What We Do: A General Introduction

We think one problem with modern building is the rise of specialization. If you only build giant malls with indoor ski slopes in the deserts of Dubai (yes, this is really happening!), perhaps it will never occur to you that this is insane. On the other hand, if you only focus on building tiny cottages with materials gathered from the building site, you may never be forced to look at the long term energy efficiency of your approach compared to buildings using some mass produced materials.

In the first case, the problem is that only professionals (whether architects, engineers, or financial planners) are involved. The project is all expertise and no soul. In the second, there's plenty of passion and vision, but perhaps not enough breadth of experience.

We, on the other hand, think that the best buildings come from cross-pollination of many perspectives and techniques. Our goal is to be the bees carrying the pollen. By definition, that job requires us to be available to help on the full spectrum of green building projects. To do that, we are involved in a wide variety of activities including consulting, lectures, project management, building, workshops, and writing projects.

We can be this flexible because we aren't an office, but a network. We have no staff, no receptionist, no casual dress Fridays. The process for getting started is simple: you contact Clarke or Tim with an initial description of your project, situation, or problem and we tell you if and how we think we can help.

We have tried to create a structure which allows us to help anyone, regardless of the scope of their needs or the size of their budget. On the one hand, we offer custom consulting, design, and construction at hourly rates. We can assemble a team to tackle almost any job that fires our imagination. On the other hand, we are intimately aware of the costs of custom building. If your project has a smaller or even tiny budget, we still want to help. For that reason, we continue to develop consulting packages that take more personal initiative from you, but cost very little. We've also created a free knowledge base that can help you get started, answer questions, and acquaint you with some of the basics of green building from our point of view.

At its core, our work is centered in the belief that building is one of the sublime accomplishments of human community. We believe everyone should be intimately involved in the buildings they inhabit. For that reason, we also put a lot of energy into education in the form of lectures and workshops. Whether our audience is building professionals, kids, homeowners, or...well anyone, we love to talk about building.

When it comes down to it, we are simply passionate about conscious, artful building, something we've come to label "green building" for the lack of a better term. If you're thinking about, talking about, or doing something that seems to fit that phrase, we want to know about it. If we can't help, we may know someone who can.

© Clarke Snell, 2005