We’ve been at this for 7 years. We began surrounded by building industry vets and were happy to keep our ears open and our mouths shut. We sat, we listened and we learned – in some instances more than we bargained for. In short, we’ve learned this industry is slow to evolve and like most sectors, consumers drive change; also, low and behold we are not the only ones excited about high-performance natural building materials. We also learned it is really hard to know how to make the right decisions, in fact, it’s difficult to find reliable sources for basic education.
Using Havelock experiences coupled with personal ones of team members that span continents and decades we’ve come to an unfortunate conclusion about today’s built environment: interests are misaligned.
Oversimplified: architects design, builders build, and clients pay the bill. There is a propensity to leave well enough alone but the industry has devolved to accept low-grade products as the norm and clients increasingly want more from the equation. The misalignment is easy enough to fix but not without a disruptive jolt.
Where do you go to learn more? What blog is worth reading, versus the one that is saturated with either product or author bias, or both? Is this one worth reading?
These thoughts and a handful of others have led us to a project. We intend to build something that considers what we’ve learned and the best practices of some of the bright minds we’ve been fortunate to work with over the years. We are going to document the process with video updates detailing decisions made and considerations that preceded them. We’ll include recorded commentary from industry leaders on everything from wall assembly to heating and cooling, energy source, and design. We’ll also include complete transparency on cost.
There are myths to dispel: it costs too much, it is too hard to know what to do, it is too difficult to build with high-performance materials, trusted sources are hard to find. These things just aren’t true.
We’ve built our business around transparency and helping people make informed decisions. This is merely an extension of those principles. And if we get it right we will do as we do now and have a ton of fun helping people learn how to build better.
As we get underway we will happily include a list of collaborators. We are not looking for money or sponsorship as that does no good for someone who wants to replicate the process. That said, there are loads of ways to get involved and we are happy to learn and share ideas of those who have relevant experience.
Finally, this will all take place in a dedicated space at our facility. Visitors will be welcome so long as you appropriately distance yourself and don’t share your coffee or beer with anyone.
