With homebuyers frozen out of the market in the winter '08, Jon Girod, the co-founder and president of Quail Homes, took a hard look at his business model. He made the bold decision to embrace green building practices. This case study reviews why he decided to retrench, how he shifted to green and the results.

The Turning Point

Girod had been a successful homebuilder for over 20 years in the Vancouver, Wash. - Portland, Ore. region. "As the severity of the economic downturn became apparent, Girod did not know what to do at first. He soon concluded that the same entrepreneurial mindset that served him in the early days of his business would help him survive and eventually thrive.

Prior to the downturn, Girod had been aware of green building practices and Quail Homes incorporated some of the concepts. He found green principles fit his values of quality and thrift; the idea of building smarter made sense. But when his sales were strong, he had not had the time to make the shift.

After he made the decision to "embrace green," he realized that the market downturn provided him the opportunity needed to make the change. He also saw that green would provide a valued differentiator from other new homes and used homes that were flooding the market.

The crisis also made Girod consider his long-term legacy. In the course of his career he would likely build over 3,000 homes. He wanted to do his part to  offer better performing homes that provided greater efficiency and more comfortable living.

The Challenges of Converting a Construction Team

Although Girod was convinced that "green was not a fad and had staying power," his crew and subcontractors were less enthusiastic. Some were vocal naysayers. They worried that new practices would take longer and cost more, which seemed like a poor prescription to the economic woes.

But Girod was not discouraged. "You are not a leader until you need to move people to a different path," he said.

Rather than try to over-sell his point of view, Girod listened to his team and did not discount their apprehensions. In fact, he paid for the extra time required to learn new techniques.  He considered this his R&D investment.

In subsequent jobs, Girod expected that his team and subcontractors were smart enough to figure out how to make the green technique more efficient and paid the standard rates.

To facilitate the shift, Girod and his team did a bit of experimentation to find the best approaches. He worked closely with his employees and subcontractors to help them optimize and cheer them on. "You can get real resourceful when you don't have much money," he explained.

A big lesson was to fully commit to the new method -- a "burn the bridge" mentality. In Girod's experience, it is not until people are fully committed do they truly open up to new ways and make them efficient. With a foot in both worlds, new methods often languish because they are never given full attention, or are purposefully sabotaged. Many a big company CEO could vouch for that.

Over time, veteran construction workers became Girod's biggest advocates -- selling green to new recruits. One framer started building his own home using conventional methods at the start of Quail Homes' conversion to green. Upon completion of the home, Girod described "that the framer was kicking himself for not building green" given its advantages and comparable cost.

Next Page: The importance of making green a core value