Contact:
Stephanie Giralmo, Public Relations & Media Manager
Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties
p 425.457.7067

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MBAKS Announces 2022 Award Winners

Dec. 1, 2022—The Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties (MBAKS) announced the prestigious 2022 award winners at its annual year-end gala on Thursday, December 1.

Each year, MBAKS recognizes members in various categories, including: Spirit of Service, Emerging Leader, Moving the Market, Associate of the Year, Exceptional Service, Remodeler of the Year, GRIP on Safety Excellence Award, Builder of the Year, and the MBAKS Hall of Fame Award. Winners are decided through an open member nomination and awards committee process. With more than 2,600 member companies, MBAKS is the largest home builders association in the country, making these award winners all the more esteemed.

Here are 2022’s winners:

Trevor Johnson, Blackwood Builders Group

Spirit of Service Award

The Spirit of Service Award recognizes an individual or company in the homebuilding industry that has demonstrated compassion and dedication through service. Volunteering time, talent, or ideas that empower or improve the quality of life of individuals, families, or groups in our community.

Trevor Johnson is a champion for housing, and it shows through his volunteer work with MBAKS and beyond. He has demonstrated his commitment throughout the years by supporting Rampathon and various other community organizations like WELD Seattle, Seattle Children’s Hospital, DwellingsNow and New Beginnings.

Leo Speaks, Integrity Marketing Services

Emerging Leader Award

The Emerging Leader Award recognizes up-and-coming members who have made significant contributions to MBAKS and the homebuilding industry. In addition, they demonstrate tremendous potential for future leadership and service.

Leo Speaks is the 2022 Chair of MBAKS’ Sales and Marketing Council (SMC). His marketing expertise has helped SMC develop valuable content for SMC events, as well as improve the way they are promoted. His energy, enthusiasm, and creativity has made a positive impact on MBAKS.

Vitaliy Gutsalo, Greencity Development LLC

Moving the Market Award, Built Green

The Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties created the Built Green program to provide consumers with an easy-to-understand rating system for identifying projects built using environmentally friendly materials and practices.

The Moving the Market Award recognizes a person, business, or government entity that has taken actions or implemented programs that advance and expand Built Green certification, promote Built Green as a brand, and demonstrate a commitment to environmental stewardship.

Vitaliy Gutsalo and Greencity Development LLC has certified 177 4-star single-family townhomes in Seattle and Shoreline since 2019. Their homes feature energy efficient designs and performance, infill developments in walkable transit-rich neighborhoods, attention to indoor air quality, and locally sourced materials.

George Newman, Barghausen Consulting Engineers, Inc.

Associate of the Year

The Associate of the Year award is dedicated to non-builder MBAKS members who have made an impact on the association and its work.

George Newman has 30 years of experience working in agency management, business development, land use planning and land development consulting. He is the past chair of MBAKS’ Developer Builder Issues Council and regularly participates in the Residential Builders Council meetings and the Housing Policy Committee.

Traci Tenhulzen, Tenhulzen Residential

Exceptional Service Award

The Exceptional Service award is given to an individual who makes an outstanding contribution to the building industry and has a long-term commitment to serving their community.

Traci Tenhulzen is the incoming 2023 MBAKS Board President and has always been incredibly committed to the success of the association and its members. She is equally dedicated to the Building Industry Association of Washington and National Association of Home Builders at the state and national levels.

Melissa Irons, Irons Brothers Construction

Remodeler of the Year

The Remodeler of the Year award is presented to leaders in the remodeling industry, who display an exemplary talent in their work.

Melissa Irons of Irons Brothers Construction has been a trusted remodeling contractor in the Seattle area since 1999. She is an active member of MBAKS and its councils and has held many leadership roles within those councils. Irons Brothers Construction was also the recipient of the 2022 REX Kitchen Excellence, More Than $145,000 Award.

Northstar Electrical

GRIP on Safety Excellence Award - Gold Level

The GRIP on Safety Excellence Award – Gold Level recognizes candidates with following criteria; candidates must have a recordable incident rate of 25% below the state industry average in the current year, have had no L&I workplace serious citations or serious injuries resulting in in-patient hospitalization over the past three years, submit an application form with a self-assessment score of 90% and must objectively demonstrate through employee interviews, site visits and document reviews that their safety program meets or exceeds performance goals identified on application form.

Owner of Northstar Electrical, Rob Kingsley, is actively involved in safety programming, allocating safety resources, conducting onsite job walks-through, and recognizing employees for good safety behaviors. Northstar Electrical currently has a Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) and Days Away, Restricted, Transfer rate (DART) which is 25% below the state industry average, has not had a worker’s comp claim in the last two and a half years and has an Experience Modification Factor (EMR) below the industry average at 0.61. All of these metrics are incredibly impressive and reflective of Northstar Electrical’s commitment to providing a safe workplace.

2022 GRIP on Safety Excellence Award - Silver Level

The GRIP on Safety Excellence Award – Silver Level recognizes candidates with following criteria; candidates must have an Experience Modification Factor (EMR) below 0.8, have had no L&I workplace serious citations or serious injuries resulting in in-patient hospitalization over the past two years, submit an application form with a self-assessment score of 85%+ and must objectively demonstrate through employee interviews, site visits and document reviews that their safety program meets or exceeds performance goals identified on application form.

• Pacific Earth Works WBE
• Plantscapes
• Synapse Construction
• Tenhulzen Residential
• TerraFirma Foundation Systems

Todd Levitt, Murray Franklyn Family of Companies

Builder of the Year

The Builder of the Year award doesn’t just go to members with exceptional building capabilities, but to those members who go beyond and are leaders within the industry.

Todd Levitt of Murray Franklyn Family of Companies has been involved in land acquisitions, entitlements, and developments for more than 20 years. Most recently he has been working closely with our Government Affairs team to tackle tree and property rights issues. In addition to his service to our industry, Todd also volunteers in the community, working with the Boy Scouts of America, Habitat for Humanity and Doxa Housing. He also serves on MBAKS’ Board of Directors, currently ending his tenure as 2022 Immediate Past President.

MBAKS Hall of Fame

The purpose of the MBAKS Hall of Fame award is to honor people who have made significant and lasting contributions to our association.

Paul Bogel

Paul Bogel’s involvement with MBAKS began in 1984. He has been involved in several committees and councils, held the office of Secretary on the Executive Committee for two terms and was the Finance Director on the Board from 2016-2019.

Sandy McAdams

Sandy McAdams was the first female Board President of MBAKS and led the charge to form the Professional Women in Building (PWB) Council. To celebrate her legacy, each year MBAKS recognizes outstanding PWB council members with the Sandy McAdams Woman of the Year award. Sandy remains an inspiration to the next generation of women builders and industry leaders.

For more information on this release, contact Stephanie Giralmo at sgiralmo@mbaks.com

About MBAKS

Founded in 1909 and headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties (MBAKS) is the nation’s oldest and largest local homebuilders association. Like our founders, our members continue to take a leading role in all facets of homebuilding and support the planning for a growing region. From new technology to advances in sustainability, from collaborative public policy efforts to investing in our communities, our commitment to a thriving, inclusive and well-planned region never wavers. We are the professional homebuilders, architects, remodelers, tradespeople (carpenters, framers, roofers, plumbers, electricians), planners and engineers, suppliers, manufacturers, and sales and marketing professionals in your community who believe everyone deserves access to a healthy and productive place to call home.

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It feels different here. We're at the office, talking shop. Moving past the acoustic guitar and AC/DC record (yes, record), you get a sense that these guys and gals are doing something cool and modern—so modern, in fact, that the industry has yet to catch up. It makes sense that there's a guitar in the office because this team strums to the tune of their own chords, setting new standards in homebuilding and daring anyone to do the same. Welcome to Green Canopy Homes.

BEATRICE (THEY NAME THEIR HOMES)

We're on the roof of "Beatrice" now, overlooking Lake Washington and Bellevue on one side, with a clear shot of the Smith Tower in Seattle on the other. But enough about the view—we're standing on top of building science. The guts of this home will soon be filled with enough gadgetry to wow even the most ardent tech geek, delivering cleaner air, more efficient heating, and an overall sense of innovative superiority.

Driven by the Built Green® checklists, along with meticulous Quality Control Inspection Checklists (QCIC) of their own, every Green Canopy job site is synchronized via iPads that deliver real-time project management tracking and communication. This process ensures that critical updates are made and that any mistakes don't happen twice. It's all about getting better here, from process to parts. Better homes lead to a better brand, which in turn provides validation for that tree logo on the front of each Green Canopy-certified home.

"That tree logo," by the way, is there for much more than feng shui. Turning residential homebuilding innovation into an industry strength is made possible by Value, Innovation, Beauty, and Efficiency, or VIBE, the way Green Canopy sees it. Their brand is secured—not grounded—by these four "roots," seen literally on the face of each home, welcoming owners and guests into the future of home living. And if a home doesn't meet the rigorous checklists, then it doesn't receive the logo. In other words, this brand delivers.

THE GENESIS OF BETTER BUILDING

Let's take a step back to a sleep-deprived evening in 2008. Owners Aaron Fairchild and Sam Lai had both recently welcomed their newborns, and through their giddiness came the idea for Green Canopy Homes. After trademarking their moniker, they went to work on answering a simple question: Are we making a difference? Heady question, but these guys wouldn't have it any other way. They're looking to create history.

Of course, history is defined by change and nobody knows that better than this crew. They don't throw history out, however; in fact, they embrace it in all its past beauty. Case in point; each project they take on comes with the name of an iconic and typically historical female figure. "Beatrice" is named after Beatrice Simms, founder of Seattle's chapter of Colored Women's Clubs. Each project's story continues long after the team leaves, too, as Lai envisions his future homeowners living, laughing, and growing up healthier and happier inside their Green Canopy home.

After a familial chat with the project managers, in conversation outside of Beatrice, Lai finishes his point on home efficiency by comparing vehicle MPGs to home efficiency ratings. "Hopefully my kids will think about their home MPGs in the same way (as their vehicles')," he says, almost as an afterthought. "I guarantee you they will," quips Fairchild, never one to miss a beat. The attention to detail is strong.

Those who know Aaron Fairchild may know his father, who knew everyone. Aaron worked at his father's bank from 1995 to 2008, refining his financing skills and using his area residential homebuilding experience to put investors in a place where they could succeed and do so without sacrificing values. One day, at the height of the financial crisis, Fairchild decided it was time to enter the real estate industry. Why? Human reasoning can be a tricky thing to grasp, but a simple analogy sums up his thought process: this was his chance to build something beautiful from the crash.

CHANGE WAS COMING

Of course, cultivating said change means planting the right seeds in the right place. In this case, it means building sustainability in the cultural center of the Northwest, the greater Seattle and Portland areas. Green Canopy has sprouted roots in some of the most visible and dense areas of the Puget Sound region, spanning a diverse price range. Built Green-certified homes, like the ones Green Canopy specializes in, now make up 57 percent of all residential homes built in the soil-rich Seattle area. The roots of change are spreading—must be all the rain.

BACK TO THE FUTURE

At the Earth 6 property in Delridge, consisting of six detached single-family units, Fairchild fervently points out features, describing the living area as "Volkswagen luxury," inside the well-sealed envelope construction of the home. Green Canopy projects that go on the market in the low $400,000 range, such as the Earth 6 units, contain features not typically found at that price, and both Fairchild and Lai are quick to point out that they have had help in being able to spread the technology around. In steps the Washington State Housing Finance Commission (WSHFC), without whom, Green Canopy would not have been able to build the Earth 6 homes the way they wanted to. The WSHFC has helped builders like Green Canopy deliver deep energy efficiency to homes of all shapes and sizes, allowing lower-end residences to experience the joy of high efficiency ERVs, eco panels, and 230 percent more efficient heat pumps creating compressed energy with the intensity of "high schoolers on the dance floor" (another Fairchild classic), just like they do inside million-dollar homes. In WSHFC, Green Canopy sees a like-minded ally, not afraid to think outside the box and take measurable risks to achieve their mission. In their own words, green innovation within the building industry typically "hasn't been a strength," though Fairchild and friends are working on that.

It helps, too, that everyone on the team actually talks the talk when it comes to living green. Lai literally lives and breathes his product, living in a home he collaboratively designed and built himself. Hanging around the crew, especially Lai and Fairchild, it becomes immediately apparent that they really do mean it when they say they want to change the residential homebuilding industry—whether everyone likes it or not.

Cue the chatter of neighbors opposed to modern "monstrosities" being erected in their neck of the woods. Fairchild combats allied neighborhood fronts by simply sitting residents down and talking to them like the people they are, and giving them some say in what they have to look at every day. The loudest typically direct the majority at these gatherings, Fairchild points out, so Green Canopy gives individuals the option to go online and fill out a survey on features like exterior color and roofline shape, which will then influence the design direction Green Canopy takes. The home is then built according to plan—with slight alternations to paint and slope.

When asked whether or not this is enough to satisfy opposed residents, Fairchild counters the clash with reason: "We hold meetings for existing residents even before buying the property, to talk with them and see if building there (in a particular neighborhood) would be a good fit in the first place. If we think it is not right for us, we explain that another builder will eventually buy this land, and they probably won't engage the community at all."

Fairchild also discusses obstacles within the rebuilding process, explaining why he and Green Canopy have moved away from full-gut remodel projects: Persistent frustrations with an elongated plans review process of remodel permits have in the past delayed projects to the point where they "just aren't worth the trouble," he says. Ever the mender, however, he has recently taken a seat on the MBA board, where he hopes to further influence political decision-makers in our region. By engaging the public and manning the front lines of influential industry committees to squash issues before they become problematic, Green Canopy is winning before nail one is hammered.

Inevitably, when one tours a Green Canopy home, the question arises: "Can you do this for us?" With a few more of those questions answered, things won't feel so different anymore.

Cue the guitar.

The Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties (MBAKS) held our annual Snohomish County Elected Officials Reception on Wednesday, June 17 at Rosehill Community Center in Mukilteo. The event drew elected officials and other local leaders from throughout the County and gave us a chance to thank them for their leadership and willingness to work alongside us on behalf of housing.

Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin, Marysville Mayor Jon Nehring, and Lynnwood Mayor George Hurst joined a panel discussion on how implementation of middle housing state laws is going in their communities, moderated by Snohomish County Builders Council Chair Ian Faulds of Sanbell.

The mayors shared insights on lessons learned related to middle housing development in their cities, as well as lessons from other cities they're applying to their own. Panelists spoke about the importance of aligning regulations with their long-term planning to provide more predictability, advancing permit streamlining measures, and establishing a culture in city government that views housing as a priority.

Mayors Franklin, Nehring, and Hurst also shared where they see the greatest opportunity for cities and builders to work together over the next few years, and what success would look like for housing in their cities. All three mayors agreed it is vital to engage and partner with the building community in this work. They described a vision for the future that meant more residents could afford to live and work in their communities, with housing options available to families and individuals at all stages of life.

MBAKS's Executive Director Jerry Hall rounded out the program by encouraging local leaders to consider all policies through a housing lens.

In case you missed it, view our takeaways from the event and our new middle housing resource to learn more about MBAKS's work on lowering barriers to middle housing options in the County.

Thanks to all the elected officials and MBAKS members who attended and helped make it a fun evening! If you missed this event, there's still time to register for the Seattle Builders Council Reception — July 29, 5:00–7:00 p.m. at Courtyard by Marriott Seattle Downtown/Pioneer Square.