November 20, 2024 • 41 mins
What is Towards Net Zero Building? How does the Grand Valley stack up when it comes to green building practices? Christi sits down with Ryan Cowan, CEO and Owner of RG Cowan Design Build, to discuss their philosopy and practice of building architecturally significant and energy efficient homes in Western Colorado for this month's Full Circle Podcast!
Learn more about RG Cowan at https://rgcowandesign.com/
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Speaker 2 (00:06):
The Full Circle podcast, compelling interviews
and incredible tales fromColorado's Western Slope, from
the mountains to the desert.
Christy Reese and her team herefrom the Movers Shakers, and
characters of the Grand Valleyand surrounding mountain towns
that make the Western slope theplace we all love. You'll
learn, you'll laugh, you'lllove with the full circle.
Hello everyone, and welcome.
(00:26):
I'm Kristy Reese and welcomeback to the Full Circle
Podcast. Today I'm reallydelighted to have an old friend
of mine, some that I workedwith for a long time, or we're
gonna talk about buildingtechniques toward Net zero and
all kinds of constructionrelated items here on our
podcast. So, welcome Ryan Coenof RG Coen Design. Bill .
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Hi. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Yeah. Um, so Ryan, we did our first project
together, I believe, on mysecond house in Grand Junction
over Onita . Yep . You did abig project for us. So give us
a little history on yourbackground in construction.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Uh , well , uh, my dad was a home builder in Fort
Wayne, Indiana, so I grew uparound building, I was a kid
back then, but still kind ofthe process of building sunk
in. And
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Was, was he , what kind of houses was he building
there?
Speaker 3 (01:17):
He was building kind of a , I call it a semi-custom
home. You know, he, he wasn't atrack home builder. He built
probably five to seven houses ayear. Mm-Hmm .
and drew everyone himself forall of his clients. Nice . That
kind of thing. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
And so, yeah, you grew up in the industry, you on
the job site frequently.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Uh, when I was a kid, I , I swept houses. That
was about as far as it got backthen. , I , I , uh,
started for a remodelingcompany right outta high school
in Wisconsin. I lived inWisconsin at the time. And ,
um, most of my early career wasdoing remodeling. Mm-Hmm .
and , um, kind offixing old houses and seeing
what was, what was wrong andall these , um, older homes.
(01:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
And you're not afraid of the older homes, I
think, you know, that it's a ,there can be just a variety of
things that come up when youstart tearing into things.
Right.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Yeah. And I , um, I think one of the, one of my
realizations over time witholder homes is that it is
really good problem solving.
It's, it's a fun process tofigure out how to solve for and
, and improve an older home.
Um, but you always get stuckwith all the things you just
can't do. You just can't fixeverything. Yeah . And so you
always end up with somethingthat's always gonna have some
(02:26):
things that , uh, are neverfully addressed. Mm-Hmm .
, which is alwaysthe, the downside of a , a
remodel. Yeah . Mm-Hmm.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
. So
you've done a lot of remodeling
jobs around the Grand Valley.
When , when did you move toGrand Junction?
Speaker 3 (02:39):
I moved to Grand Junction from , uh, Gunnison ,
Crested Butte in 2003, Ibelieve. Yeah. Mm-Hmm.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
And , um, got, just started a remodeling , uh,
company here and went outpounding the pavement. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
Well, a little by default, I had some friends
that wanted a kitchen remodeland I was moving to town Mm-Hmm
. . And so Istarted there and I think, you
know, doing good work, all youend up with the referral
business just kinda started andkind of kept me going. I didn't
do any marketing for 10 years.
Um, it's just kind of word ofmouth and Mm-Hmm.
getting going. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
And , um, your dad, did he come out and visit you
here when you got started inGrand Junction and give you
some advice?
Speaker 3 (03:20):
, um, a
little bit. Uh , my dad wasn't
big on advice, but he did, hecame out and saw what we were
doing. Mm-Hmm . ,he always liked to see what
kind of projects we wereworking on. Mm-Hmm.
. Um, he'd giveme all his , uh, his , um, his
bidding sheets and things tohelp me figure out, you know,
how do you even learn how toprice out a project? Yeah . All
that kind of stuff early on.
Yeah. Nice.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
And , um, so when did you start building custom
homes?
Speaker 3 (03:46):
Our first custom home was in 2008, right when
the recession started. I got alittle bit lucky. Um, I had
somebody, we designed a homeand had just poured the
foundation when the bottom kindof fell out. And so he was
committed, even told me, youknow , if this, if we hadn't
poured this foundation, Iwould've probably pulled the
plug on this Mm-Hmm .
(04:06):
. So , um, youknow, that kind of was , was a
godsend, you know, it allowedme to set up to go back to
school. That's , I went back tothe school during the
recession, but I had a year toplan it because we had a pretty
big custom home that just brokeground. Mm-Hmm..
Yeah .
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Was that the one up in Glade Park?
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Yep , it was in Glad Park. Yeah . Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
And so you, you liked or weren't afraid of
working on old homes. I knowyou did a lot in downtown Grand
Junction. Um, how do youdescribe your style and, and
like what kind of constructionyou started to focus on and be
interested in?
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Well, I think, I mean, over time and through my,
I've always had an interest in,you know, kind of energy
efficient building techniquesand building science and think
it's something I love to talkabout and geek out on all day.
But , um, I think , uh, goingback to school for design
really helped me also kind ofelevate my thinking about what
it is that we do. And I have alot of experience in
(05:06):
remodeling, but as we've , um,we still do quite a bit of
remodeling, but I , my passionis definitely in new
construction and what we canachieve in a new construction
product, you know ? Mm-Hmm.
. So, you know,our company now , um, you know
, we focus on building , um,you know, thoughtful, highly
considered architecturallysignificant homes. Mm-Hmm .
(05:27):
for design mindedclients. Um, we really feel
that by building homes that are, um, durable and energy
efficient and based in quality,we can , um, provide homes that
are healthy, reliable, andlasting. And this is not only
to give our clients peace ofmind, but also , uh, an energy
independent low maintenancehome that they can count on for
(05:49):
its lifetime. And I thinkthat's all that kind of
description of what we do is ,um, is kind of a lot packed in
there for us, and, you know,how we approach , um, our, our
process of design andconstruction and methods and
everything. Yeah . Mm-Hmm.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
, um,
so you have a team that you do
everything from , uh, thebeginning to the end. Yes . You
design, but people can alsocome to you with , uh, another
designer's work. Is thatcorrect, or?
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Yeah, and I think more , um, probably more
recently we've done a lot moreof that. Like, I think we've
had several clients that camewith an architect Mm-Hmm .
. And they alwaysstart with that question, like,
can I bring my own design? And, um, and the answer's yes. You
know, we, we go into apre-construction contract on
those, and we try to , um,figure out , um, where we can ,
(06:40):
um, provide some, some guidanceif the design's already done to
improve the performance of thehome. And , um, hopefully it's
still in the design processthat we can , uh, um, offer
some guidance there. Mm-Hmm.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
, what
do you think are the biggest
misconceptions or fallaciesthat people have about energy?
Uh , energy efficient homes? Imean, energy star is a big ,
uh, word that a lot , I think alot of people know, but , um, I
, I've seen a lot of builders ,um, build to the energy star
(07:13):
standards, but not necessarilyget the certification Mm-Hmm .
. Um, but talkabout that and maybe some other
things that you think maybe thepublic doesn't understand about
energy efficient homes.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Well , I think the , uh, you know, I , one thing
that we end up talking a lotabout when people, we start
talking about performance ofthe home, energy efficiency,
people start thinking aboutpayback. And , um, it's not
something we talk a lot aboutbecause it's a really
complicated thing to , to tellpeople like, what is this, this
(07:44):
ROI ? But for us, it comes ,um, back to comfort in the
home, quality of the home,durability of the home. I think
when you design and build ahome that's an integrated
system, you know, the ,everything is kind of thought
to be working together asmm-Hmm. instead
of a bunch of of parts that arejust kind of thrown in. Um, it
(08:05):
creates , um, energy efficiencyof course, but also more
deliverability and comfort. And, um, I , another big one for
us that kind of starts at thesite and the way we design is,
you know, we like to providehomes that people feel like
they're living , uh, in alandscape, you know, in a yes.
You know, not in a box. Mm-Hmm. . And I think
(08:26):
there's a lot of homes thatthey do get to feeling a little
bit like they're, you know,beautiful in their own way, but
they're also a little bit likeliving in a box. Mm-Hmm .
. And we try tobreak that box as much as we
can and, and , uh, use productsthat are gonna still, you know,
even though we like to use lotsof glazing , um, we want it to
still be energy efficient.
Mm-Hmm . and ,uh, and quality.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
I, I like what you said about Yeah. Living with
the environment , um, boy,being a realtor here in town,
I've seen over and over again,you walk into a house and
think, oh my gosh, I can'tbelieve they did this. You
know, they didn't takeadvantage of the views, or they
turned the house the wrong way.
Or they, they made the housefeel like it was sitting on top
(09:08):
of the land instead ofintegrating with the land. And
that can be anything frommaterials to colors to design.
Right. Right . How do youapproach that integration?
Speaker 3 (09:19):
Well, we, we prefer to be involved in design. Like,
you know, that's, I thinkthat's where our passion lies,
is like starting from thebeginning and helping to make
those decisions. Visiting thesite before we ever draw a line
on paper is super important tous. Um, you know, you can't
really know and understand theopportunities that are there.
(09:39):
Um, and , uh, if , if you'renot there to experience 'em,
and then trying to pull thatexperience into a home and
through a home and, and, youknow, and integrate that with
people's lifestyles, I thinkthere's so many things that
kind of like start to playtogether. And , um, it's so
common in home building forclients to pick a floor plan,
which is , um, not where I wantto live. Mm-Hmm .
(10:03):
, you know, I , Ido have clients come with floor
plans, but I, I try to use thatas a guide to what, you know,
something they like about that.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Yeah. Right.
Exactly. What , what's , whatare some three of the things
that you like about this plan?
Yeah , let's maybe start over Yeah .
Speaker 3 (10:17):
Keeping
Speaker 2 (10:18):
That in mind.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
Yeah. Take those and then, okay. Now what about this
place you want to build that tostarts to change the
conversation and integratethose things that they love
about that plan back into asolution. Mm-Hmm.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
, you
built a number of homes up in
Glade Park. It must be awonderful place to build and
try to , uh, fit into thelandscape up there.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
Yeah. It's, it's , um, probably the most fun to
have is when you're notlimited. Like, you know, a
subdivision building can be ,uh, challenging because you're,
you're constrained a lot. Youdon't have the freedom to
orient and, and, you know, youhave, if you open up the house
to the wrong side, you're justseeing your neighbors and
things like that. So it, it isfun to just, just have the
(11:02):
landscape to work with,
Speaker 2 (11:03):
But the bathroom, wherever you want it. Right .
.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
That's right. The outdoor shower, whatever you
don't wanna do . Right . Yeah .
Um , so that's , uh, we lovethat , um, you know, building
on smaller sites and , and ,uh, with more constraints is,
is , it's a differentchallenge, but , uh, and you
can find fun solutions for thattoo. But , um, the, the Glade
Park type environments are alot of fun to work with.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
I bet they are.
Yeah. Uh , I think you knowthat one of my favorite
projects that you've done isthe House out in Fruita . Yes.
That's in downtown Fruita .
Really modern. And I just lovethe style inside and out.
You've let me take a peek atthe inside, and I'm like, Ryan
, we need to build more ofthese . It's such a
beautiful home. Well , thankyou. Can you talk about the
aesthetics of that property?
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Uh , yeah. You know, we, that , uh, that design came
from the desires of the client.
Um, some of my own, some ofhers. Um, she wanted something
really modern and clean and,you know, durable and didn't
wanted low maintenance, and shejust really loved a modern
home. Mm-Hmm . .
So , um, that project evolved.
(12:10):
We started to, it was a remodelcomponent to it that as we got
into it, the soil , the way thesoils were on the site, we
couldn't save the part of thehome we originally wanted to
Mm-Hmm . . Uh ,so it ended up going away and
becoming a full new build , um,which of course opened up
opportunities to, you know, usea lot of our standards to make
it more energy efficient aswell. Mm-Hmm. ,
Speaker 2 (12:32):
When you talk about the durability of a home and
someone comes to you and saysthat's important to them, what
kind of materials are youtalking about?
Speaker 3 (12:40):
Now you're asking me to geek out on building science
a little bit. Oh , yeah ,absolutely. . Um ,
well, I mean, you know, it's ,uh, thinking about control of,
of, you know , the controllayers of a home , um, are a
big piece of where it comesfrom. You know, we , we, you
know , trying to deal withwater first, and our, our
climate is pretty dry, and alot of people , um, take that
(13:01):
for granted. That when , butwhen it does rain, it rains
hard and it rains a lot. And sowe, you know , you see a lot of
rot and mold in some of thehouses here in the valley as
you pull 'em apart. Um, so
Speaker 2 (13:12):
If the, if the water management is not paid
attention to, it can cause real
Speaker 3 (13:16):
Problems, right?
Yeah. You get, once water getsin, it's in there and it's
gonna cause an issue. So we,that's a big one for us,
probably number one. Um ,making sure that that , uh,
water's dealt with well. Andthen our air seal , uh, for
energy efficiency, we, we tryto reach a passive house level
of air sealing , um, in ourprojects, which is , um, a 0.6
(13:38):
a CH 50, which is the , howthey measure that with the
blower door test. Um, but it's, uh, the code here now is up
to a three. So we're, we'reaiming for quite a bit better
than code on that. And then youstill gotta deal with vapor,
and you still gotta deal withgood thermal systems to
insulate the house. Mm-Hmm .
. And , um, allthat working together with the
right systems in place can makea very long lasting, durable
(14:01):
structure that's reallyefficient. Mm-Hmm.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
. Now ,
if I remember correctly, that
house has some concrete , um,is it plywood have,
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Yeah. So p the finishes side. Yeah. We did a
lot of, she loved Baltic birchplywood. Mm-Hmm .
. So we did custom door jams.
They're all Baltic birch , um,with a re detail around the
edge, and
Speaker 2 (14:24):
I don't know what that is. You might have to
explain. Uh ,
Speaker 3 (14:26):
Yeah. The regular are the regular detail
. Uh , there's a lot of peoplecall 'em a shadow line, so it's
just a, it's a drywall trim youcan buy that creates a nice
little shadow line aroundMm-Hmm . all of
your doors and windows andthings like that. So everything
was Baltic birge , the cabinetswere custom and they were
Baltic Birge from a company wework with out of Iowa Gosling
Woodworking. Um , did a greatjob on our cabinets there. And
(14:48):
then we did the concretecountertops in our own
workshops. Mm-Hmm.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
. Yeah
. And you have a workshop here
in and do , well, you do thesecoasters for us a few years
back, . That's right .
That's right. Um, so you'vedone some metal work , you've
done concrete work. What otherkind of things can you do in
your shop?
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Uh, our shop is primarily focused on GFRC,
concrete, concrete countertopsand Mm-Hmm .
fireplace surrounds and panels.
Um , we do custom steel aswell. A lot of our steel
railings, we weld ourselves inour own workshops. Mm-Hmm .
, um, a lot of,we've been doing quite a bit of
decorative , um, steelfireplace panels , um, for some
(15:26):
builders in the Roaring ForkValley that do quite a bit of
that. Um, and yeah, that's, wedon't do a lot of wood custom
woodworking in our shops.
Usually we'll work with acabinet maker or somebody that
, uh, has better equipment todo that every day .
Speaker 2 (15:41):
And typically local cabinet makers or around
Colorado or all
Speaker 3 (15:46):
Over? Yeah. Our main cabinet maker is out of Iowa.
Um, if we're doing a fullkitchen Mm-Hmm .
or something , um, we have acouple of box cabinet lines
that we can also sell, like asemi-custom line. But , um, if
we're looking for customwoodwork, that's smaller
pieces, a lot of those we willdo are in-house. Mm-Hmm.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Awesome. Yeah. Well, I wanna talk a little bit about
the, toward net Zero . Towardsnet zero building TNZ. Yeah .
Yep . Um, can you explain toour listeners and viewers what
that is?
Speaker 3 (16:18):
Yeah. So you know that the tricky thing about
building efficiently is there'sso many ways to get there. Um,
you know, you can start with apretty standard house and you
just start tweaking things ,um, to increase levels of
performance of the home. Someof them cost next to nothing,
and some of 'em get reallyexpensive. And so our towards
(16:39):
Net Zero was like, you know,kind of a question of how do we
get there , um, with our houses, uh, you know, for different
clients. So if we, if we said,oh , we're, we're, you know,
passive house builders andthat's all we're gonna do,
that's everything's net zero,you know, you're just gonna
limit yourself and limit making, uh, houses better for lots of
(17:00):
different types of clients withdifferent budgets. So for us,
it's a way of tuning projects.
You know, we have somestandards we try to implement,
but we can tweak those around,you know , um, great example is
our zip system sheathing. Weuse that a lot. It's partly
because it's a great productthat's easy to use and easy to
get. Right. There's a lot ofproducts that are not easy to
(17:21):
get right. Mm . Um, and so, butthat product as an example, you
can buy it with foam included.
And so you can increase thethicknesses of foam on the
exterior of your house toMm-Hmm . get more
outboard insulation and thingslike that. Um, window products,
we try to go to a triple panewindow. We've got a brand that
we've used on a couple projectsnow that is relatively
(17:43):
affordable for what it is. It'smade in Lewisville, Colorado.
Mm-Hmm . ,they're called LP and Windows.
And we really like those. Um,and I think other than that,
it's, you know, you take allthat together and you try to
also implement better systemsin the home for a comfort and
health and all those kinds of
Speaker 2 (18:00):
Things. Mm-Hmm .
. And how doessolar tie into your designs?
Speaker 3 (18:04):
Yeah. We, we try to think through where Solar's
gonna go in design. So wealways want a roof that's
properly shaped and directedfor solar. Mm-Hmm.
. Um, I thinkthat's something that you see a
lot when it's a retrofit onhouses with few solar panels
facing this way in that way.
Yeah. You know, there's not anoptimal efficiency going on
(18:27):
there, so we try to create aspace for it. And if the client
can't afford it, when the houseis built, we just prepare for
it, you know? Mm-Hmm .
with conduits tobe able to wire it in the
future. Mm-Hmm..
Yeah .
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Now there is a trend, especially in some of
the larger cities and going allelectric Mm-Hmm.
and your houses that toward netzero would be all electric,
correct?
Speaker 3 (18:49):
Yeah, that's, that's right. Um, the Aspen house ,
uh, on Aspen and Fruita .
Mm-Hmm . was, notall electric has gas, but I
think every house that we'vebuilt since then, if I , I
believe is all electric , um,which I think is another reason
to improve the energy andperformance. All electric homes
have , um, they have anelectric backup heat that if
(19:13):
the house isn't super , uh,energy efficient, then that
heat mats gonna kick in. Andthen you're gonna get a lot of
auxiliary heat from that. Yourheat pumps aren't gonna, aren't
gonna keep up. So in order tohave that house be a , you
know, not cost a lot of moneyto be all electric, I think
you've gotta have a reallygreat house. Mm-Hmm.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
, um,
I think a lot of people in
Western Colorado kind of stressabout thinking what I love my
natural gas. Can you, can youtalk about the benefits, the
pros and cons of natural gasversus all electric?
Speaker 3 (19:49):
Well , um, I think that in some sites it's just
cheaper to do all electricMm-Hmm . , you
know , in Glad Park, forexample. Mm-Hmm .
that means, you know, avoidingpropane altogether. Right. So,
some of our projects are allelectric , um, as almost a cost
savings measure when you'rebuilding. Um, we've had really
(20:12):
good luck with performance onthose. We haven't had a lot of
people having issues with thesystems and how they perform.
Mm-Hmm.. Um, and, uh, the efficiency ratings
ratings are just, are prettyincredible. So , um, for me
it's a little bit getting aheadof the game. Eventually they're
all gonna have to be electric.
Yeah . And knowing how to do itwell, I think , um, I think is
(20:35):
is how we're gonna win on thatdeal. I, I , um, I think where
there's a lot of builders, Ithink that we're building great
homes, but struggled a littlebit when the new standards came
out for energy efficiency.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
What year was that?
Speaker 3 (20:49):
Oh , that was , um, they started in February of 23,
I think, is when they startedto push some new standards. And
I think there's been a couplemore that have rolled out over
the last year. Mm-Hmm.
. Um, and I thinkthat there'll be another,
another challenge wheneverything has to be all
(21:09):
electric, because you're gonnapossibly have unhappy clients
when , um, everything goes toall electric and the house
isn't quite built to aperformance standard that's
gonna be cheap to run that.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Do you have any , um, wisdom as to when do you
see that happening? I mean, howlong in the future are we
talking,
Speaker 3 (21:30):
You know, that I don't know. Yeah . Every, every
you hear dates and then theyget pushed back because there's
pushback, right? Mm-Hmm.
, you know , Imean, it , nobody wants to
change things and change theway that we, we build,
especially when the way you doit now is dependable. I mean,
there's, there's a lot to that.
You don't wanna have toreinvent the wheel, and then
you, when you do, there'schallenges, right? Mm-Hmm.
, you know ,something doesn't work like
(21:51):
it's supposed to or whatever.
Yeah . So , um, but it , it'sinevitable, I think as we move
, uh, away from the fossil fueltype of economies and move
towards a more sustainablesolutions. Mm-Hmm.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
, what
, uh, what are some of the new
techniques, new materials thatyou're excited about these
days? What , is there somethingnew and great that just
Speaker 3 (22:16):
Well, I think, I think window products have, you
know , um, have come a longway. Yeah. And there's just
more options out there that aremore affordable than it used to
be to get, you know, anelevated product. Um, you know,
like I mentioned the zipsystem, and there's probably
lots of competition gonna comeout to make that drive cost
(22:37):
down on that, on that , uh,product a little bit. But , um,
I think like , uh, and theliquid seals we've, trying to
get a house airtight is reallychallenging. Mm-Hmm .
. So some of itcomes with how we design them
to make it achievable. And someof it's about the products, you
know, so we've got some liquidflash products we use that make
(22:58):
air very tight, air ceiling ,pretty, pretty simple. Mm-Hmm.
,
Speaker 2 (23:02):
I was reading about , um, some of the building
techniques and talking aboutthe ability to, what you've got
a really , um, tight housewithout air leakage. It is okay
to open the windows, right?
Yeah . It's not like you haveto just have it sealed
up all the time, but that'swhen it's most efficient.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
Yeah. It's when it's, it's when it's most
efficient and it's when it's ,um, the, probably the cleanest
indoor air because you canfilter everything, you know .
Mm-Hmm . it justdepends on where you're at. Um,
you know, on Glade Park there'slots of wind and there's
certainly those beautifulspring days when you want to
open your windows up Yeah . Andthen the wind kicks up and that
(23:43):
dust is rolling in. So , um, Ithink there's, there's times
when people will leave thehouse closed up 'cause they can
control everything, and they'restill getting fresh air from
their , uh, energy recoveryventilators and Mm-Hmm.
systems
Speaker 2 (23:58):
And , um, how is our air? I mean, if you're , if you
have a client that's superconcerned about air quality ,
um, you must have looked at thehistorical record here. And ,
uh, for down in the valley andup in Glade Park, is our air
better than most places around?
I mean, maybe the mountaintowns have a little bit cleaner
(24:19):
air than we do, but
Speaker 3 (24:21):
Yeah. And I think , um, well dust, I mean, we live
in the desert. I mean it everyday that there's wind, you can
see it when the sun's goingdown. Mm-Hmm.
like, there's this kind of dustin the air that you don't see
in the middle of the day, butit's, it's there. Um, so yeah,
I do think we just live in aslightly dirtier climate , um,
in terms of , uh, what's there,if the wind's blowing Mm-Hmm.
(24:42):
on a calm day,it's, it's probably , uh,
pretty clean here. Mm-Hmm.
.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
But , um, lots of people have sensitivities to
those kind of things. I know ,um, where I'm from in Lake
City, you know, a lot of peoplejust can't deal with the dirt
roads because it , it producesso much dust all the time. So
Do you have a lot of peoplerequesting , um, that kind of
indoor air quality that'sreally important to them?
Speaker 3 (25:09):
Um, on the generally, no. We don't have a
lot of people specific to that,but I think we do have people
that have some specialsensitivities to some, it's
sometimes it's products, youknow, so we try to have to
think through a little more ,um, what we're putting in the
home. Mm-Hmm .when we're finishing it, you
know, for cabinetry andflooring and all the things
(25:31):
that do off gas, you know ?
Mm-Hmm . , it's areal tough to buy something
that's gonna fit a budget . Yeah . That doesn't
also have some downsides to it.
So that's something that weoften think about,
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Like all the products are out there that you
could imagine. Right, right .
But some of them have a reallybig price tag.
Speaker 3 (25:48):
Yeah. I mean, there's, there's, you know,
lots of real healthy products,but you can two or three x your
costs sometimes, which, youknow, if you're trying to, you
know, balance budgets through awhole project, that gets a
little challenging. Mm-Hmm.
.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
So what's your goal, Ryan, for , um, building new
construction in the GrandValley? Uh , what , I mean,
obviously you can't , uh,change the whole industry by
yourself, but I know you'd liketo see more of this
construction happening. Um, howmany houses would you like to
be building every year?
Speaker 3 (26:21):
I think our sweet spot's probably, you know,
three to four mm-Hmm .
custom homes. Um,we do hope to do a parade home
, uh, in the future. And, youknow, it's a little challenging
for us because we want to buildsomething that's elevated
that's, you know, the , thekind of product that , um, we
want to use it as a learningtool for people as well to say,
(26:42):
Hey, this is , this is how webuild our homes and this is
why. Um, and these are theoutcomes. And, you know,
inevitably it comes at a , alittle bit higher price tag
because you're buying moreexpensive materials, primarily.
A lot of the, a lot of themethods that go into the
process , um, in terms of laboraren't that different. Mm-Hmm .
, it's sometimesyou're just installing a more
expensive product along theway. Mm-Hmm..
Speaker 2 (27:05):
Um, and in remodeling, I guess it depends
a lot on the age of the homeand what, how far you can go
with those kind of techniquesand materials. Right.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
Yeah. And I think probably comes to a little bit
that scope of work for aproject too. You know, if , if
someone wanted to strip all thesiding off their home and, you
know, re reside from scratch,that's an easier project to try
to maybe do a better product onthe exterior. Mm-Hmm .
to bring up theenergy efficiency , um, versus
just trying to air seal bycaulking or some other method
(27:41):
that , um, is real tough to doa great job and , and really
make a big impact. Mm-Hmm.
.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
Wow . Um, how many houses are you building right
now? What , what's next foryou?
Speaker 3 (27:54):
Um , right now we've been , um, doing probably three
projects at a time. We've , um,had one custom home in
construction prettyconsistently over the last few
years with other smallerprojects mixed in. Mm-Hmm.
, um, we're stilldoing some remodels and we like
those because , um, it allowsus to plug them into our
schedule and, and help keep abalanced workflow . Um, and ,
(28:17):
um, yeah, coming up , we'rejust starting framing on a ,
another custom up in GladePark. It's gonna be a more of a
mountain style home than thelast couple have been fairly
modern, so that'll be kind offun. A lot of timber work and
more of a , more of a craftsmankind of feel to it . Mm-Hmm.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
. Yeah
. And who's on your team these
days? I know you have a newteam member. Yes,
Speaker 3 (28:38):
We do. One
Speaker 2 (28:39):
Of my favorite people. .
Speaker 3 (28:41):
Yes. We have Suzanne Hansel as our new COO and we're
very excited to have her onboard , and she's , uh, brings
a lot of , um, a lot oftraction to our vision and in
terms of seeing where we wantto go and trying to , uh, to ,
to get the team all going inthe same direction. Mm-Hmm.
, uh, we have ,uh, Miranda, who is our
(29:02):
financial coordinator , um, shedoes a great job on all of the,
the billing side and the booksand the invoicing and keeping,
keeping our finances in order.
Mm-Hmm. and , uh,Piper is our , uh, marketing
coordinator and she does all ofour social media and keeps our
marketing on track. Awesome .
Um, have , uh, shop manager Timand , uh, lead Carpenter
(29:24):
currently. His name is Todd.
Okay.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
And you are on site all the time right? When you're
building, I mean, I know that ,uh, there's lots of different
ways you can , uh, run a jobsite, but you're heavily
involved.
Speaker 3 (29:39):
Yeah, I , um, not as involved as I used to be. Yeah
. Um, we're trying to, we'll behiring for another project
coordinator sometime this nextyear. Okay . But I have been on
site quite a bit to just makesure our subcontractors are ,
um, everything's clear whatwe're, what we're looking for.
Mm-Hmm. , um, wehave cut back on our own
(30:00):
in-house labor just a littlebit. And we're trying to , uh,
work a little more with , um,subtrades , um, to keep us from
having to have four or fivecarpenters on staff all the
time. Mm-Hmm.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
, uh,
a lot of the questions that we
get from people that think theymight wanna build a custom home
is, you know, how much is itgonna cost and how available
are the builders? And do youhave good subs? What would you
say is the current state ofthe, the building industry in
our county? And then how hasthat, how have you stayed kind
(30:33):
of insular and, and kind ofdone your own thing? You know,
I don't know if I'm saying thatright, but , um, you know, are
you able to insulate yourselffrom the ups and downs of the
market?
Speaker 3 (30:46):
Um, well , uh, I would say probably not. I don't
know, like it's custom building, um, where we're, you know,
people are coming to us for alittle bit of a unique product,
I think. Mm-Hmm .. And , um, we've had a , you
know, a pretty good flow ofthat. Um, on the client side,
(31:07):
on the , on the trade side,that's a , that's a little
tougher question over the ,it's gotten easier this year. I
do think the trade, thepressure on the trades is
easing up a little bit. Um, I'mseeing more , um, more
subcontractors reach out,seeing if we have anything
coming up that , that didn'thappen for several years.
Somebody was , yeah . Thingsare really tight, actually
looking for work . Um,so that's, it's a , it's nice
(31:30):
to see that there's some peoplelooking at it , means it's
gonna , scheduling might get alittle bit better. Mm-Hmm .
and things couldmove a little faster sometimes.
Um, yeah. On the demand side, I, I mean , I just haven't seen
the idea of a recession rightnow, possibly looming. It
doesn't feel like it's there.
(31:51):
We still have pretty good leadflow and , um, you know, it's,
it's trying to find the rightright. Clients, right projects
for us. Right.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
Mm-Hmm.
. And what aboutmaterial costs? How have those
changed in the last couple ofyears?
Speaker 3 (32:06):
Well, you know , obviously during Covid
everything was very volatileand, and that was a challenge
for everybody building. And,you know, all of the
tradespeople felt it . Um, Ifeel like the material side is
pretty much stabilized. Theprices are higher in on a lot
of things, and they were , um,but they seem stable now. You
(32:27):
don't see, there's not as muchguesswork in it. Um , and the
labor, I think the labor rateshave climbed pretty
significantly Yeah . Over thelast couple of years. And, you
know, I , that's something thatwithout , um, unless there was
a full recession and peoplewere really hungry, like that's
not gonna , people don't wantto Mm-Hmm . , um,
have that go down. So I, priceshave gone up by a lot from
(32:50):
three years ago. Um, but I feellike those prices are pretty
much here to stay. Mm-Hmm.
.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
Yeah . And would you say that compared to a lot of
the other communities in , uh,Colorado, we're still a very
reasonable place to build an ,a new home? I mean, compared to
the resort areas, we've gottabe way less expensive, and I
don't know about Denver. Canyou, can you build a cheaper
house in Denver because there'smore labor market?
Speaker 3 (33:21):
You know, I don't, I don't think I have the
experience to answer that, butI, my gut tells me, no, I do, I
do have some , uh, friends overthere that are builders and
they tell me the prices thatthey're building that per
square foot. Mm-Hmm .
. And it's, it's,it's, you know, sometimes
double still what we're seeinghere. Wow . Um, I've , uh, some
builder friends in the mountaintowns and, you know , um, that,
(33:45):
that's also nearly double orclose to double Yeah . What
we're seeing here. And there's,there's a lot of relativity to
it all, you know, prices are upMm-Hmm . , but
we're still, I think, from whatI know of it , um, in a good
place. Yeah,
Speaker 2 (34:00):
I would agree. I mean , um, I think even though
for people that have lived herea while , it may not seem that
affordable anymore becausewe've seen the prices go up so
much when you compare it toother places in Colorado, I
think we're still prettyaffordable, so, yeah.
Speaker 3 (34:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:16):
And I hope that people will be able to
incorporate some of those greattechniques and , um, green
building and energy efficientbuilding into their homes, you
know , um, selling , uh, not somuch new construction, but ,
um, um, already built homes.
(34:36):
Uh, people ask a lot aboutsolar and say, should I add it?
Will it add to the value of myhome? And, and there's a lot of
things to consider there. Um,so I think that , uh, while we
don't have a huge amount ofpeople that come here saying,
I'm only gonna build this way ,um, when they do, they're
looking for a builder like youthat has that kind of
(34:57):
experience to really put allthe elements together, because
it can be really tricky. Right.
Speaker 3 (35:03):
Yeah. Well , I think it , like, on the consumer side
of building a new home orbuying a brand new home, I
think there's also an elementof what does a client think
they're getting that they don'thave a context for. Um, and
that's a challenge as a, as aconsumer, right? You assume,
(35:25):
you assume all things areequal. Like when you look at
three houses in a row as abuyer, you can't see what's
under the claddings and behindthe drywall. And , um, you
know, how well was this homebuilt? Mm-Hmm. ,
um, and are there issues that Ican't see? None of that , none
of that's obvious. And so Ithink, you know, I hope that
(35:47):
builders and, and I'm certainlynot the only one in this
valley. There's a few otherguys I know out there building
great products and using a lotof the techniques that, that
we're talking about here today.
And those builders are verythoughtful about the way they
build and like, you know,whether they're doing
everything as well as they cando it. Um, and that's certainly
(36:09):
not the case across the board,you know , um, homes, new homes
being built. So I think as aconsumer, one thing to just
consider is, you know, is yourbuilder trying to elevate their
products? You know, are thesekind of a standard product and
, you know, they'll , they haveto meet code. Um, and so
everything kind of falls intothat realm and that there's ,
(36:29):
um, there's definitely a longways to go up from that.
Mm-Hmm.. Yeah .
Speaker 2 (36:33):
There's been a lot of talk about the code changing
and how far behind we are andplaying catch up with the code.
Could you explain that a littlebit?
Speaker 3 (36:45):
Yeah. Um, I, I'm trying to remember the year
that we, our energy code wasextremely outdated for, you
know, well over 10 years,probably, probably beyond that.
Um, and
Speaker 2 (37:00):
Based on the national
Speaker 3 (37:02):
Codes. Yeah. Yeah.
Typically, like jurisdictionswill update their code , um,
their code model every othercycle or so, you know, they
don't do it every time. It's alot to , to change codes.
Mm-Hmm .constantly. But, but they do
try to make changes. And ours,our building , um, residential
building and, and commercialbuilding codes had changed, but
(37:23):
our energy code hadn't had beenleft behind 'cause nobody
wanted to. There's thisresistance against the change.
Um, and so yeah, we got leftbehind a little bit and , uh,
and, and everyone had a steeperlearning curve Yeah . When it
came time to, to upgrade alittle bit.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
Um, before we go, I wanted to , um, mention also
that you just did a reallygreat project downtown with the
new thank you. Yeah. Bin 7 0 7restaurant. That was a lot of
fun. I mean , how great is that ? Yeah. Yeah. It's
beautiful in there. What weresome of the challenges you
faced with that project?
Speaker 3 (37:58):
Um, man, it was , um, it was a fun project. Josh
and Jody Berger just awesome towork with. Very visionary.
Mm-Hmm. Josh is agreat designer. Mm-Hmm.
, you know , andso I think Josh kind of pulled
in, you know, arc 11 , um,from, I think they're from
Boulder for the primaryarchitectural work. And they
(38:20):
did a really great kind of baseset of drawings with Josh's
vision. And we came in and didall the fabrication designs
and, and , uh, kind of pulledit together as contractors. And
so I think it, in the end, andlooking back, it was a , just a
pretty cool collaborationbetween, you know, the Bergs
and, and Arc 11. And then wewere able to come in and pull
(38:41):
in all those details, you know?
Yeah .
Speaker 2 (38:43):
So it's absolutely beautiful.
Speaker 3 (38:45):
Thank
Speaker 2 (38:45):
You. Yeah . Nice job. Well, anything else you
wanna share with our listenersand viewers?
Speaker 3 (38:51):
Oh, man. Design matters. Yeah . You know,
design first, think about , uh,you know, my big thing is I
love to see, have clients, youknow, I , I like in our
description of what we do, thatdesign minded client Mm-Hmm .
, um, is reallyimportant. You know, like the
person who wants to take alittle bit of time, understand
(39:12):
it , um, know what they'regetting, get it right. And ,
um, you know, that design is,is this iteration of ideas that
gets you to like, somethingthat you're gonna , you're
gonna love it when you're done.
And that's something that I'vebeen really proud of that we've
done. Um, taking the time to dogood design with clients, and
(39:33):
then when they move into thehome, they're like, oh man,
this , we got this. Right?
Mm-Hmm . we did .
Mm-Hmm . , youknow , there might be something
they would do different here orthere in hindsight, but , um,
generally speaking, they'rejust like, man, this is, this
is just right for us.
Speaker 2 (39:48):
Well, I really like what you said , um, in some of
your, on some of your websiteabout you build architecturally
significant homes, so that'swhat you really like building.
Yeah. And I think that there's, um, a lack of that, you know?
Yeah . Across the Grand Valley,so I appreciate you beautifying
things and building some reallycool stuff.
Speaker 3 (40:08):
Oh , thank you. Yeah .
Speaker 2 (40:08):
Thank you. Um, if people wanna see some photos of
things that you've built andremodeled, how do they find
some photos and get in touchwith you? Yeah ,
Speaker 3 (40:19):
Uh , follow us on Instagram. We're posting
constantly on there at RG Cowandesign . And , uh, our website
is rg cowan design.com .
Speaker 2 (40:29):
Awesome. Well reach out to Ryan if you've got
questions about remodels, newconstruction. Um, it's just, I
, I love everything that you ,uh, work on, Ryan. I just, I
think it's beautiful and Iappreciate the attention to
detail that you put intoeverything, so.
Speaker 3 (40:48):
Well , thank you.
Yeah . It's a , it's a highcompliment.
Speaker 2 (40:50):
Thank you .
Appreciate it . Well , we lookforward to working with you in
the future and on all kinds ofthings, and , um, I, I always
know who to call if I needsomething , uh, done really
creatively, so it's great. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (41:02):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (41:03):
Well, thanks for joining us everyone. This is
Kristi Reese here with RyanCowan . And , um, thanks for
watching and listening, and wewill see you next time on the
full circle. Bye. Thanks forlistening. This is Kristi Reese
signing out from the FullCircle Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
The Full Circle podcast, compelling interviews
and incredible tales fromColorado's Western Slope, from
the mountains to the desert.
Christy Reese and her team herefrom the Movers Shakers, and
characters of the Grand Valleyand surrounding mountain towns
that make the Western slope theplace we all love. You'll
learn, you'll laugh, you'lllove with the full circle.
Hello everyone, and welcome.
(00:26):
I'm Kristy Reese and welcomeback to the Full Circle
Podcast. Today I'm reallydelighted to have an old friend
of mine, some that I workedwith for a long time, or we're
gonna talk about buildingtechniques toward Net zero and
all kinds of constructionrelated items here on our
podcast. So, welcome Ryan Coenof RG Coen Design. Bill .
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Hi. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Yeah. Um, so Ryan, we did our first project
together, I believe, on mysecond house in Grand Junction
over Onita . Yep . You did abig project for us. So give us
a little history on yourbackground in construction.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Uh , well , uh, my dad was a home builder in Fort
Wayne, Indiana, so I grew uparound building, I was a kid
back then, but still kind ofthe process of building sunk
in. And
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Was, was he , what kind of houses was he building
there?
Speaker 3 (01:17):
He was building kind of a , I call it a semi-custom
home. You know, he, he wasn't atrack home builder. He built
probably five to seven houses ayear. Mm-Hmm .
and drew everyone himself forall of his clients. Nice . That
kind of thing. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
And so, yeah, you grew up in the industry, you on
the job site frequently.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Uh, when I was a kid, I , I swept houses. That
was about as far as it got backthen.
started for a remodelingcompany right outta high school
in Wisconsin. I lived inWisconsin at the time. And ,
um, most of my early career wasdoing remodeling. Mm-Hmm .
what was, what was wrong andall these , um, older homes.
(01:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
And you're not afraid of the older homes, I
think, you know, that it's a ,there can be just a variety of
things that come up when youstart tearing into things.
Right.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Yeah. And I , um, I think one of the, one of my
realizations over time witholder homes is that it is
really good problem solving.
It's, it's a fun process tofigure out how to solve for and
, and improve an older home.
Um, but you always get stuckwith all the things you just
can't do. You just can't fixeverything. Yeah . And so you
always end up with somethingthat's always gonna have some
(02:26):
things that , uh, are neverfully addressed. Mm-Hmm .
remodel. Yeah . Mm-Hmm.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
jobs around the Grand Valley.
When , when did you move toGrand Junction?
Speaker 3 (02:39):
I moved to Grand Junction from , uh, Gunnison ,
Crested Butte in 2003, Ibelieve. Yeah. Mm-Hmm.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
And , um, got, just started a remodeling , uh,
company here and went outpounding the pavement. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
Well, a little by default, I had some friends
that wanted a kitchen remodeland I was moving to town Mm-Hmm
.
know, doing good work, all youend up with the referral
business just kinda started andkind of kept me going. I didn't
do any marketing for 10 years.
Um, it's just kind of word ofmouth and Mm-Hmm.
getting going. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
And , um, your dad, did he come out and visit you
here when you got started inGrand Junction and give you
some advice?
Speaker 3 (03:20):
big on advice, but he did, hecame out and saw what we were
doing. Mm-Hmm .
kind of projects we wereworking on. Mm-Hmm.
bidding sheets and things tohelp me figure out, you know,
how do you even learn how toprice out a project? Yeah . All
that kind of stuff early on.
Yeah. Nice.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
And , um, so when did you start building custom
homes?
Speaker 3 (03:46):
Our first custom home was in 2008, right when
the recession started. I got alittle bit lucky. Um, I had
somebody, we designed a homeand had just poured the
foundation when the bottom kindof fell out. And so he was
committed, even told me, youknow , if this, if we hadn't
poured this foundation, Iwould've probably pulled the
plug on this Mm-Hmm .
(04:06):
godsend, you know, it allowedme to set up to go back to
school. That's , I went back tothe school during the
recession, but I had a year toplan it because we had a pretty
big custom home that just brokeground. Mm-Hmm.
Yeah .
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Was that the one up in Glade Park?
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Yep , it was in Glad Park. Yeah . Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
And so you, you liked or weren't afraid of
working on old homes. I knowyou did a lot in downtown Grand
Junction. Um, how do youdescribe your style and, and
like what kind of constructionyou started to focus on and be
interested in?
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Well, I think, I mean, over time and through my,
I've always had an interest in,you know, kind of energy
efficient building techniquesand building science and think
it's something I love to talkabout and geek out on all day.
But , um, I think , uh, goingback to school for design
really helped me also kind ofelevate my thinking about what
it is that we do. And I have alot of experience in
(05:06):
remodeling, but as we've , um,we still do quite a bit of
remodeling, but I , my passionis definitely in new
construction and what we canachieve in a new construction
product, you know ? Mm-Hmm.
, we focus on building , um,you know, thoughtful, highly
considered architecturallysignificant homes. Mm-Hmm .
(05:27):
that by building homes that are, um, durable and energy
efficient and based in quality,we can , um, provide homes that
are healthy, reliable, andlasting. And this is not only
to give our clients peace ofmind, but also , uh, an energy
independent low maintenancehome that they can count on for
(05:49):
its lifetime. And I thinkthat's all that kind of
description of what we do is ,um, is kind of a lot packed in
there for us, and, you know,how we approach , um, our, our
process of design andconstruction and methods and
everything. Yeah . Mm-Hmm.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
everything from , uh, thebeginning to the end. Yes . You
design, but people can alsocome to you with , uh, another
designer's work. Is thatcorrect, or?
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Yeah, and I think more , um, probably more
recently we've done a lot moreof that. Like, I think we've
had several clients that camewith an architect Mm-Hmm .
can I bring my own design? And, um, and the answer's yes. You
know, we, we go into apre-construction contract on
those, and we try to , um,figure out , um, where we can ,
(06:40):
um, provide some, some guidanceif the design's already done to
improve the performance of thehome. And , um, hopefully it's
still in the design processthat we can , uh, um, offer
some guidance there. Mm-Hmm.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
misconceptions or fallaciesthat people have about energy?
Uh , energy efficient homes? Imean, energy star is a big ,
uh, word that a lot , I think alot of people know, but , um, I
, I've seen a lot of builders ,um, build to the energy star
(07:13):
standards, but not necessarilyget the certification Mm-Hmm .
things that you think maybe thepublic doesn't understand about
energy efficient homes.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Well , I think the , uh, you know, I , one thing
that we end up talking a lotabout when people, we start
talking about performance ofthe home, energy efficiency,
people start thinking aboutpayback. And , um, it's not
something we talk a lot aboutbecause it's a really
complicated thing to , to tellpeople like, what is this, this
(07:44):
ROI ? But for us, it comes ,um, back to comfort in the
home, quality of the home,durability of the home. I think
when you design and build ahome that's an integrated
system, you know, the ,everything is kind of thought
to be working together asmm-Hmm.
of a bunch of of parts that arejust kind of thrown in. Um, it
(08:05):
creates , um, energy efficiencyof course, but also more
deliverability and comfort. And, um, I , another big one for
us that kind of starts at thesite and the way we design is,
you know, we like to providehomes that people feel like
they're living , uh, in alandscape, you know, in a yes.
You know, not in a box. Mm-Hmm.
(08:26):
there's a lot of homes thatthey do get to feeling a little
bit like they're, you know,beautiful in their own way, but
they're also a little bit likeliving in a box. Mm-Hmm .
can and, and , uh, use productsthat are gonna still, you know,
even though we like to use lotsof glazing , um, we want it to
still be energy efficient.
Mm-Hmm .
Speaker 2 (08:48):
I, I like what you said about Yeah. Living with
the environment , um, boy,being a realtor here in town,
I've seen over and over again,you walk into a house and
think, oh my gosh, I can'tbelieve they did this. You
know, they didn't takeadvantage of the views, or they
turned the house the wrong way.
Or they, they made the housefeel like it was sitting on top
(09:08):
of the land instead ofintegrating with the land. And
that can be anything frommaterials to colors to design.
Right. Right . How do youapproach that integration?
Speaker 3 (09:19):
Well, we, we prefer to be involved in design. Like,
you know, that's, I thinkthat's where our passion lies,
is like starting from thebeginning and helping to make
those decisions. Visiting thesite before we ever draw a line
on paper is super important tous. Um, you know, you can't
really know and understand theopportunities that are there.
(09:39):
Um, and , uh, if , if you'renot there to experience 'em,
and then trying to pull thatexperience into a home and
through a home and, and, youknow, and integrate that with
people's lifestyles, I thinkthere's so many things that
kind of like start to playtogether. And , um, it's so
common in home building forclients to pick a floor plan,
which is , um, not where I wantto live.
(10:03):
plans, but I, I try to use thatas a guide to what, you know,
something they like about that.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Yeah. Right.
Exactly. What , what's , whatare some three of the things
that you like about this plan?
Yeah , let's maybe start over
Speaker 3 (10:17):
Keeping
Speaker 2 (10:18):
That in mind.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
Yeah. Take those and then, okay. Now what about this
place you want to build that tostarts to change the
conversation and integratethose things that they love
about that plan back into asolution. Mm-Hmm.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Glade Park. It must be awonderful place to build and
try to , uh, fit into thelandscape up there.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
Yeah. It's, it's , um, probably the most fun to
have is when you're notlimited. Like, you know, a
subdivision building can be ,uh, challenging because you're,
you're constrained a lot. Youdon't have the freedom to
orient and, and, you know, youhave, if you open up the house
to the wrong side, you're justseeing your neighbors and
things like that. So it, it isfun to just, just have the
(11:02):
landscape to work with,
Speaker 2 (11:03):
But the bathroom, wherever you want it. Right .
Speaker 3 (11:06):
That's right. The outdoor shower, whatever you
don't wanna do . Right . Yeah .
Um , so that's , uh, we lovethat , um, you know, building
on smaller sites and , and ,uh, with more constraints is,
is , it's a differentchallenge, but , uh, and you
can find fun solutions for thattoo. But , um, the, the Glade
Park type environments are alot of fun to work with.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
I bet they are.
Yeah. Uh , I think you knowthat one of my favorite
projects that you've done isthe House out in Fruita . Yes.
That's in downtown Fruita .
Really modern. And I just lovethe style inside and out.
You've let me take a peek atthe inside, and I'm like, Ryan
, we need to build more ofthese
beautiful home. Well , thankyou. Can you talk about the
aesthetics of that property?
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Uh , yeah. You know, we, that , uh, that design came
from the desires of the client.
Um, some of my own, some ofhers. Um, she wanted something
really modern and clean and,you know, durable and didn't
wanted low maintenance, and shejust really loved a modern
home. Mm-Hmm .
So , um, that project evolved.
(12:10):
We started to, it was a remodelcomponent to it that as we got
into it, the soil , the way thesoils were on the site, we
couldn't save the part of thehome we originally wanted to
Mm-Hmm .
becoming a full new build , um,which of course opened up
opportunities to, you know, usea lot of our standards to make
it more energy efficient aswell. Mm-Hmm.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
When you talk about the durability of a home and
someone comes to you and saysthat's important to them, what
kind of materials are youtalking about?
Speaker 3 (12:40):
Now you're asking me to geek out on building science
a little bit. Oh , yeah ,absolutely.
well, I mean, you know, it's ,uh, thinking about control of,
of, you know , the controllayers of a home , um, are a
big piece of where it comesfrom. You know, we , we, you
know , trying to deal withwater first, and our, our
climate is pretty dry, and alot of people , um, take that
(13:01):
for granted. That when , butwhen it does rain, it rains
hard and it rains a lot. And sowe, you know , you see a lot of
rot and mold in some of thehouses here in the valley as
you pull 'em apart. Um, so
Speaker 2 (13:12):
If the, if the water management is not paid
attention to, it can cause real
Speaker 3 (13:16):
Problems, right?
Yeah. You get, once water getsin, it's in there and it's
gonna cause an issue. So we,that's a big one for us,
probably number one. Um ,making sure that that , uh,
water's dealt with well. Andthen our air seal , uh, for
energy efficiency, we, we tryto reach a passive house level
of air sealing , um, in ourprojects, which is , um, a 0.6
(13:38):
a CH 50, which is the , howthey measure that with the
blower door test. Um, but it's, uh, the code here now is up
to a three. So we're, we'reaiming for quite a bit better
than code on that. And then youstill gotta deal with vapor,
and you still gotta deal withgood thermal systems to
insulate the house. Mm-Hmm .
right systems in place can makea very long lasting, durable
(14:01):
structure that's reallyefficient. Mm-Hmm.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
house has some concrete , um,is it plywood have,
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Yeah. So p the finishes side. Yeah. We did a
lot of, she loved Baltic birchplywood. Mm-Hmm .
. So we did custom door jams.
They're all Baltic birch , um,with a re detail around the
edge, and
Speaker 2 (14:24):
I don't know what that is. You might have to
explain. Uh ,
Speaker 3 (14:26):
Yeah. The regular are the regular detail
. Uh , there's a lot of peoplecall 'em a shadow line, so it's
just a, it's a drywall trim youcan buy that creates a nice
little shadow line aroundMm-Hmm .
your doors and windows andthings like that. So everything
was Baltic birge , the cabinetswere custom and they were
Baltic Birge from a company wework with out of Iowa Gosling
Woodworking. Um , did a greatjob on our cabinets there. And
(14:48):
then we did the concretecountertops in our own
workshops. Mm-Hmm.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
in and do , well, you do thesecoasters for us a few years
back,
That's right. Um, so you'vedone some metal work , you've
done concrete work. What otherkind of things can you do in
your shop?
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Uh, our shop is primarily focused on GFRC,
concrete, concrete countertopsand Mm-Hmm .
fireplace surrounds and panels.
Um , we do custom steel aswell. A lot of our steel
railings, we weld ourselves inour own workshops. Mm-Hmm .
decorative , um, steelfireplace panels , um, for some
(15:26):
builders in the Roaring ForkValley that do quite a bit of
that. Um, and yeah, that's, wedon't do a lot of wood custom
woodworking in our shops.
Usually we'll work with acabinet maker or somebody that
, uh, has better equipment todo that every day .
Speaker 2 (15:41):
And typically local cabinet makers or around
Colorado or all
Speaker 3 (15:46):
Over? Yeah. Our main cabinet maker is out of Iowa.
Um, if we're doing a fullkitchen Mm-Hmm .
or something , um, we have acouple of box cabinet lines
that we can also sell, like asemi-custom line. But , um, if
we're looking for customwoodwork, that's smaller
pieces, a lot of those we willdo are in-house. Mm-Hmm.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Awesome. Yeah. Well, I wanna talk a little bit about
the, toward net Zero . Towardsnet zero building TNZ. Yeah .
Yep . Um, can you explain toour listeners and viewers what
that is?
Speaker 3 (16:18):
Yeah. So you know that the tricky thing about
building efficiently is there'sso many ways to get there. Um,
you know, you can start with apretty standard house and you
just start tweaking things ,um, to increase levels of
performance of the home. Someof them cost next to nothing,
and some of 'em get reallyexpensive. And so our towards
(16:39):
Net Zero was like, you know,kind of a question of how do we
get there , um, with our houses, uh, you know, for different
clients. So if we, if we said,oh , we're, we're, you know,
passive house builders andthat's all we're gonna do,
that's everything's net zero,you know, you're just gonna
limit yourself and limit making, uh, houses better for lots of
(17:00):
different types of clients withdifferent budgets. So for us,
it's a way of tuning projects.
You know, we have somestandards we try to implement,
but we can tweak those around,you know , um, great example is
our zip system sheathing. Weuse that a lot. It's partly
because it's a great productthat's easy to use and easy to
get. Right. There's a lot ofproducts that are not easy to
(17:21):
get right. Mm . Um, and so, butthat product as an example, you
can buy it with foam included.
And so you can increase thethicknesses of foam on the
exterior of your house toMm-Hmm .
outboard insulation and thingslike that. Um, window products,
we try to go to a triple panewindow. We've got a brand that
we've used on a couple projectsnow that is relatively
(17:43):
affordable for what it is. It'smade in Lewisville, Colorado.
Mm-Hmm .
And we really like those. Um,and I think other than that,
it's, you know, you take allthat together and you try to
also implement better systemsin the home for a comfort and
health and all those kinds of
Speaker 2 (18:00):
Things. Mm-Hmm .
Speaker 3 (18:04):
Yeah. We, we try to think through where Solar's
gonna go in design. So wealways want a roof that's
properly shaped and directedfor solar. Mm-Hmm.
lot when it's a retrofit onhouses with few solar panels
facing this way in that way.
Yeah. You know, there's not anoptimal efficiency going on
(18:27):
there, so we try to create aspace for it. And if the client
can't afford it, when the houseis built, we just prepare for
it, you know? Mm-Hmm .
future. Mm-Hmm.
Yeah .
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Now there is a trend, especially in some of
the larger cities and going allelectric Mm-Hmm.
and your houses that toward netzero would be all electric,
correct?
Speaker 3 (18:49):
Yeah, that's, that's right. Um, the Aspen house ,
uh, on Aspen and Fruita .
Mm-Hmm .
think every house that we'vebuilt since then, if I , I
believe is all electric , um,which I think is another reason
to improve the energy andperformance. All electric homes
have , um, they have anelectric backup heat that if
(19:13):
the house isn't super , uh,energy efficient, then that
heat mats gonna kick in. Andthen you're gonna get a lot of
auxiliary heat from that. Yourheat pumps aren't gonna, aren't
gonna keep up. So in order tohave that house be a , you
know, not cost a lot of moneyto be all electric, I think
you've gotta have a reallygreat house. Mm-Hmm.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Western Colorado kind of stressabout thinking what I love my
natural gas. Can you, can youtalk about the benefits, the
pros and cons of natural gasversus all electric?
Speaker 3 (19:49):
Well , um, I think that in some sites it's just
cheaper to do all electricMm-Hmm .
know , in Glad Park, forexample. Mm-Hmm .
that means, you know, avoidingpropane altogether. Right. So,
some of our projects are allelectric , um, as almost a cost
savings measure when you'rebuilding. Um, we've had really
(20:12):
good luck with performance onthose. We haven't had a lot of
people having issues with thesystems and how they perform.
Mm-Hmm.
ratings are just, are prettyincredible. So , um, for me
it's a little bit getting aheadof the game. Eventually they're
all gonna have to be electric.
Yeah . And knowing how to do itwell, I think , um, I think is
(20:35):
is how we're gonna win on thatdeal. I, I , um, I think where
there's a lot of builders, Ithink that we're building great
homes, but struggled a littlebit when the new standards came
out for energy efficiency.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
What year was that?
Speaker 3 (20:49):
Oh , that was , um, they started in February of 23,
I think, is when they startedto push some new standards. And
I think there's been a couplemore that have rolled out over
the last year. Mm-Hmm.
another challenge wheneverything has to be all
(21:09):
electric, because you're gonnapossibly have unhappy clients
when , um, everything goes toall electric and the house
isn't quite built to aperformance standard that's
gonna be cheap to run that.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Do you have any , um, wisdom as to when do you
see that happening? I mean, howlong in the future are we
talking,
Speaker 3 (21:30):
You know, that I don't know. Yeah . Every, every
you hear dates and then theyget pushed back because there's
pushback, right? Mm-Hmm.
change things and change theway that we, we build,
especially when the way you doit now is dependable. I mean,
there's, there's a lot to that.
You don't wanna have toreinvent the wheel, and then
you, when you do, there'schallenges, right? Mm-Hmm.
(21:51):
it's supposed to or whatever.
Yeah . So , um, but it , it'sinevitable, I think as we move
, uh, away from the fossil fueltype of economies and move
towards a more sustainablesolutions. Mm-Hmm.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
techniques, new materials thatyou're excited about these
days? What , is there somethingnew and great that just
Speaker 3 (22:16):
Well, I think, I think window products have, you
know , um, have come a longway. Yeah. And there's just
more options out there that aremore affordable than it used to
be to get, you know, anelevated product. Um, you know,
like I mentioned the zipsystem, and there's probably
lots of competition gonna comeout to make that drive cost
(22:37):
down on that, on that , uh,product a little bit. But , um,
I think like , uh, and theliquid seals we've, trying to
get a house airtight is reallychallenging. Mm-Hmm .
to make it achievable. And someof it's about the products, you
know, so we've got some liquidflash products we use that make
(22:58):
air very tight, air ceiling ,pretty, pretty simple. Mm-Hmm.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
I was reading about , um, some of the building
techniques and talking aboutthe ability to, what you've got
a really , um, tight housewithout air leakage. It is okay
to open the windows, right?
Yeah . It's not like you haveto
up all the time, but that'swhen it's most efficient.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
Yeah. It's when it's, it's when it's most
efficient and it's when it's ,um, the, probably the cleanest
indoor air because you canfilter everything, you know .
Mm-Hmm .
you know, on Glade Park there'slots of wind and there's
certainly those beautifulspring days when you want to
open your windows up Yeah . Andthen the wind kicks up and that
(23:43):
dust is rolling in. So , um, Ithink there's, there's times
when people will leave thehouse closed up 'cause they can
control everything, and they'restill getting fresh air from
their , uh, energy recoveryventilators and Mm-Hmm.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
And , um, how is our air? I mean, if you're , if you
have a client that's superconcerned about air quality ,
um, you must have looked at thehistorical record here. And ,
uh, for down in the valley andup in Glade Park, is our air
better than most places around?
I mean, maybe the mountaintowns have a little bit cleaner
(24:19):
air than we do, but
Speaker 3 (24:21):
Yeah. And I think , um, well dust, I mean, we live
in the desert. I mean it everyday that there's wind, you can
see it when the sun's goingdown. Mm-Hmm.
like, there's this kind of dustin the air that you don't see
in the middle of the day, butit's, it's there. Um, so yeah,
I do think we just live in aslightly dirtier climate , um,
in terms of , uh, what's there,if the wind's blowing Mm-Hmm.
(24:42):
pretty clean here. Mm-Hmm.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
But , um, lots of people have sensitivities to
those kind of things. I know ,um, where I'm from in Lake
City, you know, a lot of peoplejust can't deal with the dirt
roads because it , it producesso much dust all the time. So
Do you have a lot of peoplerequesting , um, that kind of
indoor air quality that'sreally important to them?
Speaker 3 (25:09):
Um, on the generally, no. We don't have a
lot of people specific to that,but I think we do have people
that have some specialsensitivities to some, it's
sometimes it's products, youknow, so we try to have to
think through a little more ,um, what we're putting in the
home. Mm-Hmm .
know, for cabinetry andflooring and all the things
(25:31):
that do off gas, you know ?
Mm-Hmm .
that's gonna fit a budget
also have some downsides to it.
So that's something that weoften think about,
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Like all the products are out there that you
could imagine. Right, right .
But some of them have a reallybig price tag.
Speaker 3 (25:48):
Yeah. I mean, there's, there's, you know,
lots of real healthy products,but you can two or three x your
costs sometimes, which, youknow, if you're trying to, you
know, balance budgets through awhole project, that gets a
little challenging. Mm-Hmm.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
So what's your goal, Ryan, for , um, building new
construction in the GrandValley? Uh , what , I mean,
obviously you can't , uh,change the whole industry by
yourself, but I know you'd liketo see more of this
construction happening. Um, howmany houses would you like to
be building every year?
Speaker 3 (26:21):
I think our sweet spot's probably, you know,
three to four mm-Hmm .
, uh, in the future. And, youknow, it's a little challenging
for us because we want to buildsomething that's elevated
that's, you know, the , thekind of product that , um, we
want to use it as a learningtool for people as well to say,
(26:42):
Hey, this is , this is how webuild our homes and this is
why. Um, and these are theoutcomes. And, you know,
inevitably it comes at a , alittle bit higher price tag
because you're buying moreexpensive materials, primarily.
A lot of the, a lot of themethods that go into the
process , um, in terms of laboraren't that different. Mm-Hmm .
expensive product along theway. Mm-Hmm.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
Um, and in remodeling, I guess it depends
a lot on the age of the homeand what, how far you can go
with those kind of techniquesand materials. Right.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
Yeah. And I think probably comes to a little bit
that scope of work for aproject too. You know, if , if
someone wanted to strip all thesiding off their home and, you
know, re reside from scratch,that's an easier project to try
to maybe do a better product onthe exterior. Mm-Hmm .
just trying to air seal bycaulking or some other method
(27:41):
that , um, is real tough to doa great job and , and really
make a big impact. Mm-Hmm.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
Wow . Um, how many houses are you building right
now? What , what's next foryou?
Speaker 3 (27:54):
Um , right now we've been , um, doing probably three
projects at a time. We've , um,had one custom home in
construction prettyconsistently over the last few
years with other smallerprojects mixed in. Mm-Hmm.
those because , um, it allowsus to plug them into our
schedule and, and help keep abalanced workflow . Um, and ,
(28:17):
um, yeah, coming up , we'rejust starting framing on a ,
another custom up in GladePark. It's gonna be a more of a
mountain style home than thelast couple have been fairly
modern, so that'll be kind offun. A lot of timber work and
more of a , more of a craftsmankind of feel to it . Mm-Hmm.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
days? I know you have a newteam member. Yes,
Speaker 3 (28:38):
We do. One
Speaker 2 (28:39):
Of my favorite people.
Speaker 3 (28:41):
Yes. We have Suzanne Hansel as our new COO and we're
very excited to have her onboard , and she's , uh, brings
a lot of , um, a lot oftraction to our vision and in
terms of seeing where we wantto go and trying to , uh, to ,
to get the team all going inthe same direction. Mm-Hmm.
(29:02):
financial coordinator , um, shedoes a great job on all of the,
the billing side and the booksand the invoicing and keeping,
keeping our finances in order.
Mm-Hmm.
coordinator and she does all ofour social media and keeps our
marketing on track. Awesome .
Um, have , uh, shop manager Timand , uh, lead Carpenter
(29:24):
currently. His name is Todd.
Okay.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
And you are on site all the time right? When you're
building, I mean, I know that ,uh, there's lots of different
ways you can , uh, run a jobsite, but you're heavily
involved.
Speaker 3 (29:39):
Yeah, I , um, not as involved as I used to be. Yeah
. Um, we're trying to, we'll behiring for another project
coordinator sometime this nextyear. Okay . But I have been on
site quite a bit to just makesure our subcontractors are ,
um, everything's clear whatwe're, what we're looking for.
Mm-Hmm.
(30:00):
in-house labor just a littlebit. And we're trying to , uh,
work a little more with , um,subtrades , um, to keep us from
having to have four or fivecarpenters on staff all the
time. Mm-Hmm.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
get from people that think theymight wanna build a custom home
is, you know, how much is itgonna cost and how available
are the builders? And do youhave good subs? What would you
say is the current state ofthe, the building industry in
our county? And then how hasthat, how have you stayed kind
(30:33):
of insular and, and kind ofdone your own thing? You know,
I don't know if I'm saying thatright, but , um, you know, are
you able to insulate yourselffrom the ups and downs of the
market?
Speaker 3 (30:46):
Um, well , uh, I would say probably not. I don't
know, like it's custom building, um, where we're, you know,
people are coming to us for alittle bit of a unique product,
I think. Mm-Hmm .
know, a pretty good flow ofthat. Um, on the client side,
(31:07):
on the , on the trade side,that's a , that's a little
tougher question over the ,it's gotten easier this year. I
do think the trade, thepressure on the trades is
easing up a little bit. Um, I'mseeing more , um, more
subcontractors reach out,seeing if we have anything
coming up that , that didn'thappen for several years.
Somebody was , yeah . Thingsare really tight, actually
looking for work
(31:30):
to see that there's some peoplelooking at it , means it's
gonna , scheduling might get alittle bit better. Mm-Hmm .
Um, yeah. On the demand side, I, I mean , I just haven't seen
the idea of a recession rightnow, possibly looming. It
doesn't feel like it's there.
(31:51):
We still have pretty good leadflow and , um, you know, it's,
it's trying to find the rightright. Clients, right projects
for us. Right.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
Mm-Hmm.
changed in the last couple ofyears?
Speaker 3 (32:06):
Well, you know , obviously during Covid
everything was very volatileand, and that was a challenge
for everybody building. And,you know, all of the
tradespeople felt it . Um, Ifeel like the material side is
pretty much stabilized. Theprices are higher in on a lot
of things, and they were , um,but they seem stable now. You
(32:27):
don't see, there's not as muchguesswork in it. Um , and the
labor, I think the labor rateshave climbed pretty
significantly Yeah . Over thelast couple of years. And, you
know, I , that's something thatwithout , um, unless there was
a full recession and peoplewere really hungry, like that's
not gonna , people don't wantto Mm-Hmm .
have that go down. So I, priceshave gone up by a lot from
(32:50):
three years ago. Um, but I feellike those prices are pretty
much here to stay. Mm-Hmm.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
Yeah . And would you say that compared to a lot of
the other communities in , uh,Colorado, we're still a very
reasonable place to build an ,a new home? I mean, compared to
the resort areas, we've gottabe way less expensive, and I
don't know about Denver. Canyou, can you build a cheaper
house in Denver because there'smore labor market?
Speaker 3 (33:21):
You know, I don't, I don't think I have the
experience to answer that, butI, my gut tells me, no, I do, I
do have some , uh, friends overthere that are builders and
they tell me the prices thatthey're building that per
square foot. Mm-Hmm .
double still what we're seeinghere. Wow . Um, I've , uh, some
builder friends in the mountaintowns and, you know , um, that,
(33:45):
that's also nearly double orclose to double Yeah . What
we're seeing here. And there's,there's a lot of relativity to
it all, you know, prices are upMm-Hmm .
we're still, I think, from whatI know of it , um, in a good
place. Yeah,
Speaker 2 (34:00):
I would agree. I mean , um, I think even though
for people that have lived herea while , it may not seem that
affordable anymore becausewe've seen the prices go up so
much when you compare it toother places in Colorado, I
think we're still prettyaffordable, so, yeah.
Speaker 3 (34:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:16):
And I hope that people will be able to
incorporate some of those greattechniques and , um, green
building and energy efficientbuilding into their homes, you
know , um, selling , uh, not somuch new construction, but ,
um, um, already built homes.
(34:36):
Uh, people ask a lot aboutsolar and say, should I add it?
Will it add to the value of myhome? And, and there's a lot of
things to consider there. Um,so I think that , uh, while we
don't have a huge amount ofpeople that come here saying,
I'm only gonna build this way ,um, when they do, they're
looking for a builder like youthat has that kind of
(34:57):
experience to really put allthe elements together, because
it can be really tricky. Right.
Speaker 3 (35:03):
Yeah. Well , I think it , like, on the consumer side
of building a new home orbuying a brand new home, I
think there's also an elementof what does a client think
they're getting that they don'thave a context for. Um, and
that's a challenge as a, as aconsumer, right? You assume,
(35:25):
you assume all things areequal. Like when you look at
three houses in a row as abuyer, you can't see what's
under the claddings and behindthe drywall. And , um, you
know, how well was this homebuilt? Mm-Hmm.
um, and are there issues that Ican't see? None of that , none
of that's obvious. And so Ithink, you know, I hope that
(35:47):
builders and, and I'm certainlynot the only one in this
valley. There's a few otherguys I know out there building
great products and using a lotof the techniques that, that
we're talking about here today.
And those builders are verythoughtful about the way they
build and like, you know,whether they're doing
everything as well as they cando it. Um, and that's certainly
(36:09):
not the case across the board,you know , um, homes, new homes
being built. So I think as aconsumer, one thing to just
consider is, you know, is yourbuilder trying to elevate their
products? You know, are thesekind of a standard product and
, you know, they'll , they haveto meet code. Um, and so
everything kind of falls intothat realm and that there's ,
(36:29):
um, there's definitely a longways to go up from that.
Mm-Hmm.
Speaker 2 (36:33):
There's been a lot of talk about the code changing
and how far behind we are andplaying catch up with the code.
Could you explain that a littlebit?
Speaker 3 (36:45):
Yeah. Um, I, I'm trying to remember the year
that we, our energy code wasextremely outdated for, you
know, well over 10 years,probably, probably beyond that.
Um, and
Speaker 2 (37:00):
Based on the national
Speaker 3 (37:02):
Codes. Yeah. Yeah.
Typically, like jurisdictionswill update their code , um,
their code model every othercycle or so, you know, they
don't do it every time. It's alot to , to change codes.
Mm-Hmm .
try to make changes. And ours,our building , um, residential
building and, and commercialbuilding codes had changed, but
(37:23):
our energy code hadn't had beenleft behind 'cause nobody
wanted to. There's thisresistance against the change.
Um, and so yeah, we got leftbehind a little bit and , uh,
and, and everyone had a steeperlearning curve Yeah . When it
came time to, to upgrade alittle bit.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
Um, before we go, I wanted to , um, mention also
that you just did a reallygreat project downtown with the
new thank you. Yeah. Bin 7 0 7restaurant. That was a lot of
fun. I mean , how great is that
beautiful in there. What weresome of the challenges you
faced with that project?
Speaker 3 (37:58):
Um, man, it was , um, it was a fun project. Josh
and Jody Berger just awesome towork with. Very visionary.
Mm-Hmm.
in, you know, arc 11 , um,from, I think they're from
Boulder for the primaryarchitectural work. And they
(38:20):
did a really great kind of baseset of drawings with Josh's
vision. And we came in and didall the fabrication designs
and, and , uh, kind of pulledit together as contractors. And
so I think it, in the end, andlooking back, it was a , just a
pretty cool collaborationbetween, you know, the Bergs
and, and Arc 11. And then wewere able to come in and pull
(38:41):
in all those details, you know?
Yeah .
Speaker 2 (38:43):
So it's absolutely beautiful.
Speaker 3 (38:45):
Thank
Speaker 2 (38:45):
You. Yeah . Nice job. Well, anything else you
wanna share with our listenersand viewers?
Speaker 3 (38:51):
Oh, man. Design matters. Yeah . You know,
design first, think about , uh,you know, my big thing is I
love to see, have clients, youknow, I , I like in our
description of what we do, thatdesign minded client Mm-Hmm .
person who wants to take alittle bit of time, understand
(39:12):
it , um, know what they'regetting, get it right. And ,
um, you know, that design is,is this iteration of ideas that
gets you to like, somethingthat you're gonna , you're
gonna love it when you're done.
And that's something that I'vebeen really proud of that we've
done. Um, taking the time to dogood design with clients, and
(39:33):
then when they move into thehome, they're like, oh man,
this , we got this. Right?
Mm-Hmm .
Mm-Hmm .
they would do different here orthere in hindsight, but , um,
generally speaking, they'rejust like, man, this is, this
is just right for us.
Speaker 2 (39:48):
Well, I really like what you said , um, in some of
your, on some of your websiteabout you build architecturally
significant homes, so that'swhat you really like building.
Yeah. And I think that there's, um, a lack of that, you know?
Yeah . Across the Grand Valley,so I appreciate you beautifying
things and building some reallycool stuff.
Speaker 3 (40:08):
Oh , thank you. Yeah .
Speaker 2 (40:08):
Thank you. Um, if people wanna see some photos of
things that you've built andremodeled, how do they find
some photos and get in touchwith you? Yeah ,
Speaker 3 (40:19):
Uh , follow us on Instagram. We're posting
constantly on there at RG Cowandesign . And , uh, our website
is rg cowan design.com .
Speaker 2 (40:29):
Awesome. Well reach out to Ryan if you've got
questions about remodels, newconstruction. Um, it's just, I
, I love everything that you ,uh, work on, Ryan. I just, I
think it's beautiful and Iappreciate the attention to
detail that you put intoeverything, so.
Speaker 3 (40:48):
Well , thank you.
Yeah . It's a , it's a highcompliment.
Speaker 2 (40:50):
Thank you .
Appreciate it . Well , we lookforward to working with you in
the future and on all kinds ofthings, and , um, I, I always
know who to call if I needsomething , uh, done really
creatively, so it's great. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (41:02):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (41:03):
Well, thanks for joining us everyone. This is
Kristi Reese here with RyanCowan . And , um, thanks for
watching and listening, and wewill see you next time on the
full circle. Bye. Thanks forlistening. This is Kristi Reese
signing out from the FullCircle Podcast.
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