable carbon credit methodology for mass timber construction Verra will serve as an independent standard-setter for the methodology. A rigorous carbon methodology will help realize the value of stored carbon in mass timber construction and further clear a pathway to scale mass timber as a climate-smart building material. The final methodology will be developed by the Timber Finance Initiative and South Pole. The final methodology is anticipated in early 2023.

Questions? Contact:

Susan Fairchild
Chief Marketing Officer
susan@greencanopynode.com

Developing a residential real estate project is a huge endeavor. With so many tasks, contractors, and workflows to coordinate, it’s easy to overlook the community in which you’re building. However, engaging neighbors in a timely manner makes a significant difference when it comes to the success of residential projects. 

At Green Canopy NODE, we consider ourselves neighbors in the communities we work, especially given our mission to build homes, relationships, and businesses that help regenerate communities and environments. After all, we become part of their homes’ surroundings and impact their day-to-day lives. “Part of the protocol in our own development projects is to have a community meeting to notify neighborhoods even before we start city permits. We typically do this prior to land acquisition as neighbors’ input is a key component of our feasibility due diligence,” explains Justin Hooks, VP of Construction at Green Canopy NODE.  

Recently, our team hosted a meeting with Grow Community on Bainbridge Island, with the goal of continuing dialogue about the construction of the project’s final phase.  “It was great to see so many neighbors turn out. They had a variety of concerns about the new construction and how it would affect their day-to-day life at Grow.  The Green Canopy NODE team, Jeff Bouma – the landscape architect —, and I, answered a range of questions from what the homes will look like, how parking is being managed to how the landscaping would blend in with what is there now,” shares Jonathan Davis, Architect at Davis Studio Architecture + Design and Grow Community resident. 

Community relations are rewarding – we want to share our takeaways to develop strong relationships and ensure the success of your project.

1. Be proactive about communicating – Don’t let neighbors wake up one day with unexpected construction sounds and dust. This will harm the project’s ability to organically become part of the community and your company’s reputation for future business – real estate is significantly about relationships! 

2. Listen – Neighbors’ concerns vary from construction timelines and working hours to path accessibility. Most of these questions can be addressed by supplying an FAQ with project information. Neighbors can also flag things you should be planning for but overlooked.  

3. All petitions are worth considering – Some requests may not be possible to deliver, given the project’s budget and timeline, but in others, you may find opportunities.  For example, neighbors asked how we could contribute to the care and expansion of community areas. Our team found an alternative: instead of discarding the construction waste from leveling the project’s land, we will repurpose this soil to improve the center park, a community hallmark where residents enjoy summer concerts and other activities. This was an opportunity to implement a circular economy approach that benefits neighbors and aligns with our sustainability goals. 

4. Leave the door open – A great deal of maintaining relationships is an ongoing effort to manage expectations and communicate throughout the project. As construction moves forward, neighbors will have new questions. Be mindful to establish how these can be shared with the team, for example through resident portals, emails, or future community meetings.  

In essence, our greatest takeaway from this experience is that investing time and effort in developing community relations is a great way to create excitement about construction, learn from one another by active listening and build trust. During the Grow Community meeting, “neighbors had some tough questions” shared Green Canopy NODE’s Marketing Manager Emily Butterfield, “but the team addressed them, and it was clear that they appreciated and valued that we took the time and effort to ‘show up’,” she adds.  

Contact us if you’d like help in developing your multi-unit real estate project!

Follow us to keep updated on our projects and learn more about our impact.

For Immediate Release

SEATTLE, Washington (August 25, 2022) – Amidst humanity’s magnified sensitivity to the pitfalls of social isolation, cohousing residential projects are gaining momentum as an answer to postmodern loneliness. Located between Marysville and Lake Stevens, a new kind of intentional community is making progress: Sunnyside Village Cohousing. Green Canopy NODE is proud to join architecture firm Schemata Workshop to help Sunnyside Village Cohousing develop the 4.75 acre project.

“Loneliness can be the result of the built environment” explains Grace Kim, Principal Architect at Schemata Workshop. “It is intentionality that sets cohousing apart from other types of housing models,” she adds. Sunnyside Village spaces are curated to foster neighbors’ easy interactions outside private homes, bringing people together through collaboration and the love of nature.

More than just a home, Sunnyside Village will be a community for life.  The project has 32 independent cottages – ranging from 1,000 to 1,200 square feet - and 64 centralized parking spaces to avoid car congestion disrupting the harmony with nature. The shared areas comprise a 3,350sf common house with home office spaces, a kids’ room, and a kitchen, to name a few. The community’s hallmark is the vastness of outdoor green spaces – community garden, orchard, and berry patch - to facilitate meaningful connection and build social capital. The harvested organic produce is expected to contribute to the three weekly community meals that residents will prepare and share together.

While Sunnyside Village Cohousing is currently in the pre-development phase, future residents already share their excitement about living there, as an “antidote to the isolation of modern life” and for its powerful “sense of transitioning, to a different place, at a different pace.” This intentional community expects to transcend traditional cohousing and make decisions together aligned through their shared love for the natural environment.

Similarly, the ethos of green building is the baseline for bringing Schemata Workshop, Sunnyside Village Cohousing, and Green Canopy NODE together – to make better decisions for the community and the planet. Green Canopy NODE is bringing its consulting expertise to the project, contributing to the conceptual design, risk analysis, and, most importantly, helping the community achieve its goals.

Ultimately, cohousing is about finding a more connected way of living – people with people and people with the planet. Green Canopy NODE shares this mission to help regenerate communities and environments. The company offers its development services in support of purposeful developer clients of multi-unit residential projects at any stage – pre-development, architecture, construction management, and consulting.

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About Green Canopy NODE: Green Canopy NODE is a mission-driven construction technology, real estate development, and fund management company. Over its history, it has sought to embrace the innovation required to change the current paradigm of housing development and deliver on its commitment to help regenerate communities and environments. The company works with its clients and investors to develop high-performing, deep green, all-electric, and healthy housing.  Green Canopy NODE is also an experienced fund manager. The firm has successfully managed four real estate funds for a total of $70+ million AUM, and over 200 investor accounts. Financial and impact returns have been aligned to investor expectations.

About Schemata Workshop: Schemata Workshop is an architecture and urban design practice that empowers people and their communities. The firm designs with integrity, believing in honest, expressive use of materials, and always preferring local sources and production. The team approaches each project with a design philosophy geared towards creating environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable architecture that enhances the resiliency of communities.

About Sunnyside Village Cohousing: Sunnyside Village is a cohousing community with a strong focus on its organic garden. Residents will live in 32 (1000-1200 sf) cottages and share ownership in a (3000 sf) Common House for community activities and some shared meals. Members own their home and the lot it is built on. As a forming community, their mission is to create a cohousing community of diverse people who share vision and values – solidarity, sustainability, and democracy.

For more information, please contact:
Susan Fairchild
Chief Marketing Officer
susan@greencanopynode.com

2021 saw millions of people quitting their jobs voluntarily in a trend that was soon named ‘The Great Resignation’. Evidence shows that corporate culture is one of the most reliable factors to predict this attrition. And while for many businesses it is still overlooked, at Green Canopy NODE we are intentional and proactive in prioritizing our culture. Yet, culture isn’t simply about providing ping-pong tables, swag, or a free lunch. Employees resonate with a culture they can call their own.

Building an inclusive culture is embedded into our DNA and to us, that is pretty special. At its heart lie our values, co-created by every team member and defining how we are to interact and behave in the workplace. “Over the years, we have found that when values are inclusive, alive, and dynamic, the team feels more connected and whole, and the Company experiences greater resiliency through the inevitable ups and downs of organizational growth,” says Aaron Fairchild, Co-CEO of Green Canopy NODE.

Why pay so much attention to values?

Well, to start because they define how we show up for each other at work and constantly remind us of the kind of team we want to be. “They have enormous transformative power, being the vehicle for a cohesive and loving culture in which we can all see our fingerprints, setting up our team for success, and nurturing us to be more caring and aware,” remarks Ami Nieto, HR Director of Green Canopy NODE.

Our values also set the tone for how our team communicates. We have seen that the more effective we are in speaking with each other, the better we communicate with our clients, investors, subcontractors, community members, and other stakeholders.

Our secret sauce for co-creating values:

Our culture and values are some of the most powerful components of our company. We are proud of the process we go through to build and strengthen them and hope others can benefit from knowing more about what we believe is our secret sauce.

The key ingredient is being deliberate about providing opportunities for having meaningful connection. A key moment for our team to connect with each other is our yearly Mission, Vision, and Values (MVV) retreat. We recently gathered in May for our 2022 retreat, in a space designed to bring together the unique and diverse perspectives of all team members, re-calibrate to our mission, vision, and co-create our values. A special byproduct of this approach is a sense of gratitude and ownership from our employees. “I appreciate the community that Green Canopy NODE builds, including how transparent the leadership is with the rest of the staff”, shares Green Canopy NODE employee.

If co-creating values is the first step, going beyond showcasing them on a poster in the lobby or on a website solely for branding purposes is the second. Values are key to articulating a shared language that facilitates effective internal communications. We accompany each value with a couple of mantras, as these short phrases are a dynamic way for team members to understand the context within the words and be constantly reminded of the spirit behind each value in our daily interactions. In other words, mantras help keep values alive. Plus, they also provide a framework for having hard conversations with our peers and stakeholders.

Finally, team members hold themselves and each other accountable to these values by going through a bi-annual 360 peer values review. Team members are not evaluated by what work they accomplished, but by how they accomplished it. In other words, on how they lived into the company’s values day-to-day

We’re excited to share with you our four new values and corresponding mantras.

Expanding Mental Boundaries

• Be curious to learn and fearless to unlearn

• Fall into discomfort

• Be willing to ask “how might we…?”

Vulnerability

• Bring your whole self

• Lean in, share, and learn from our lived experiences

• Give trust and expect transparency

Radical Ownership

• We fail, we succeed, we come with solutions

• Accountability, not blame, from beginning to end

• Own it all, together - the good, the bad, and the ugly

Empathy

• Seek first to understand

• Connect with each other’s humanity

• Create space, help each other grow

From our team to yours:

In the end, “our culture is about our connection to each other as a team and to what we are building as a company,” reflects Bec Chapin, Co-CEO of Green Canopy NODE. There is no better way to describe our efforts to weave an inclusive culture, rooted in co-created values, than to share some reflections gathered from different team members during our 2022 MVV retreat:

“It is a beautiful process to see a team come together with such ease, in a space of vulnerability, curiosity, and care for each other.”

“Not afraid to speak up because we created a space in which we can leave expectations out and show up with honesty.”

“A space in which we can explore our fear and hopes at the same moment,”

“Feeling both welcomed and excited.”

“In which we acknowledge how extremely inspirational it is to learn from the people we work with,”

“And appreciate the humanity that our group is showing.”

"This is our communal and artistic endeavor and what Green Canopy NODE's essentially is: the canvas upon which we all do our art to inspire and create a positive expression of the future we believe in pulling forward."

We encourage you to learn more about how our culture, values and work translate to impact by reading our 2021 Impact Report here!

Green Canopy NODE is honored to by named by Real Leaders as a Top 50 member of the inaugural Eco Innovation Awards!

Green Canopy NODE is featured in the Q3 2022 issue of Real Leaders magazine 

This week, Real Leaders® launched the inaugural Eco Innovation Awards to its global community of social impact executives. This distinction celebrates achievement in environmental impact. As a longtime advocate for businesses that build sustainability into their business models, Real Leaders wanted to recognize the products, projects, and initiatives that are actively contributing to a healthier planet.  

The Real Leaders Eco Innovation Awards honors companies applying innovative environmental solutions for the greater good. It’s an annual global ranking of companies that drive environmental social impact in all major sectors of the economy. 

Entries were judged on creativity, innovation, originality, measurable impact and needed to be designed to help solve an environmental issue. Awards were given in three categories: Top 50 ranking, Ones to Watch, and Eco Innovation Allies.  All winners will be featured in the Q3 2022 issue of Real Leaders magazine, on Real-Leaders.com, and will be promoted across social media. 

“This is such a critical moment for our planet,” says Julie Van Ness, CEO of Real Leaders. “The latest IPCC report’s dire climate warning has made it clear there is no time to waste. It’s going to take all of us working together, especially business leaders who can leverage their influence and power in service to the planet.  That’s why we dedicated our Q3 issue to business-led solutions for tackling the climate crisis; and we’re excited to introduce the world to our Eco Innovation Award-winning companies and CEOs who are doing just that. This issue is a must-read for purpose-driven leaders who want to be a part of the solution.”

"We believe in healthy, sustainable homes for people at all income levels; this goal, and the steps we're taking to get there, has helped us achieve the Real Leaders Award,” said Bec Chapin, Co-CEO of Green Canopy NODE

ABOUT REAL LEADERS

Real Leaders is a membership community for impact leaders with a global media platform dedicated to driving positive change. It’s on a mission to unite farsighted leaders to transform our shortsighted world. Founded in 2010, Real Leaders recognized early on that businesses bore a responsibility to be as cognizant of their impact on employees, society, and the planet as they are on their bottom line.

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.

The lack of affordable housing and climate change are related problems requiring interlinked solutions. We are honored to be featured in the summer edition of Master Builder Magazine as one of the leading lights in this new way of building. 

“To scale up and lower costs, the industry will need to embrace the power of off-site manufacturing more and more. It is the only known pathway to the sort of efficiencies required to build more sustainable, higher quality, lower-cost housing.”

The Spring season begins a beautiful process of birth and renewal. What once was dormant, begins to awake, slowly unfurl, and reveal its true purpose. To be called to purpose with such intention is not to be taken lightly.

Amidst the ongoing strain of the pandemic and global crises, Green Canopy & NODE took the concept of purpose further. Rather than tackle the challenges of the construction industry separate from each other, we recognized that we could accelerate transformation of the construction industry towards greater sustainability, health, and affordability together. Today, Green Canopy NODE is a collective of investors, innovators, changemakers, makers-at-heart, and people living their lives aligned to purpose. Our shared vision is to provide more healthy and sustainable housing for people of all income levels across the nation.

I am grateful to not be alone in this work. At Green Canopy NODE we come together in a coordinated effort to do more than one person could on their own. I am blessed with a deeply committed community of teammates, board members, shareholders, impact investors, institutional investors, homeowners, landowners, developers, affordable housing groups, architects, real estate agents, and sub-contractors; all playing an important role in achieving our collective mission and vision.

I welcome you to engage with us on this journey! Please feel free to start by sharing with me your insights and reflections on this report.

With deep gratitude,
Susan Fairchild, Chief Marketing and Impact Officer
Green Canopy NODE

We are proud to share that Green Canopy NODE's co-CEOs, Bec Chapin and Aaron Fairchild, have been named to the 2022 MO 100 Top Impact CEO Ranking!

This award recognizes the 100 most impactful leaders sparking positive social and environmental change. Explore the MO100 ranking and learn more about what being an impact leader means to Bec + Aaron:

What does being an ‘impact leader’ mean to you?

Being an impact leader means three things to us: Finding the alignment between our skill sets and our values, creating alignment through a shared purpose, and solving complex challenges by working in partnership, across sectors. We aren’t going to solve our housing and our climate crises by ourselves. 

How has the theme of regeneration – of breaking down to break through – played out in your career?

Our company mission is to regenerate communities and environments. And to do so, we must first reflect on ourselves as individuals and create change within. This is done, in part, through eco-cycle mapping, which is a critical tool for us in evaluating our work. Plotting ourselves and our work on an eco-cycle map invites change and helps determine where we might be stagnating or where we can break down processes in order to improve.

Impact + Company Focus:

Green Canopy NODE intends to rapidly scale construction technology to lower building costs and help decarbonize the built environment. We combine smart construction technology solutions with a long track record of sustainable design, development, construction, and fund management expertise to seamlessly lower costs, shorten construction timelines, and create highly impactful housing for communities throughout the Pacific Northwest and beyond.

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

Contributed by Aaron Fairchild

Perhaps you have had conversations with friends or family discussing what you can do to help the people of Ukraine. If you have, and you are interested in directly supporting Ukrainians in need, I would like to introduce you to Val Korol. Val is a Construction Project Manager at Green Canopy NODE, and we have worked together at Green Canopy NODE since April of 2016. Val is Ukrainian. His immediate family is in Ukraine, having fled their homes in search of safety, they are grappling with the realities of war as they consider what will become of their lives in a homeland reduced to rubble. Val and his Green Canopy NODE family would like to ask for your support for his family and fellow Ukrainians.  

Please Consider Donating Here

When Val and I began working together I had no idea of the beauty of Ukraine. Recently I was sent this link to 50 beautiful photos of pre-war Ukraine – the photos share a richness of history and culture that leave me with a greater sense of connection to all people. Within the images emerge universal expressions of human creativity: symbols, art, and architecture from the heart and soul of our shared humanity.

Val Korol

Val was born in Vinnitsa, Ukraine in 1972. He came to the USA in 2000 with his wife Yelena and eventually found his way as a Construction Project Manager to Green Canopy NODE. One of the first things you realize about Val is that his heart is even bigger that his sizable 6’4” stature with hands large enough to entirely engulf your own when shaking. In fact, all of Val comes from his heart.

When Val was just 13-years old his sister’s husband told him if he could learn to play five chords on the guitar in a week, he could join their wedding band. They needed a new guitarist. Enthusiastically Val rose to the challenge and in no time, he was not only playing guitar, he was also singing love songs for newly-weds all across Ukraine. The wedding music that began with a conversation with his sister and her husband in their kitchen continued playing until he left for America in 2000, 15-years later. It is no surprise to me that Val came to us with his enormous and loving heart full of joy, music and his defining quality, a desire to help others.

In recognition of Val’s 6-years of dedication working to advance Green Canopy NODE’s mission to help regenerate communities and environments, I would like to humbly ask us all to embrace this mission and donate to help regenerate the Ukrainian community and their environments.

Please consider donating to any one of these organizations. We worked with Val to learn about organizations that are working effectively on the ground.

1. Razom for Ukraine

2. Support Ukraine Fund

Today, after their homes have been destroyed, many of Val’s direct family members are refugees and moving within the country searching and hoping for a safe place to restore and begin to renew. Another sister, husband, their two children, and two grandchildren are temporarily staying in an abandoned home in a small township in western Ukraine. They risk every time they go to Western Union in bigger cities to receive financial resource from Val and his family in America. They have lost their homes, jobs and livelihoods to the violence of this war.

Please donate to Val’s family here:

Val’s wedding bandmember sister Larisa and her children, still live in Vinnitsa. Her husband and bandmember, Arcady, passed away last November from COVID. She works in the local district energy facility in 48 hour, round the clock, shifts. Val has been able to maintain communication with her and offer help to her, and others through her. While they are all deeply grateful for assistance for their family, true to form, they are also doing what they can to help others in and around Vinnitsa.  

Even here, in the tucked away Pacific Northwest corner, the tragic war in Ukraine creates both ripples of sadness and opportunity for all of us to reflect on the sanctity of democratic self-determination. It helps us think beyond ourselves and perhaps ask how we can help the marginalized and underserved within our local communities and communities in desperate need such as Ukraine. Please consider donating in assistance to Ukrainian families as they struggle to live and live freely.

Feel free to reach out directly to someone you know on the Green Canopy NODE team if you want to learn more about Val and how you can help.

Green Canopy NODE is humbled by being recognized as a 2022 ImpactAssets 50 fund manager. Impact investments are made to generate measurable social and environmental positive impact alongside financial returns. Green Canopy NODE hopes to inspire all investors to align their capital investments with their values by continuing to demonstrate that with thoughtfulness and care, rewarding financial returns can be earned using an impact investment approach. The IA50 recognizes a diverse group of impact investment fund managers who demonstrate a commitment to generating positive social, environmental, and financial impact.

"If we want to create a better future, we have to invest in that better future." -Susan Fairchild, Chief Marketing Officer, Green Canopy NODE

This acknowledgement comes at an exciting time. Green Canopy NODE, in partnership with other strategically aligned organizations, is in the process of developing its fifth real estate investment fund, to be announced later this year. The Fund is being designed to invest in residential real estate that is built using the power of manufacturing with carbon-smart construction methods, materials, and technologies for families at various income levels, while generating favorable returns to its investors.

“As impact investing continues its inexorable rise, it is critical to provide investors with a curated, objective evaluation of impact fund managers. The IA 50 is built to filter out the noise that is growing louder in impact investing and help investors focus on deep, meaningful impact." Jennifer Kenning, CEO and Co-Founder, Align Impact, IA 50 Senior Investment Advisor