“MY FATHER IS THE MIND BEHIND ALL OF THIS, I’M JUST AN INSTRUMENT, THE FIRST FOLLOWER BEHIND IT.”
—Donald Nicholson | Chief Executive Officer
"Climate science is a political issue. Money isn’t. Everyone wants to save money," Donald says. "So our thesis became: the holy grail of green building is chasing economic reward through reducing your energy footprint." For Nicholson and Sun, that means aligning sustainable design with real-world economics.
“The game is the same: get the best energy performance at the lowest cost." And that’s why he resists the “ green ” label altogether. “Green gets into environmentalism that can become political. I think the better word is ‘smart.’ Wasting energy is not smart.”
Building Science with a Practical Edge
DON NICHOLSON | FOUNDER & SCIENTIST
Nicholson and Sun’s approach to building science is as strategic as it is grounded. "We actually try to use the most common off-the-rack materials possible," Donald explains. "Because they exist at scale, they cost less, and subcontractors already know how to use them." But that doesn’t mean the work is standard. “What we do is use those materials differently. That is building science - rethinking how the pieces fit together.” That mindset crystallized during their first net-zero home at 91 Baker Avenue. "We employed techniques we were pretty sure no one was doing. We knew we were being the tip of the spear. Even if the ideas didn’t work, the point was to try."
"When in doubt, we always go back to our mission: convincing as many people as possible to change how they approach building homes - and we think the best universal wedge is improved cost." Donald pushes back on assumptions that green building requires niche materials or smaller footprints. "The idea that you fix our carbon footprint by making everyone live in smaller houses is short-sighted," he says. "People are going to build homes in all sizes.”
S P E C I A L E D I T I O N 70
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