Green, Not Extreme

What do you get when you cross a waste management expert whose true interest is in real estate, with a handy former farm-hand and subcontractor worker who formed his own contracting business? You get MyGreenBuildings, a Florida-based custom home design/build firm with only months under its belt and several jobs on the table.

Steve Ellis and Grant Castilow formed MyGreenBuildings in 2006 when Ellis approached Castilow to be a subcontractor on a new residential project. The two clicked so well they joined forces to help the environment while building environmentally friendly homes for enviro-conscious clients. It turns out they work pretty well together; the first home they designed and built is the most energy-efficient house in Florida, as certified by the Florida Green Building Coalition.

The project was completed in less than four months, and played a big part in the landing of a handful of jobs for clients looking for a green design/builder. “We’ve sold five residential projects already from that one spec home, including two $700,000-plus complete guts and retrofits,” Ellis says.

The goal for the 2,100-sq.-ft. addition was to prove MyGreenBuildings could do a highly customized green retrofit to an existing structure. “We’re showing that we can keep the existing structure and rebuild it, and do it in a seamless way with good design and architecture. We can bring it up to current standards with all the bells and whistles and do it totally green,” Ellis adds.

Embedded Energy

MyGreenBuildings will focus on green residential retrofits and new construction, as well as some commercial, interior and retail work. The focus on retrofits is more than part of the business plan; it’s a green building practice many designers and builders don’t think of. Being green isn’t only about energy savings, it’s about energy salvage.

“We’re using the original structure because of the energy savings involved,” Ellis explains. “Think about the wood components of a structure and how much energy it took to log the trees, get them to a mill, work the wood, transport it and install it. There’s a massive amount of energy embedded in that structure that you’re saving by not tearing it down and putting the material in a landfill — not to mention time and labor costs.”

Conserving energy expended at the time of construction is great for green, but it doesn’t address costs of any new labor or material. The cost of being green is one hurdle many design/builders encounter, but not these two because the type of client they’re targeting has crossed the green line on their own.

“If a homeowner was truly a greeniac, budget wouldn’t be an issue. People dedicated to an issue will do what it takes for their cause,” Castilow says. “We’re not shoving green stuff down our clients’ throats. Their light is on because they want to do it this way. And we’re designing their homes to fit their budget; that’s why we’re design/builders. We can make things the way they want it and can afford it.”

Even if a client is dedicated to green, budget can still become an issue, Castilow points out. For example, clients might say they can’t afford a low-flow toilet. Because MyGreenBuildings is a design/build firm, adjustments can be made to other areas of the home’s design to compensate for a higher-priced product. “So you can design a project to fit the budget,” he says.
Sacrifices also can be made on a larger scale to get clients thinking green in the first place. For the cost of high-end appliances in the kitchen, for example, clients can make their house green, Castilow says. The extra $10,000 or $20,000 saved on appliances could be spent on a solar water heater or Low-E glass on windows.