Douglas McDowell calls himself a guinea pig for products most people won’t touch anymore. He’s worked construction for his entire adult life and is still passionate about it, but he looks back aghast at the days when he’d come home covered in asbestos or lead paint. “I just assumed the burning skin and eyes were a part of the business,” he says. McDowell loves being on site even now that he’s the boss, but he used to have to stay away. Insulation made his skin itch and irritated his throat, outgassing of cabinets and carpets gave him headaches, and he’d have to use a mask and fan when sealants and paints were being applied.
That changed about 10 years ago when clients asked McDowell to use non-toxic and eco-friendly products in their home. After seeing the difference he and his crew experienced while building that house, he was sold on the rash-free process. Now instead of formaldehyde or other toxic fumes, McDowell and his employees breathe in fresh air while they work. McDowell jokes that he can sleep on the insulation they install these days. Made from recycled blue jeans, not only does Bonded Logic batting make for a healthier workplace, it also offers a higher R value than fiberglass, he says. This insulation aptly showcases two main reasons McDowell began incorporating green or, as he prefers to call them, healthy products into all of his projects a decade ago. “These green products simply offer better quality,” he explains, “quality in health as well as performance and longevity. They aren’t political products—they’re just good products.”
In addition to enjoying a healthier workplace, McDowell quickly realized that many of these green building systems conserved resources and saved homeowners money down the road, especially those appropriate for New Mexico’s arid climate. Using less water was McDowell’s first step in making the process and the building more respectful of nature’s as well as his clients’ resources. Even if homeowners didn’t take much stock in the healthy house concept, rainwater harvesting made plain common sense in a desert. McDowell developed extensive expertise with various water conservation and waste-water reuse methods and incorporates them into the construction process and encourages clients to install them in their homes. For the 300 days of the year it’s not raining in New Mexico, there’s plenty of sunshine to be harvested, and solar photovoltaic panels are a big part of McDowell’s green philosophy. Whole-house systems are getting easier to install, he says, and most regional power companies credit homeowners for the extra energy they produce.
McDowell balances his use of cutting-edge technologies with a nod to what the past provides in terms of practical solutions. Adobe structures have been keeping New Mexicans cool for centuries, and one common green technology—thermal mass—is an updated version of those thick mud walls. New Mexico builders still frequently use masonry construction, but McDowell takes it a step further. When an architect or homeowner requests thick masonry walls, he’ll suggest products like Durisol ICFs, a system of concrete blocks filled with wood chips that would otherwise be in a landfill, as an eco-friendly alternative that also saves time and money during building. American Clay Plaster, a natural earth plaster material that doesn’t offgas, is another environmental upgrade to a finish commonly used in the Southwest.
