| Home
Improvement
By Tara Nelson
When Rick Dubrow purchased A-1 Builders
in 1976, it was a dwindling home repair business that brought
in only around $50,000 a year.
Dubrow, who had moved to
Bellingham earlier that year to obtain a teaching certificate
from Western Washington University to teach ecology, said
he fell in love with Bellingham because of its proximity
to national parks and great hiking.
“We wanted to
be on the west coast near some national parks, near some
big cities, near some great hiking,” he
said. “With those kind of parameters it was here
or Eugene, Oregon. And Bellingham has better mountains
than Oregon.”
Dubrow had already earned a bachelor
of arts degree in business management from Massachusetts
Institute of Technology in Boston in 1973 and a masters
of arts in aeronautics and astronautics with a specialization
in airport noise and management in 1974 from the same institution.
But a month-long stint as an assistant airport manager
at Logan International airport that coincided with a runway
crash that killed 92 people left him disillusioned about
the industry.
“For about 2,000 feet there
was a broken up airplane with body parts and wallets and
kids dolls. And it was overcast, dark and foggy with remote
lighting set up, and I walked that runway,” he said,
adding that airports often create ghettos around them because
of the noise. “To
make things worse, people from surrounding low-income neighborhoods
were arriving on makeshift boats in an attempt to scavenge
wallets and jewelry lying scattered across the runway.
The whole scene took me from being enamored with the field
into a place where I was asking, ‘Is this really
what I want to be involved in for the rest of my life?’”
It
was then that Dubrow decided to take a break, traveling
around the country in a van with his wife, hiking and taking
backpacking trips in the national parks, a decision that
changed his career direction permanently, deciding that
he would rather teach ecology to high school students than
clean up dead bodies and talk to the families of crash
victims.
Finding a teaching job in Bellingham
was difficult, however, even with Dubrow’s credentials,
so he decided to wait out the market, taking on small construction
and repair jobs with a group of his friends.
Around that
time, he got a phone call from a friend who wanted some
help with some foundation repair work. Dubrow concedes
he knew nothing about foundation work at the time but he
was enthusiastic about learning, so he called the first
remodeling contractor in the phone book pretending to be
a potential client and asking what the procedures were.
“I went to the phone book and found A-1 builders,
so I called them and said, ‘Hey, I got this house
and I need some foundation repair, so what do you do?’”
At
the end of the conversation, the owner asked Dubrow if
he would go to work for him. When Dubrow called him back
to confirm, the owner asked if he was interested in buying
his business. In six months, Dubrow had purchased A-1 Builders
for $5,000.
At that time, the business specialized
in foundation repairs but Dubrow soon found it difficult
to retain quality employees while asking them to spend
so much of their day under a house. So when one of his
employees suggested the company focus more on remodels,
Dubrow jumped at the idea.
“We started doing less
and less foundation work and more remodel work,” he
said. “In five years,
we were doing no foundation work at all, and as we got
more and more successful doing remodeling work, we were
being asked to do nicer and nicer projects.”
It wasn’t
long until Dubrow was dealing with the problems of his
own success. In fact, he started feeling like his work
was conflicting with his values. So when a close friend
suggested he take a stand as a builder and start talking
about environmental issues, he agreed. Dubrow claims that
strategy made A-1 builders even more successful as they
started winning environmental awards and attracting more
like minded people and clients.
“Here I was, Rick
Dubrow, the ecologist, the minimalist, the person feeling
like development is destroying the planet and here is my
company that was good at it,” he said. “So
I thought, ‘Yeah, what a great idea.’ And it’s
brought success to us, it’s brought us the spotlight,
and it’s allowed me to feel more fulfilled about
my work whereas before I was feeling allergic to it.”
Today,
A-1 Builders and their joint design operation, Adaptations,
specialize in the re-design of existing structures, but
they have evolved towards improvements and space additions.
The company brings in approximately $1.3 million a year
and employs 22 people. They have also won several awards
for environmental stewardship and sustainability, including
the Waste Wise Business Award from the Whatcom County Waste
Reduction and Recycling Program in 1994; the Solid Waste
Reduction and Recycling Award for small businesses from
the Washington State Department of Ecology in 2000; the
Environmental Hero award from RESources in 2003; the Founders
of a New Northwest award from Sustainable Northwest, a
regional non-profit organization; and the Washington state
Governor’s Award for Pollution Prevention and Sustainable
Practices from former governor Gary Locke in 2001. The
business was also voted “Best Home Builder” by
the readers of Bellingham Business Journal in 1999 and
the “Most Environmentally-Responsible Business” by
the readers of NW Business Monthly magazine in 2004 and
2006.
Dubrow attributes his success to
a triple-bottom lined approach to business, which includes
the traditional economic bottom line as well as measures
for environmental sustainability and social equity or community.
“That
means, how are you treating your co-workers, how are you
treating society in general?” he said.
Dubrow’s
sustainable approach doesn’t end when
he clocks out from work at the end of the day, however.
When he had built his home at 516 Ridgeway Drive in Bellingham,
his design goal was to build as small as possible, minimizing
the ecological footprint and free up funds to maximize
the energy efficiency of appliances, heating components,
insulation, among other things.
One of the most standard
elements of green or sustainable construction is advanced
framing. This procedure reduces wood usage by about 15
to 20 percent. Dubrow purchased salvaged wood from the
Duluth Timber Company in Edison, which he used for 2” x
4” framing, 2” x
6” framing, 3x and 4x beams, as well as the front
door; interior window sills; living room picture rail trim;
stair jacks and treads; kitchen floating shelves; passageway
jambs and other jamb details.
Forest Stewardship Council-certified
sustainably-harvested wood was used for the roof sheathing,
interior and exterior wall framing.
He also attempted to maximize the life expectancy of key
components by using long-lasting and low-maintenance materials
such as Rastra exterior walls. Rastra is a cement-based
building material made from insulated, recycled concrete,
reducing the need for new cement and creating superior
insulation. It also lasts longer because it is extremely
resistant to rot, as well as insect and rodent damage.
An added bonus is its 4-hour fire rating, which is twice
that of commercial construction. Rastra can be quite affordable,
too. The installed price range is approximately $7 to $11
per square foot of surface area, which Dubrow says is competitive
with standard construction materials.
To minimize future
repair and reconstruction costs, Dubrow used life-time
roofing and double-pane, aluminum-clad wood windows, which
tend to last longer than conventional windows. He improved
air quality by using direct venting for the water heater
and gas fireplaces so that indoor air would not be used
for combustion air.
Outside, a rain garden was constructed
to capture all the home’s roof and other drainage.
The rain garden filters and then absorbs runoff and decreases
overall off-site flow.
Geographic location and lot placement,
are other large determinants of sustainability and Dubrow
said he found a building lot as close to downtown as possible,
thereby reducing the need to extend roads and services
and subsequently fights urban sprawl.
Dubrow said, however,
that determining what is green isn’t
always easy because it varies given the situation. Sometimes,
it can be as simple as building less or simply finding
new, efficient ways to use the space you already have
In
addition Dubrow asks his builders to do a lifecycle assessment
with all building projects. That means installing a project
so well that it will not require major future repairs that
generate waste.
“The greenest thing you can
do is that no matter what it is a product is that you install,
you install it really, really well so that it lasts for
ever,” he
said. “And even if it’s not the greenest product
on the planet, if it lasts for ever, that’s a green
thing to do.”
Another tip Dubrow suggests is to
pick a company that matches your values, not just in terms
of the materials they use but how they handle their construction
waste.
“If you are interested in
doing remodeling that is lighter on the earth, find a company
that’s
lighter on the earth,” he said. “It’s
not just the materials they’re putting in, it’s
how are they handling their debris. Construction generates
a lot of debris and most of our awards have been for how
we handle our debris.”
To keep costs down, Dubrow
suggests building or remodeling from the standpoint of
a minimalist. He says his clients will often claim they
need an addition to their home because they have run out
of space. But Dubrow says that problem can often be solved
by more efficient space usage.
“The typical consumer
says, ‘I want the biggest
house I can afford for $300,000 and they go out in the
market and they buy the biggest house possible,’” he
said. “Typically, however, it’s pretty crappy
building methods with pretty brown materials. Our style
is more ‘Why don’t you build it as small as
possible and put the money you saved on space into quality
materials?’ So you build small and you build better.
Also, if you build small, you start to pay less on heating,
so your monthly costs will go down. If you build small,
you don’t need as big a furnace or as big a lot.
So smallness is a big one.”
Another strategy is dematerialization.
This means using less materials and more efficient materials
to conserve resources and save money. Advanced framing
techniques are an example of this, and they use 20 to 30
percent less wood than typical framing.
“So even if
it costs a little more per unit of wood, you can take the
money you save by using less sticks and perhaps buy sticks
that were sustainably harvested,” he
said. “That’s a combination of both dematerialization
and environmentally-sensitive products. Realistically,
you’re home is a business. Every step of the way
can be more sustainable or less sustainable.”
More information on sustainability:
Dubrow recommends reading Ray Anderson’s book, “Mid-Course
Correction.” Dubrow also said individuals who are
interested in learning more about sustainable business
practices are invited to attend Sustainable Connection’s
third annual spring business conference from 8 a.m. to
5:30 p.m. Friday, April 21, at The Majestic event hall
on North Forest Street in Bellingham. Tickets are $99 for
members/$119 non-members and includes a light breakfast,
lunch and afternoon snack provided by Ciao Thyme catering.
Early bird registration is $79 for members/$109 for non-members
and ends March 31. For more information about the conference
or Sustainable Connections, visit www.scconnect.org.
In Washington state, all contractors who
advertise, work or submit bids for projects, must be registered
with the DLI, maintain a bond of $12,000, and carry general
liability insurance. A contractor is also required to provide
a disclosure statement to the homeowner if the project’s
estimated cost is more than $1,000.
If you are thinking
about remodeling your home, the Washington Department of
Labor and Industries (WDLI) recommends that you do your
homework before hiring a contractor to work on your home.
• Plan your project carefully and have a clear idea
of what you want done.
• Interview several qualified contractors and solicit
written bids.
• Verify registration at www.contractors.LNI.wa.gov.
• Ask for references of suppliers and check the contractor’s
payment records.
For a more information, visit www.contractors.LNI.wa.gov. | 
