Green building is certainly a hot topic these days. For builders striving to reduce the environmental footprints of the homes they build, the process encompasses a wide range of materials, products and systems.

But does building green really mean anything to you as a homebuyer? You may recognize and perhaps even appreciate seeing the Energy Star label on windows and appliances, but what’s the tangible benefit of recycled-content drywall or certified wood doors to your daily life … and your pocketbook?

As a professional builder who is ready and able to respond to what our homebuyers want — including homes with better energy efficiency and indoor air quality — we also recognize that buyers need to see how our efforts impact them personally.

To that end, we strive to educate our clients about the various “green building” methods and materials we employ. Along with contributing to our planet, we approach this from the perspective of the practical benefits to our owners and their families.

Hidden Gems. The bulk of a comprehensive green building effort happens behind the finishes. Instead of touting the R-value of the attic insulation or the solar heat gain coefficient of the windows, we talk about comfort: no more drafty feelings by windows and doors; no more temperature differences between floors or rooms; the ability to walk around in your bare feet. Those benefits seem to resonate far better than any technical information.

Easy Recycling. We not only want to encourage but also help facilitate recycling household waste. So we increasingly provide convenient bins within the kitchen and laundry cabinets to make it easier to collect those items and get them to the curb and out of the landfill.

In that same vein, we have also installed handy compost bins in the kitchen to collect vegetable clippings and other organic matter that can be added to a larger compost pile or collector outside and used to improve soil for a vegetable or flower garden — allowing homebuyers to extend an interest in local produce and organic foods.

Breathe Easier. To help save energy and boost indoor comfort, green builders often use non-toxic paints, flooring, and other interior finishes — as well as ventilation systems — that improve the quality of the indoor air.

Rather than explore the world of vent fans and semi-gloss paint, we often phrase our efforts in terms that address allergies, respiratory problems, and other sensitivities that our homebuyers might suffer … and will appreciate not having in their new homes.

Future Green: Monitors and Electric Cars. While certainly not mainstream, in-home computer programs that allow homeowners to see and adjust their use of energy and water are great visual reminders of green building efforts that also help to optimize them.

Similarly, we’ve seen electric car chargers that run on the home’s electrical service (or even solar energy) that can accommodate all-electric or hybrid cars, allowing homeowners to conveniently serve that investment in sustainable living.

The bottom line is that builders often get caught up in the details and technical specs of green building; professional builders understand that to be truly beneficial, those efforts have to improve the quality of everyday life.

On Saturday, May 14, the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin (HBAGA) awarded Durrett Interests with the MAX Award for Best Custom Green Home at their 20^th annual Marketing and Advertising Excellence (MAX) Awards and Gala at the Renaissance Hotel in the Arboretum.

"We are very proud to have received this award from the HBA," boasted Marshall Durrett, President of Durrett Interests. "Of all the MAX Awards we could have been awarded, this one means the most to everyone in my company."

The MAX Awards is presented by the HBA of Greater Austin, which is made up of more than 800 home building industry firms. For more than 58 years, the HBA of Greater Austin has served as the leading not-for-profit trade organization dedicated to residential construction and remodeling in Central Texas. The HBA works with government, public, business and community organizations in five counties to protect every family’s right to home ownership.

Do you know what most often hinders the success of a new-home project? Fear. Fear of the unknown, of unscrupulous contractors, shoddy materials, of somehow getting caught in a money pit and ending up holding the bag.

This high-level of concern is understandable. Often our clients’ home is their largest single investment. For many, this is their first experience building a home. And for all there is a lot to learn about new home construction.

As professional builders, we understand and respect our clients’ concerns. Our job is to demystify the building process, help our clients identify and understand their concerns and overcome them quickly and confidently.

In addition to being good listeners and problem-solvers, professional builders operate on solid business principles and practices that alleviate the majority of what clients often fear about the homebuilding process, including:

Reliable partners. We seek out, work with, and retain top-quality subcontractors and materials suppliers. Our trade partners possess similar philosophies and approaches to running a successful business and are committed to the same high level of construction quality and standards. This helps mitigate disputes, foster cooperation and produce better-built homes.

We constantly review our trade relationships to ensure that their pool of subs and suppliers consistently delivers high-quality work at a fair price. That diligence protects your investment and helps remove the fear of poor workmanship and unreliable performance.

Record keeping. The best builders are diligent (some say obsessive) about documenting their new-home projects to make sure costs, schedules and progress align and meet their standards of quality and those of their clients.

For the same reason, professional builders demand similar diligence and reporting from their trade partners — not so much to keep them in line, but more to enable their own accounting processes to be complete, accurate and current.

As such, professional builders can present completely transparent and reliable reports at any time to their clients to ease concerns about whether their new home project is on track.

Protection. People having a new home built for them are often afraid that they’ll somehow be on the hook for unpaid work or materials once the job is over and their builder has moved on to his next house. It’s a legitimate fear and an all-too-common reality.

These concerns are easily managed by professional builders. As part of their standard business practices, they pay their bills on time and only from each project’s budget. In addition, they routinely collect lien releases from their trade partners upon satisfactory completion of their work.

Collecting lien releases on a timely basis (as the project progresses, not just at the end) removes the chance that a subcontractor or materials supplier will make a claim for payment against a new home; in fact, the best builders provide copies of those lien releases so that owners can rest assured that the bills have all been paid.

Sophisticated builders practice "fear management". They take a professional approach to their business and are sensitive to the concerns of their clients. They help clients manage any anxiety from project inception through final walk-through. The key, as always, is communication. Helping clients manage their fear goes a long way to keeping communication lines open and promote a satisfying experience for all.

Whether it’s saving two cents on a gallon of gas or building your dream home, everybody wants a bargain.

Everyone loves a deal. No one likes paying retail.

If you are considering building a new home, now or over the next year or two, you face a number of difficult questions…

• Can I do better if I wait to build my home?
• Will interest rates go lower?
• Have home values bottomed or will there be further declines?

On the surface, it may seem as though the housing market has yet to begin climbing out the hole it fell into nearly three years ago. But we see a number of key indicators that point to some compelling reasons why now may be the time to get the best value for your home building investment.

Home Prices: Like the stock market, it is impossible to pick the bottom of the current housing market. No one can say with certainty that we’ve hit the absolute bottom. Like any market, supply and demand impact price. The inventory of older homes continues to dwindle. According to the Census Bureau, the US will add over a million new households each year. The current supply of new homes coming on line is nowhere near that number. As the demand for new homes rise, so will prices.

Interest Rates: We’ve already seen mortgage and construction loan interest rates inch up in 2011. They are likely to maintain that trend as the overall economy and demand for new homes continues to improve.

If you determine that interest rates are likely to go up, acting now can save money. Every quarter-point change in interest rates is equivalent to approximately $6,000 for each $100,000 borrowed over the course of a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage.

Materials and Labor Costs: We are in the middle of a commodity boom. The global demand for raw materials from countries like China and other emerging markets continue to put upward pressure on commodity prices. As the price of raw materials goes up, so do housing costs.

In addition, those manufacturers, suppliers, and trade contractors who are still standing after the housing bust did so by streamlining their operations and honing their costs of doing business. They are running very lean. In all likelihood, these companies will raise prices if there is an increase in demand for new housing.

Streamlined Operations: In order for our company to prosper during this difficult business cycle, we’ve had to sharpen our operations and systems, cut the fat out of our ledgers and operate on thin margins. As a result we are poised to meet our current demand with better processes, improved technology and lower overhead. Those efficiencies translate into lower costs for homebuyers willing to invest in a new-home project today.

If you can look past the headlines and scare tactics, you may realize that in these times, the best time to build a new home may be about to slip away.

In the current economy, it has become fashionable to define "value" as simply the lowest price among new homes. But doing so discounts the value of providing a high level of construction quality, as well as service, before, during, and after your new home is built. This may not be in your family’s best interest.

It’s been said many times… a new home is likely to be the largest single financial investment anyone will ever make. Why, then, would you trust that investment — both financially and in your enjoyment of it — to the lowest price and a limited definition of a home’s value?

As a professional builder, we operate with a different and broader definition of value. We believe value includes a positive building experience for the owner and a sense of confidence and pride about a home’s quality. Value should also consist of a high level of personal service and a commitment to maintaining a relationship built on trust long after the move in date.

Some builders play the low-price game. They narrowly define value as a stripped-down house, built on the cheap, to achieve a cut-rate price. The goal: make a sale and move on. They typically don’t have the staff or systems in place to respond to issues once title is transferred.

Here’s how we define and deliver a higher level of value:

Communication: As professional builders, we listen and respond to our clients’ ambitions and dreams for their new home. We help them define and discover their wants and needs, while working within their budget. We educate them about the complexities of the building process, set realistic expectations and keep them informed about what happens — and why — as their new home takes shape. We seek to be prompt and respectful when we meet to discuss a project. We follow through on promises made and keep our clients informed about a job’s progress.

An Efficient Job Site: Our crews and job site managers follow an agreed-upon schedule and detailed list of specifications that we develop with each client. Materials for a new home are ordered and delivered as needed and on time. We manage and coordinate our trade partners and suppliers toward the common goal of meeting our company’s standards and our clients’ expectations.

Follow-Through: When a new home is finished and we turn over the keys to our clients’, we don’t disappear. We know that it is critical to our clients’ ultimate satisfaction that we continue effective communication while providing thorough and prompt service. When issues crop up — and they always do — we have policies and procedures in place to respond in a timely fashion. We work the problem; we don’t pass the buck. We belong to this community. This is where we’ve chosen to raise our family and we intend to be here for years to come.

We believe our definition of value instills confidence and helps ensure satisfaction. We respect that our clients’ entrust us to deliver a product that only exists on paper and is created before their eyes. It’s a responsibility we take seriously and it’s the cornerstone of what we call value.

There is a ton of information about how to find a builder for your new home. Our monthly newsletter, in fact, is one way we use to impart information about our company in hopes of being a good match for your project.

Unfortunately, most of what you read or hear from non-builder "experts" reduces the decision to numbers, specifically the cost estimates that a few builders provide in a competitive bidding process. To us, basing such an important decision and arguably one of the largest investments of your life on mere numbers is at least incomplete and at worst, a potential nightmare scenario. Frankly, we’d rather not be your builder if your evaluation of our capabilities rests entirely on how much we think it will cost to build your new home.

Instead, we encourage and have found success (read: satisfied clients) by suggesting a different tact. It’s a comprehensive approach that admittedly takes a little more time than just collecting bids, but one that can result in truly finding the right builder for your unique situation and budget.

It starts with identifying what’s "right" for you, a unique definition that requires a solid vision for your project and some personal introspection. For instance, if you are planning to build a large custom home, you should look at builders in your area that specialize in and have a track record of building those types of homes.

Narrow that list by investigating each builder’s website, calling their references, the Better Business Bureau, or your local building association chapter.

Based on your current personal and professional relationships, consider the types of personalities you like and respond to best. You’ll probably spend more time with your builder over the next several months than almost anyone else.

You won’t know if you’re ‘compatible’ until you meet face-to-face. If you’re confident in one builder, either from your research or a strong referral, you may not feel the need to meet with any other candidates. But if you are truly starting your search from scratch, without a referral from a trusted source, we suggest you develop a short list of 3-4 builders and invite them to make a presentation in your home or their office — as much to glean their methods as to gauge compatibility.

At those meetings, be open and honest about your project. If you have a set of architectural plans, show them. Request that each candidate bring photos of projects that are similar to yours in style and size. Inquire about how they define "quality" construction and how comfortable they are about green building … if that’s something you care about.

Finally, ask the builder (or builders) about their financial stability and, in turn, share your project budget and financial plan. There’s no sense in trying to forge a good working relationship if you demand a builder’s financial status but won’t be forthcoming about what you can afford and how you’ll pay for your new home.

Once you find a builder that’s earned your confidence in their skills, financial stability, understanding of your project, and (most important) their ability to communicate with you, it’s time to refine and sign a contract and get your builder involved in the project as soon as possible. Having a builder on the team early helps ensure that everyone is moving in the same direction and toward the same goal of realizing the home you envision.

Marshall Durrett’s love of architecture drives him to build one-of-a-kind homes that differentiate themselves in a competitive market.

by Jennifer McDermitt

One of the most challenging aspects of choosing a career is balancing passion with practicality. Sometimes, what we love doesn’t always translate into what we need in order to survive. Working for a top-tier semi-custom builder right out of college, Durrett was able to earn a decent income, but he desired something more.

“I started out in the architecture program for my undergrad degree, but I switched to development and construction in grad school because I felt like it was better suited to my strengths and interests,” he admitted. “However, I always retained my love of the design process and hoped to incorporate that into my career.”

Finding the Right Balance

Durrett was born and raised in Sugar Land, Texas, and began his career in construction by working at a young age for his dad’s commercial construction company. Durrett enjoyed working in construction and continued to do so throughout high school and college, returning home on breaks to learn more about the industry and help his father.

After high school, Durrett attended Texas A&M University, where he completed his undergraduate degree in environmental design, as well as a dual master’s degree in land development and construction management. After completing his degrees, Durrett moved to Austin to work with a national homebuilder who specialized in subdivision development and high-end luxury homes.

Durrett’s natural ability, job skills and education helped him quickly work his way from assistant project manager to project manager. As project manager overseeing the development of two large Westlake subdivisions, he was involved in every facet of the project — from land development and construction operations to marketing, sales, human resources, and financial reporting. Durrett enjoyed project management, but it was during this time that he realized his interests lie elsewhere.

“I loved what I was doing, but I realized that I could build one or two custom homes a year the way I wanted to and make a decent living,” he said.

Durrett launched Durrett Interests in early 2001 with the dream of creating a custom home company that blends architectural design with livable features.

A Fresh Point of View

Like anything, there are positives and negatives to being a young person in the industry. The positive side is the fact that Durrett grew up in the world of technology, which he has incorporated into his business. Durrett uses a Web-based software program that allows for online scheduling and calendar, document and photo sharing, change orders and selection approvals, warranty management, and e-mail and direct text messaging. Customers love the level of communication and process transparency possible with this program.

“It really takes project management to a new level,” said Durrett. “My customers, employees and subcontractors have immediate access to the project and are kept informed every step of the way.”

The downside to Durrett’s youth is establishing credibility, but he credits his association involvement, and community involvement, as key to his success in doing so.

“I learned about the software program through the National Association of Home Builders 20 Clubs Program, which dramatically changed my business,” he said. “I’ve also learned so much and made so many connections through state and local association events and meetings.”

Durrett is a member of the Texas Association of Builders and HBA of Greater Austin, where he serves as President-Elect and is very involved with the Custom Builders Council. In addition, Durrett and his wife Beth are chairs of the Dell Children’s Medical Center’s annual fundraising gala.

Surviving the Storm

Economically, Durrett started his business during a challenging time of the tech bust, but through his education, association involvement and savvy business skills, he has been able to endure.

“We are building about three to five homes a year right now, but we are always looking to grow,” he said.

One of the keys to Durrett’s success is partnering with architects to give his customers unique designs for their custom homes. He said, “They refer business to us and we do the same, which has been great.”

The staff of Durrett Interests includes two project managers, who also serve as superintendents, and an office manager. To further diversify his business, Durrett started building multifamily projects about three years ago as a separate interest company.

“It has been challenging the last few years, as it is with everyone, but thankfully we are very good at accurately estimating our custom homes to remain competitive,” said Durrett. “Lately, we are seeing an increase in interest, and we’ve been doing a lot of bidding, so that is encouraging.”

Riding the highs and lows of the industry is worth it to Durrett. “It sounds cliché, but I really enjoy seeing the fruit of my labor and knowing that I helped build a community,” he said. “There’s really nothing like driving by a home you’ve built and knowing that you had a part in something that is going to be there for a very long time.”

Sadly, going "green" isn’t always about the environment or conserving energy. Companies in and out of the housing industry make claims that their products offer environmental benefits — such as fewer toxins, recycled content, or resource efficiencies — but fail to back them up with independent testing, quantified results, or other forms of verification.

In many cases, such claims are simply misstated or overstated in an effort to grab your attention and sell products. Words and terms such as "eco-friendly" or "environmentally sensitive," while catchy and conveying a certain benefit, have no true basis in fact.

In fewer cases, the claims are intended to deceive you; the company is simply jumping on the green bandwagon without the proper documentation and worse, little sincere concern for the environmental impact of its products. The goal is to cash in on the green movement, not contribute to it.

In both cases, the effect is called "greenwashing." It’s something we as professional builders confront all the time with our suppliers. And while it’s our job to ferret out true and impactful environmental claims from those that are greenwashed before we offer those benefits to you for your new-home project, we encourage our homeowners to take initiative and protect themselves, as well.

Here are some tactics you may find useful to avoid greenwashing:

• Ask questions! With a little digging online or perhaps on the phone with the manufacturer, you can discover the details of how a product is made and quantify its green claims. If there is recycled content, for instance, you should be able to find out how much and from what sources; if the product claims to save water, the amount of anticipated savings based on a baseline of use should be accessible.
• Look for a label. Not all sincerely green products are certified by a reputable third-party, such as the EPA’s WaterSense or the federal Energy Star programs (among several), but such labeling is a good (and easy) piece of the puzzle. These programs verify quantifiable claims made by the manufacturer regarding their environmental impact. If you see a label you don’t recognize, look it up online for more details and likely a list of certified products.
• Beware of hidden tradeoffs. Many products tout a narrow definition of an environmental benefit but with a tradeoff somewhere else, such as a product that uses recycled content but also contains or uses formaldehyde or adhesives that emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs). We also look at things like packaging, distance from the source (the closer the better), and manufacturing processes that ideally reduce the environmental impact of the product beyond a single green claim.
• Realize relevance. The use of bad stuff like lead (in paints), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs, in refrigerants), asbestos (in insulation and roofing products), and arsenic (used to preserve wood products) has been banned for decades. Still, some manufacturers now tout them as a "green" benefit. Something that’s "lead-free" should be a given, not a sales pitch — and certainly not considered green.
• Trust your gut. Common sense is always a good gauge; if something sounds too good to be true, or at least overstated or exaggerated, check it out. If you get the runaround or the company can’t qualify its claims, find an alternative that satisfies your needs and goals.

As your builder, we consider it our responsibility to provide you with products and systems that perform as promised. Greenwashing gets in the way of that goal, while avoiding such claims helps deliver the environmental and resource efficiencies you expect and desire.

The term "green" is being increasingly applied as an easy way to identify products, including building materials and new homes, as having a better or smaller impact on the environment. That’s fine for marketing slogans and advertising headlines, but it’s also dangerous if the product (or house) isn’t truly sensitive to its environmental impact and is simply trying to ride the coattails of a sincere effort to lessen our carbon footprint. In those instances, intended or not, the term "greenwashing" comes into play. Simply, it refers to incomplete, insincere, exaggerated, or downright untrue promises made about a product’s environmental performance, with no real evidence to back it up.

As a professional builder confronted with "green" claims from a variety of building product manufacturers and some competitors, we are keenly aware of the threat that greenwashing can have on our credibility as a quality contractor. Click here for more information on the "top five ways we build green" at Durrett Interests. So, in our business, we make every effort to substantiate the claims made by our suppliers regarding reduced water use, recycled content, energy efficiency, and other performance characteristics that relate to creating a "green" building. How? Thankfully, the "green" movement within and outside of the building industry has spawned a wealth of independent, third-party companies that scientifically verify those claims with a battery of standards and test methods. When considering a product or system, we look for certifications from those entities, as well as specific performance information (such as the precise amount of energy the furnace claims to save) to give us confidence.

In addition, several local, state, and national "green" building programs, such as Energy Star, have cropped up to help us and other builders identify materials and methods that result in better-built homes. These programs not only serve as frameworks for higher-quality housing, but also refer to the independent verification programs, such as the EPA’s WaterSense (for low-flow plumbing fixtures), to give us greater assurance that we are truly building green. Even then, however, manufacturers and some builders may unintentionally misuse the certifications they earn from such testing or evaluation. For instance, there’s no such thing as an "eco-friendly’" or "environmentally-sensitive" product or house, two terms that have no scientific basis and smack of greenwashing.

Failing to go the extra mile to verify environmental performance claims can put us at risk of becoming greenwashers, too. It’s also our responsibility to surround so-called green products and systems with a quality-built house that effectively optimizes the energy use, water use, and durability of those products. That way, we can all feel good, and be confident in, your investment and our combined efforts to make the Earth a healthier place to live for us and future generations.

Green building, sustainability and high-performance homes are now part of the vocabulary of new home construction. We welcome the attention brought to these important issues. As professional builders, however, we take the subject with a grain of salt. Green building is a far more complex topic than that portrayed in the media. News spots or magazine articles typically focus on specific areas like insulated windows, high-efficiency furnaces, roof-mounted solar panels, or recycled-content flooring.

Certainly, those products provide measurable benefits in terms of energy savings and improved use of natural resources, but genuine green building is much more complex. A green builder uses a systematic approach to design, construction, and on-going operational durability in which the sum of the benefits are far greater than the individual components. A green builder also knows how to personalize the green building approach to each homebuyer’s needs and budget, carefully balancing the value that the client places on the benefits of green building as opposed to other choices available for new home construction.

It is true that all homes (and all buildings) leave an environmental "footprint." The materials we builders use in new construction use natural resources, such as trees and metal ores, even oil. The important goals of green building are to reduce the amount of natural resources required to build a house, and then to lessen the amount of energy used by the house. Energy efficiency over the life of the house further reduces the natural resources needed to produce electricity and natural gas.

To achieve those goals, we look for building materials, products, and systems that make the most (or best) use of every resource harvested while also performing better than traditional products. For example, an engineered beam uses smaller, fast-growing trees. Twice as much of each log can be used to make an engineered beam as compared with a comparably sized "glue-lam" beam created in a sawmill.  An engineered beam can also span longer, open spaces and resist warp better. A house that is free of even the smallest gaps does not waste energy.

Various green building certification programs are now available to help builders create more sustainable and resource-efficient homes. As we review them, however, we often find that the building practices we already have in place meet or exceed those standards. That’s good news for our homebuyers and owners because it means we’re already providing a high-performance home — i.e., a home with many green features — without adding to the cost or price. Of course, a client may choose to add additional features as budget, needs, and passion for the environment dictate.

With a systematic approach to green or sustainable building, we can build a new home that not only leaves as small an environmental footprint as possible, but also delivers convenience, comfort, safety, and a high level of value.