This entry is our first installment in our donor interview series. Over the course of this highly collaborative project, we will be speaking with the donors that are making this work truly come together, in order to find out what drew them to ZeNETH, and how their work aligns with this project.
If it’s Thursday morning at 7:45, you can find three sleepy eyed students, a professor, and two professional builders discussing building plans around a table in a cozy office space in Bellingham. Since March, 2019, A1DesignBuild (formally A1 Builders) has come on board the team as our presenting partner for Project ZeNETH. They have gone above and beyond to donate all of the time and labor necessary to complete our mobile tiny house, and to do it right.
I sat down with A1’s co-owner and general manager, Patrick Martin, to talk about what drew them to our project, and how it relates to their broader mission.
A1: A Company With Heart, Mind, and Soul
A1DesignBuild is no stranger to giving back to its community, as my conversation with Patrick makes clear. He and the rest of the A1 crew work hard to align their own values with the work that is takes on. A1 is now an employee owned co-op, but did not start that way. Over the past four years, it has transitioned to that model for a variety of reasons, namely to create a more dynamic and equitable working environment.
Interested in discovering what is possible through a co-op model, A1 is involved in encouraging other traditional businesses transition to cooperatives, or at least B Corps, like the much loved Aslan Brewing. “A co-op is able to give agency to those that have already given so much to a business.” Patrick said. Given Patrick’s past career in education as an instructor at Huxley College of the Environment, engaging collaboratively, as in a co-op, with complex issues gives fuel to Patrick’s fire. “It’s just more interesting to work with people, plus I am not interested in doing it by myself!”
Their interest in building cooperatives has attracted the attention of a professor and researcher at Western Washington University. Dr. Gail Goulet studies transformational psychology and is using A1 as a case study for examining how a company navigates that uncommon transformation. Just like with Project ZeNETH, the ambition to be part of a greater, more dynamic conversation with better information is at the heart of A1’s mission.
Project ZeNETH
ZeNETH is the first high performance volunteer housing project A1 has undertaken. The interest is driven by a deep interest in providing impactful housing and education to those in need, and doing it in a way that is well organized and executed. ZeNETH aligns with A1 in that we both strive to provide a deeply educational experience to our community and uses whole system thinking.
Currently, A1 is also working with Habitat for Humanity on a project on Telegraph Rd in Bellingham where they are helping to develop 5 housing units. Last year, they completed two mobile tiny houses – one for a local veteran in need of housing, and another for the Kulshan Community Land Trust.
“A lot of our company’s work is in helping people take care of the most expensive item of their life: their house.” Clearly feeling responsible, and in some ways protective, of his clients housing needs, and especially those living in substandard houses, Patrick works hard to align the values of A1 with the resources available. Decrying the low quality, or even toxic, buildings that are thrown up quickly, especially in this time of high housing demand, Patrick is adamant that building it right the first time is the responsible thing to do. We tend to agree.
Looking Ahead
During a discussion of climate change, the conversation turned towards the ripple effect that green building and energy efficient technologies may have on the global issue. While neither of us feels especially confident in the overwhelming reality of global industry and culture driving climate change, we understand we have a role in addressing it and being part of a better reality. “It feels better to do what feels important, whether or not it has a great impact. It’s really just important to find something engaging and meaningful to do. ZeNETH is interesting because it gives people a way to step outside of themselves and see what’s possible.”
We want to thank Patrick Martin, Dave Kangas (A1’s lead designer and estimator) and the whole A1 crew for meeting with us every week and taking on this project. We truly could not, and would not want to do this without you.
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