The Star-Journal reports on a home builder who has long championed building science and is now using structural insulated panels in construction in northern Wisconsin, a place where cold winters are the norm.
When Randy Nilsson first entered the building trades in 1976, he never could have imagined where it would take him. His company, Great Lakes Carpentry in Mercer, is one of only a handful of green builders in the state, and the only one in the Northwoods. Randy has become what he refers to as a “responsible builder.”
Born and raised in Chicago, Randy began his career as a roofer, eventually working his way to becoming a union carpenter. Everything changed in 1995 when his father passed away and Randy decided to move to the Northwoods, settling in Mercer and building a lakefront home.
In 1998, Randy started Great Lakes Carpentry, originally a remodeling business he ran completely on his own for the first three years. In 2001, he became interested in building science, which uses the laws of physics as the backbone to home design.
“When I came to discover building science, I couldn’t go back to doing things old school with a clear conscience, so I started doing things differently early on,” Randy explained.
