Redhorse Constructors Inc. says it is pushing the green building envelope in the San Francisco Bay Area with a slew of high-profile commercial and residential projects.

While many construction firms are just starting to get a grasp on LEED building, one California company is already taking green to the next level. Redhorse Constructors Inc. began as a small remodeling company in 1982 and now takes on large-scale residential projects, primarily in the San Francisco Bay area. Its clients have taken the company as far as Montana and Hawaii on occasion, and possibly the Caribbean in the near future.

The company's specialty, says owner David Warner, is applying green criteria to remodeling projects. This starts with education and determination.

“If you don't have the knowledge of policies and the desire to do it per a sustainable edict, you may be in a situation at the end of the day where it does not afford a green standard,” he explains.

“Our goal is to make projects as green and sustainable as possible.”

Moving beyond LEED, the company is striving toward more stringent guidelines that require a project to be self-sustaining on its land, Warner explains.

This means reusing wastewater and self-providing energy. “As we move forward, in our industry and as a culture, we have to be looking in that direction,” he says.

“There is a whole faction within the [U.S. Green Building Council] called the Cascadia Group. This group is pushing another level, while the first one isn't in position yet. It's a very dynamic situation. The standards are going to be a moving target for a while.”

Green Methods
Redhorse uses a variety of green construction methodologies at its project sites, Warner says. These methods include:

• Recycling existing materials such as timber, windows and appliances from buildings to be demolished
• Avoiding chemicals or pesticides that might leach into groundwater