Local builder goes green

By LAURA BEHENNA

Bigfork Eagle

Bigfork builder Erik Eckert isn’t afraid to describe himself as “altruistic” in his desire to create buildings with the lightest possible impact on the earth.

The slogan for his company, Green Haven Builders, Inc., is “Building GREEN with a conscience for our sustainable future.” Working with his conscience intact is good business and good for the earth, in his opinion.

“I love nature, I love the woods, I love animals -- and I hate being a hypocrite,” Eckert said, adding that like most Flathead residents, he chose to live here because of the area’s natural beauty. He wants to conserve those special qualities and keep the valley from turning into just another piece of rubber-stamp Americana, he said.

“There’s a better way to build; it doesn’t cost more; why not use it?” he said.

“This isn’t work for me,” Eckert said of his chosen profession. “It’s a passion.”

He supported himself as a carpenter while studying construction management in Ohio at Kent State and the University of Cincinnati, and he’s stayed in the construction field for the last 22 years. In his spare time, he studies new ways to build using less fuel, causing less pollution, leaving a smaller “footprint” and making the most of the available materials and resources, all at a cost similar to that of traditional building.

At least one of those resources — the sun - is cost-free, and Eckert’s new commercial building on Village Lane in Bigfork will take full advantage of that. The two-office building will use the sun for much of its heat, light and electric power. Eckert placed two large windows — one for each office — on the south-facing side of the building to let in plenty of warming sunshine during the cooler months of the year, and a row of solar panels along the south end of the roof will collect rays and convert them into electricity.

When the building doesn’t use all the solar energy the panels collect, the extra energy will be sent back to Flathead Electric Cooperative, running the building’s power meter backward and lowering the owners’ electricity bills. This is called “net metering,” and it eliminates the need for expensive back-up batteries that contain toxic ingredients and add to disposal costs, Eckert said.

To make the best use of free daylight, Eckert designed the windows so that people inside can work without turning on additional electric lights. Making the most of available sunlight is only one facet of green construction, however.

Eckert defines “green” building as “a design and construction method that helps reduce our environmental impact and promote a healthier future for our families, communities and planet.” Behind this simple summary lie dozens of ways to soften a building’s impact on the soil, air, water and community around it.

It all starts before the first spade of dirt is turned. Eckert plans his projects with soil and water conservation in mind. He chose the Village Lane site because, in addition to having a good commercial location, it had already been used as a mobile home site — thus he didn’t have to dig up an undisturbed piece of ground. It’s close to downtown and Wayfarers State Park. He chose to lay a gravel parking lot that allows storm water and snow melt to drain slowly into the soil rather than running off into the street, where it could cause flooding.

Eckert had to clear the spot of several large pine trees, which he had milled for building materials on the project. Productive cherry and apple trees were growing on the site, and rather than cut them down, he moved the trees to another site where they’ll continue to grow. He has planned landscaping that won’t need to be watered during the dry season, using “companion” plants that enhance one another’s growth.

The foundation is six times thicker than a typical foundation, he said, so that it could accommodate a second story in the future. The building is bolted onto the foundation so firmly that even a major earthquake is unlikely to cause serious structural damage.

To reduce the costs of transporting materials, Eckert bought his materials locally as much as possible, which also used less fuel and caused less air pollution. The excavation trucks he used ran on biodiesel, a clean-burning fuel with much lower emissions than regular diesel. He hosed off the truck tires before sending them back out on the highway, which reduced the amount of dust in the air. He’s using low-odor sealants, paints and stains on surfaces.

“I have asthma, so I’m very cognizant of air quality,” he said.

Eckert uses materials with recycled content whenever they’re available and affordable. For example, the drainage pipe he installed under the Village Lane building has 50 percent recycled content. Much of the wood he used for the building came from an 80-year-old barn in Kila. Some of the planks from the barn have been re-milled for attractive interior and exterior walls.

When “new” wood is necessary, Eckert seeks out sustainably harvested wood, meaning the amount of trees harvested from a given forest doesn’t exceed the amount grown. He looks for wood that’s certified by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative or the Forestry Stewardship Council. He’s careful to keep the wood dry to prevent later problems with mold or rot. This gives a building a longer life, he explained.

The building’s ventilation system will contains a heat recovery ventilator that will vent out moisture and impurities while retaining the building’s heat. The compact fluorescent lights Eckert has selected will use much less electricity than incandescent lights. Even the toilet will conserve by using less water for flushing liquid wastes than solid wastes, Eckert said.

Sometimes containing costs can mean making some trade-offs. For example, buying top-of-the-line windows would have raised costs to well above average, so Eckert selected affordable double-paned windows and compensated for the heat lost through the glass by beefing up the wall and ceiling insulation to double the insulation value of traditional building.

“We’re trying not to be extremist in anything,” he said. “We’re trying to be practical. We’re trying to prove that green building can be done at the same cost as traditional building.”

When Eckert says “we,” he’s including his friends Darin Fredericks of Fredericks Construction and Jason Townley of J-Built Healthy Homes. The three of them recently formed the Flathead Green Builders Guild, whose goal is to educate other builders about the alternative materials and technology available.

“We all felt the same that this was a passion,” Eckert said. “Green building is becoming mainstream enough to be affordable. We’re in this to make an impact.”

To make green building easier for those interested, the three men are preparing to open a retail store in Kalispell called “The Green Bin,” which will sell the kinds of building materials and products they use in their projects. And they’re not afraid of competition — they invite and encourage it, Eckert declared.

“If someone wants to compete with us to be more green, then we’ve succeeded in our altruistic goals,” he said. “I love to see other people succeed.”

On the Web: www.flatheadgbg.org (Flathead Green Builders Guild)