Housing First Minnesota’s Designated Green Path program highlights local builders committed to constructing eco-friendly, energy-efficient homes. Hear from participating builders about why more builders should convert to greener construction.
On the Green Path
John Sharkey had already been in the construction industry for nearly two decades when he first heard the term “net-zero ready home.” As CEO of the luxury custom builder Sharkey Design Build, ultra energy-efficient homes weren’t his focus at the time, but they piqued his interest.
Sharkey spent the next two years researching and developing a business plan, figuring out how to construct eco-friendly homes and which products to use. In 2018, GreenHalo Builds was founded with the goal of building 2,000-square-foot homes with excellent Home Energy Rating System (HERS) scores at an attainable price point. The business concept took off.
“A couple years ago, we were building 95% Sharkey homes and 5% GreenHalo. Now it’s the complete opposite,” says Sharkey, noting that his clientele is mostly health-conscious, active empty-nesters looking to downsize for lower energy costs and well-thoughtout, multi-use spaces. “There’s a need for ‘healthy homes,’ as I call them.”
A Commitment to the Environment
In a recent National Association of Home Builders “What Home Buyers Really Want” report, 78% said they were concerned about the impact building their home had on the environment. Sharkey isn’t the only local builder responding to this trend. He’s one of 45 builders who’ve met the qualifications and joined the Designated Green Path Builder program, a title awarded by Green Path, Minnesota’s leading energy-efficient and green building program for the residential construction industry created by Housing First Minnesota in 2011.
With this designation, “you’re communicating to the public and the consumer that you’ve made a commitment to the environment,” explains Carole Griffith, executive vice president of McDonald Design | Build | Renovate and chair of the Green Path Committee since its inception. “With issues like global warming and gas prices top-of-mind right now, customers are calling on a regular basis looking for a builder who is eco-conscious.”
Green Path connects homeowners to those builders, who must commit to energy testing on 75% of their new single-family homes and attend annual training on green building at the Green Path Conference to obtain the designation.
“It’s another level of quality and being responsible,” says Mike Roebuck, president of Ron Clark Construction, which has been involved with energy savings programs since the early 2000s. When Green Path was created, joining the program, which aligned with the company’s values, just made sense.
“Being a Designated Green Path Builder is the best stamp you can get,” adds Sharkey, who last year was the recipient of Green Path’s Leadership Award for GreenHalo Builds’ vision to create “ecovillages” and homes for families seeking sustainable and environmentally conscious housing.
Making an Impact
In addition to serving as a directory for some of Minnesota’s greenest builders, the Green Path program also helps homeowners understand the energy efficiency of their homes by generating HERS reports, of which Green Path has created 36,000 on new builds to date. Minnesota’s average HERS rating hovers around 50 — the lower on a scale of 0 to 150, the better — the best in the country among states that energy-test more than 1,000 homes.
A lower HERS score translates to energy savings for homeowners — one of the biggest benefits of building green. According to the “What Home Buyers Really Want” report, more than half of homeowners will pay more for a home which leads to annual savings in utility costs.
“We are building a better home for the long-term,” says Griffith. “The products used to make the home are sustainable and energy efficient.”
Of course, this presents some challenges for builders committed to going green, such as learning how to construct non-traditionally built homes with different materials, like structural insulated panels, and relaying that information and training to subcontractors. Communicating green building practices and options with clients can also be a hurdle, with many builders relying on Instagram and Facebook to reach and educate potential and current clients.
“Social media is a great vehicle to communicate green building practices with clients,” says Griffith.
Sharkey consistently challenges the misconception that energy-efficient homes are expensive and unattainable in conversations with his clients. “There’s a lot of different ways you can have a green home, from the health side to the energy side,” he says. “We’re not here beating a green drum.
We have options to go green — you can go really healthy and not energy-efficient; you can add energy efficiency later. If your budget doesn’t allow for solar right now, you can do solar later. You can get a green home without breaking the bank.”
The Future is Green
As environmental threats, building material costs, and inflation all increase, builders and homeowners are looking for ways to reduce their footprint and save money — priming the construction industry for a boom in eco-friendly living.
“There’s no sense in building a house that’s inefficient these days,” says Nick Zawadski, construction manager for Zawadski Homes. “If you think about electricity usage and gas usage in the United States, we already know that our grid is going to be stressed out at some point. If our houses aren’t a component of that, hopefully it will benefit the whole system.”
In order to get there, though, more builders need to shift their focus to green building practices, which Griffith believes will be a boon to business for those who commit. “The more awareness we can get out there, the better,” she says. “The housing market is slowing down and we aren’t seeing the activity we were before. If a builder can set themselves apart with a Green Path designation, why wouldn’t they?”
