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Contact |
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4121 1st Avenue South
Seattle, WA 98134
map
Telephone: 206.682.7332
Fax: 206.682.8275
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Hours |
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Monday through Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.*
Saturday: 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.*
Sunday: 11:00am to 5:00pm
*The Paint Center and Warehouse close 30 minutes prior to store closure.
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Events |
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Sharing The Not So Big Life Blog |
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We’ve created a new version of the classic chain letter—a “chain book!” We purchased 250 copies, and set up a “pass it along” program to spread the word about Ms. Susanka’s great ideas to 1,000 or more people. What’s the connection between ecohaus and the new book? In addition to Ms. Susanka’s analogy of our personal lives to building or remodeling our homes, we believe both ecohaus and The Not So Big Life help people create balance in their lives, direct focus on quality over quantity and improve, in the most holistic sense, our most valuable assets—our homes and our lives.
- Tim Taylor, CEO
Visit our Sharing The Not So Big Life Blog to learn more about the program, give or receive a book and to share your thoughts with other readers. We will also keep you up to date on a special invitation event with Sarah Susanka in the future.
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History |
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The Environmental Home Center grew out of a little despair and a lot of hope back in 1991. Company founder Matthew Freeman-Gleason was building homes near Seattle at the time. He had spent many years in the building trades, as a carpenter, a contractor and a wooden boat builder. But with each passing day, he found it more difficult to go to work. Whenever he looked at what he was helping to create, he thought about the huge price it was exacting in terms of environment and human health.
At the same time, Freeman-Gleason saw houses and the built environment as an enormous forum for positive change. If even a fraction of the world's construction and remodeling could be done in a sustainable way with environmentally sound products, the benefits would be staggering. He knew that such products existed, and he knew that few people had good access to them and the knowledge of how to use them. When he set out to learn why, everyone he questioned gave him the same answer: "'Green' products are more expensive than conventional ones, and they don't work as well." Now he had a mission: to find sustainably made products that would perform as well and look as stylish as conventional ones without costing more.
Freeman-Gleason spent months doing research and testing products, and in 1992 he and his wife, Alison, opened the first Environmental Home Center store in an 800-square-foot storefront on Bainbridge Island, Washington, just across Puget Sound from Seattle. By 1995 the business had outgrown its space on Bainbridge Island, and the store moved to a spacious 12,000-square-foot showroom, office and warehouse in downtown Seattle. As more and more people became interested in "green" products, more companies joined Environmental Home Center on the path it had forged years earlier. But the store remained on the cutting edge of the industry, offering top-quality merchandise and service, plus candid, credible information about every item it sold. To Freeman-Gleason, it has always been more important to provide facts about his products than to push an agenda on his customers.
Environmental Home Center remains committed to that philosophy today. In 2000, the company added several members to its management team in anticipation of significant and rapid expansion. Timothy Taylor became President and Chief Executive Officer and Michael Alfstad joined the company as Chief Operating Officer. Both left top executive positions at large companies and invested their own money in the store because of their commitment to its mission and confidence about its future. The company also changed its name to Built-e, Inc. With a strong management team and a set of ambitious new goals, the company that began as a pioneer in the field of sustainable environmental building materials will continue to lead the way to a sustainable future.
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SEATTLE
4121 1st Avenue South
Seattle, WA 98134
206-315-1974
800-281-9785
PORTLAND
819 SE Taylor Street
Portland, OR 97214
503-222-3881
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