BUILDING IN CIRCLES: GREEN BUILDING DESIGNS WITH MANDALA CUSTOM HOMES Home is where the heart is, and Lars Chose, founder of Man­dala Cus­tom Homes, has made it his pas­sion to make the heart of the home green and round. With a vision of pro­mot­ing green build­ing designs and an eth­i­cal busi­ness model based on the triple bot­tom line (envi­ron­men­tal integrity, social respon­si­bil­ity and finan­cial health), Chose has employed energy effi­cient designs, local mate­ri­als, FSC wood prod­ucts, non toxic fin­ishes and insu­la­tions from the begin­ning, and his busi­ness has ben­e­fited as a result.

We inter­viewed Lars to find out how he built his green home build­ing com­pany and what he has to offer to aspir­ing green builders of the future.

Can you tell me a bit more about your Man­dala Cus­tom Homes concept?

Since we build just the shell of the home we do what we can by build­ing the most effi­cient shape, using local mate­ri­als, healthy mate­ri­als and by pro­mot­ing the use of the most energy effi­cient win­dows, doors and insu­la­tion pack­ages. Each home gets anEner­Guide Audit and Rat­ing so that in the design phase the client can make choices to ensure their home is at the high­est level of energy effi­ciency they can afford. As well, we sup­port our cus­tomers to fin­ish their homes by using sus­tain­able mate­ri­als, alter­na­tive power and in the way that they inte­grate the home with the envi­ron­ment they are build­ing in.

We pre­build the homes in our fac­tory, which results in far less waste than in con­ven­tional onsite build­ing, more accu­racy and con­trol over the build­ing process, the work­ing con­di­tions are health­ier for the builders, the mate­ri­als are not sub­ject to the weather, and the ulti­mate foot­print of the house is smaller and more eco-friendly because the set-up is much gen­tler on the environment.

What did it take to get a busi­ness like yours off of the ground?

Back in 1996 I designed and built a round home for a client and was so moved by the feel­ing of being in the home and the unique­ness of the design that I started Man­dala Homes in 2000.  I designed the wall widths to sit per­fectly on an ICF foun­da­tion and cre­ated 10 sizes with options to cou­ple or triple them and have mul­ti­ple stories.

A friend bought the first home and mar­ket­ing into the local com­mu­nity got us going after that. It was a chal­lenge in the begin­ning because of the unique shape and because we were pro­mot­ing green build­ings before they were pop­u­lar, but slowly, through its many ups and downs we are now pass­ing our tenth year.

How is Man­dala Homes funded? Did you require ven­ture or angel financ­ing to start?

Man­dala Homes was funded on my credit card and per­sonal sav­ings. At this time how­ever we are look­ing for an angel investor to help take it to another level.

How do round homes solve envi­ron­men­tal prob­lems of tra­di­tional build­ing designs?

The round home is more energy effi­cient because of the ther­mal dynam­ics of a round space. Addi­tion­ally, the sky­light at the cen­ter is a triple glazed plas­tic dome that cools the inte­rior air and causes that air drop, cre­at­ing a nat­ural air cir­cu­la­tion of the warm air.

It also takes 18% less mate­ri­als to build the same square footage as a rec­tan­gu­lar house, thereby using less floor, wall and roof mate­ri­als for the same square footage. The other envi­ron­men­tal issues are non spe­cific to the shape as they are related to site choices, water use, air qual­ity and mate­ri­als used in finishing.

Not all our homes are round. We have three lines of rec­tan­gu­lar house: iNDwell, a pre­fab mod home; Lane and Coach Homes a line of laneway homes and Cop­per Moun­tain Homes, a line of Hybrid Tim­ber Frame Homes.

Buy­ing a home is a big invest­ment– how do you get a poten­tial buyer to choose your con­cept over other, more con­ven­tional approaches?

Peo­ple are drawn to our homes for a num­ber of rea­sons, the beauty and unique shape with its panoramic views, the cen­tral sky­light with the radi­at­ing cedar ceil­ing; the quick and easy assem­bly of our pre­built homes (thus less stress on the home­builder and the rela­tion­ship of the cou­ple), the per­sonal ser­vice they get with their home, our busi­ness model and our green busi­ness practices.

Who do you find most inter­ested in round home designs?

Peo­ple from all walks of life enjoy the nat­ural shape of our homes. We mar­ket through print mar­ket­ing, we have a Show Home Pro­gram (peo­ple who own and love their Man­dala Home host open houses and pro­vide infor­ma­tion, the expe­ri­ence of a Man­dala, and con­tact infor­ma­tion about Man­dala to inter­ested par­ties). We have avibrant Face­book page and, we have a beau­ti­ful web­site (www.mandalahomes.com).

How has the inter­est in green home design fared since the drop in the econ­omy? Are peo­ple more or less inter­ested in green home designs?

We have not seen a drop in the inter­est in green homes. We expe­ri­ence more and more peo­ple inter­ested in green home design.

What is the most chal­leng­ing thing about edu­cat­ing con­sumers about the ben­e­fits of green home designs?

The most chal­leng­ing aspect has been prov­ing to them that it makes sense eco­nom­i­cally and to inspire our clients to think in big­ger time lines. We do this with our Ener­Guide Audit that shows the effect of green choices on their monthly energy bills, etc.

How do you stay on top of the fast-paced changes in green build­ing leg­is­la­tion and technology?

We con­stantly research new prod­uct lines and are reg­u­larly ques­tion­ing our designs to keep abreast of new build­ing tech­nolo­gies and sys­tems that will ben­e­fit the envi­ron­ment and the cul­ture of our con­scious business.

What advice would you have for other aspir­ing green entre­pre­neurs inter­ested in start­ing an eco-home build­ing company?

I would advise aspir­ing green entre­pre­neurs to jump into an area that they are pas­sion­ate about with as much knowl­edge they can glean about the green build­ing indus­try. Then, keep learn­ing. We are in an amaz­ing time of change in the build­ing indus­try. And, as always, watch the cash flow and stay flexible.