Casey Curtis

Aiki Homes Receives Envirostars Highest Rating!

05-05-08

Aiki Homes, a leader in Sustainable Design & Construction since 1992, has recently been awarded EnviroStars highest rating of 5 stars. This is our opportunity to show that our business practices go beyond others in our industry.

EnviroStars is a progressive environmental certification program for businesses. A 5 Star Certification demonstrates that you are a proactive leader, committed to preventing waste and spreading an ethic of environmental responsibility.

To further educate and be an example Aiki Homes recently implemented a "Construction Waste Recycling Agreement" that applicable subcontractors and suppliers must sign and they have signed up to be a founding partner in Sustainable Connections' new business-led community campaign, Towards Zero Waste.

To learn more about the Envirostars program visit http://www.envirostars.org/ or Sustainable Connections "Towards Zero Waste" campaign visit http://www.sconnect.org/zerowaste . For more information about Aiki Homes please visit http://www.aikihomes.com/ or contact Casey Curtis @ 360.715.0700 or casey@aikihomes.com

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Casey Curtis
Aiki Homes

Casey Curtis: Builder-Contractor in Bellingham, WA

Office: (360) 715-0700

Aiki Homes has been a leader in sustainable home design & construction since 1992. If one of our beautiful resource-efficient, healthy homes does not meet your needs, we can help create one for you.

About Us:

Aiki Homes, pronounced "I" "key", taken from the Japanese Kanji meaning "harmony with nature".

An established leader in the green building industry, Aiki Homes certifies 100% of our homes Built Green and Enegry Star. These organizations represent the cutting edge in sustainable building and partnering with them allows us to independently verify and gurantee quality construction and promote features such as:

Conservation of natural resources
Energy efficiency
Indoor air quality
Water quality

All of these features are standard in Aiki Homes.

Custom site design
Advanced framing
High efficiency insulation
Hydronic radiant heat
Whole house ventilation and filtration

Areas of Expertise

Custom Building
Quality healthy spec homes
Radiant Heat
Smaller footprints
Environmentally friendly products & techniques

Testimonials

"From the moment we walked into our first Aiki home, every member of our entire family independently proclaimed, "This is the house I want! I love it!" Even the realtor opened the door and exuberantly shouted, "Whoa! We've reached the next echelon of quality with this builder-look at the quality craftsmanship and attention to detail! This is gorgeous!" Our biggest problem was choosing which one of three Aiki homes available we would choose. The maintenance team is fabulous and have become friends in our community. Our 9-year old daughter is even using one of the green built/eco friendly concepts in her science fair project. We couldn't be happier with our home-we're actually looking forward to winter so that we can crank up our beautiful fire place every night and enjoy the fabulous radiant floor heating. Thanks, Aiki!"
-Sandy Chasteen

"We placed a lot of trust in Aiki and we were lucky to have these ethical, conscientious, and talented builders as our team. We are particularly pleased with the "green" aspects of our home, which also provide an allergen free environment. Aiki has our wholehearted endorsement!"
-Brenda & Steve Sample

"Mike and I were extremely pleased with Aiki's commitment to quality, "being green," and detail in the planning and completing of our house in Sudden Valley. Their leadership, excellent management of your subcontractors, and attention to details I would have never thought to look at made our experience both positive and memorable."
-Pamela Anderson

As home builders, we are so happy to have found such a well built and energy efficient home that we love. Thanks to AIKI HOMES
-Louis & Alyne Anzalone

July 31, 2006

Re: Aiki Homes, Inc.

To Whom It May Concern:

I would like to strongly recommend Rob Staveland & Aiki Homes for construction of any residential project type.

Mr. Staveland has been the contractor on several custom residential projects for us and has performed admirably. In client interviews with other qualified contractors, the clients always picked him. One of the reasons was his hands-on experience in all phases of construction.

Additionally, they are one of the most knowledgeable local firms for using energy efficient and sustainable, non-toxic building strategies. He is also honest to a fault. He likes avoiding conflict by having a very clear understanding of everyone's physical and financial goals. His goal is to always do the right thing. He has shown to be creative at problem solving for the many situations that inevitable come up during the course of construction.

I would be glad to discuss his qualifications with anyone interested.

Sincerely,

Dave E. Christensen AIA, LEED AP
Architect and Planner

21 September 2006

To whom it may concern:

Rob Staveland and Aiki Construction, in 2002, worked on a very extensive remodel of our 1908 South Hill home. Aiki was the general contractor, and the remodel consisted of adding on rooms and changing the interior layout, completely refinishing the entire exterior and interior of the house, and a total remodel of kitchen, bathrooms, plumbing and electricity - all while making a valiant effort to preserve the essential historic character of a once beautiful but very run-down and neglected home. Needless to say we did not live in the house during the year-or-so remodel.

Rob is a very skilled and experienced builder with many years of experience in Whatcom County, both building new homes and remodeling old homes. In addition, though, I found that he has some particular strengths which resulted in a very successful remodel of our home. I will attempt here to describe these.

1) Rob has a builder's, designer's, and engineer's appreciation for the design and build process. He was as or more adept at design than many architects and designers I talked to, with a very realistic and practical approach to what can be built and how. He came up with the ultimate structural design of the rooms we added on, and his solution was better aesthetically and practically than that of the designer or the engineer.

2) In addition, he has a healthy problem-solving attitude about all difficulties that arise (and there were many in our house). Instead of becoming frustrated or stalled by a problem, Rob would always search for and usually discover a practical solution quickly and efficiently.

3) One of the best aspects of having Aiki work on our project was the people involved. Rob is extremely dedicated to finding excellent workmen at all levels. The people working for him were highly skilled, and took pride in their work, and were generally very pleasant to have around. The subcontractors Rob hired were all of high quality, and he managed them well.

4) Rob had a respect for the history of our house and a commitment to preserving its historic character. One of the most successful aspects of the job is that many people say they cannot tell where the new parts built by Rob seam with the old original house.

5) I cannot say that our remodel went exactly on schedule, because there were so many unforeseen and unforeseeable issues that a precise schedule would have been impossible. But I can say that Rob was always here when he needed to be, was always responsive to requests and questions, and always pushed the project forward as much as humanly possible. There were never issues of the "absentee contractor" or of Rob or his crew being distracted by other jobs.

Finally, in all our interactions with Rob we found im tobe unfailing honest and hardworking and very easy to communicate with. He responded very well to our ideas and wishes, and implemented them or had a good reason not to.

I would highly recommend Rob and Aiki as contractors on any residential remodel or new house.

-Betsy Rocks

November 12, 2007

Hey Rose,

Just a quick note to let you know the homes I have inspected and tested for AIKI have been fantastic! You and your company, AIKI Homes, have been very responsive to my suggestions and very involved in learning more for energy conservation and green technologies. Your enthusiasm has been inspiring. As a matter of fact, AIKI homes are the some of the "tightest" homes I've tested in Whatcom County! Its not often that I get to enter homes where the builder really cared about the end user, the actual homeowner. Your homes prove tight for air leakage, energy efficient use of waste and efficient use of recyclable materials and you have added significant air infiltration units where I've asked for.

My main concerns have been for how well the home will perform for overall energy performance. With the use of the unique hot water and radiant floor system which you currently employ, you attain 2 of the greatest efficiencies. Installed cost and sustainable energy efficiency. I applaud you for achieving both, in my vision.

For folks in the market for new homes with Green Built and Energy Star certifications, I would not hesitate to recommend AIKI homes as a first choice.