Russ: This is The BusinessMakers Show, heard on the radio and seen online at thebusinessmakers.com. Today's show I'm coming to you from Austin, Texas and the topic is building products, but not ordinary building products. We're talking about earth friendly building products, because with me my guest is Zach House, co-founder of House and Earth. Zach, welcome to the BusinessMakers Show.

Zach: Russ, thank you for having me.

Russ: You bet. Well let's start by you telling us about House and Earth.

Zach: Sure. House and Earth is a green building material retail store. We focus primarily on interior finish house, like things Florien cabinetry, countertops, paint sealant, adhesives, but what makes us unique is that all of our products are either high recycle content, or they come from rapidly renewable resources. We have a very big focus on indoor air quality. All of our products from the fore end of the cabinetry are made with very low emitting stain sealants, adhesives, topcoats, etcetera. We have some of the strictest criteria in the world right now for emission content.

Russ: Okay, real cool. Now, you toured me around here and when you started off saying green building content, I'm sure some of our viewers were thinking, "Yeah, that's what everybody's saying now"

Zach: That's right.

Russ: But I got to tell you Zach, this store seems to be extra serious about it than your normal green construction product store that I'm familiar with.

Zach: No, absolutely, we take great pains to make sure that every product that we carry in here meets very strict third party criteria. We put our brand at the forefront of our business operations and the second we lose that credibility, I think we shouldn't be in business.

Russ: All right. Tell me a little bit about, why would they come in here? Why would they feel good about using your products?

Zach: Sure. Well, not only are our products good for the Earth, but they're very high performing products.

Russ: Okay.

Zach: We do a lot of product research, make sure that they're gonna compete with the traditional high performing products that you can find in any hardware store, any home improvement store in the country. On top of that, a lot of our stuff tends to be Artisan manufactured and so it's very unique aesthetics, very well made, very cool unique products.

Russ: That's real cool. Now, you've been up front with me and I think everybody knows that when you go to products like these that there's so much care in their design and the future of the product, how it's gonna wear and tear and what it's gonna do to the Earth.

Zach: Uh-huh.

Russ: You end up expecting to pay a little bit more, right?

Zach: Yeah, sure. People think though that just because it's a green product, you're paying more.

Russ: Right, right.

Zach: But the reality is that these products are coming from smaller Artisan manufacturers for the most part.

Russ: Yeah.

Zach: It is psych premium, which you're getting that performance that's gonna last you a lot longer than a lot of the traditional products on the market right now.

Russ: Okay. Now, I chose to stand where we're standing right now, because I think these, this is Cork Flooring, right?

Zach: That is Cork Flooring, uh-huh.

Russ: Are just some of the coolest looking flooring pieces that I've seen. Tell us about Cork Flooring. Does it wear out? Does it stain?

Zach: Sure. So, Cork Flooring is coming from the cork oak tree, it's a rapidly renewable product. Performance wise, it's a much warmer feel underneath your feet, it's a lot easier on your body to walk on.

Russ: Right.

Zach: It's between carpet and hardware. Durability is used in a lot of residential applications, not so much commercial applications.

Russ: Uh-huh.

Zach: Because unlike some of your hardwoods, or your stone tiles, it can get damaged a little bit easier. Nonetheless, we tell people, it depends on who's using the product. If you have five kids running around the house or big dogs -

Russ: Right, right.

Zach: - maybe not the product for you.

Russ: Right.

Zach: However, if you're gonna put it in a kitchen, or a living room, where you're not gonna have those issues, then it's a fantastic product.

Russ: Okay and you carry other floors, other than Cork, right?

Zach: Sure. We carry a lot of different flooring. We carry hardwood flooring, hardwoods that are coming from sustainably managed forests. We do reclaim hardwood flooring, linoleum, which is a rapidly renewable and very durable product and then we do high content recycled ceramic and porcelain tiles as well.

Russ: Okay. Now when you mentioned linoleum, you said a rapidly renewable product. What's that mean?

Zach: So, rapidly renewable is defined by a lot of different third party rating systems, for instance, a lead rating system by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Russ: Right, right.

Zach: As a product that is from planting to harvest to manufacturer, in ten years or less.

Russ: Okay.

Zach: So think Cork -

Russ: Right.

Zach: - which comes from the cork oak tree every ten years.

Russ: Right, right.

Zach: Or bamboo, harvested every six years, as opposed to an old growth Brazilian hardwood in South America.

Russ: Okay. How is linoleum a rapidly renewable product?

Zach: So then the main contents in linoleum are wood flower, or a cycled content.

Russ: Okay.

Zach: Linseed oil, which is a rapidly renewable species.

Russ: Okay, real interesting. I had this great tour. Tell our audience about some of the other primary products that you sell here at House and Earth.

Zach: Sure. So we do flooring that we just discussed. We do a lot of decorative backsplash tile, a lot of high content recycled glass and ceramic decorative tile.

Russ: Okay. That people use for what?

Zach: Interior of showers.

Russ: Okay.

Zach: Backsplash.

Russ: Okay.

Zach: Anywhere where they just like a nice accent piece.

Russ: Okay, okay.

Zach: We do cabinetry. Our cabinetry uses no added urea formaldehyde plywood's, very little emitting in adhesives, stains and sealants.

Russ: Okay.

Zach: We do countertops, a lot of very cool countertops options. We do paint, sealant, adhesive, very low VOC, if not zero VOC.

Russ: And what's VOC?

Zach: VOC's are volatile organic compounds.

Russ: Okay.

Zach: These are the compounds in the adhesives and the paints that you use, which would be an off-gas and into your home for up to 12 years. A lot of it is known human carcinogens.

Russ: Wow.

Zach: And so there really is a correlation with these products in our homes.

Russ: Okay.

Zach: And increasing rates of cancer and adverse health effects.

Russ: Okay, so the paints that I see, actually over there, do not have VOC's?

Zach: That's a completely zero VOC paint.

Russ: Okay.

Zach: It's actually a complete non-toxic paint, which a lot of paint lines can't claim.

Russ: Okay.

Zach: VOC's are only smog forming compounds. A lot of other carcinogenic compounds that come in paints that you'll find at every home improvement store in the nation.

Russ: But wait, you said, smog causing compounds?

Zach: Smog forming compounds.

Russ: Wow.

Zach: Are what VOC's are defined as by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Russ: Okay, wow. So okay, and you've only touched on what's in here, but before we run out of time, this is all about being your own business person. How long has House and Earth been in business?

Zach: We've been in business for 14 months now.

Russ: Okay, 14 months. So we're still pretty new.

Zach: Absolutely.

Russ: But man, you got nice retail space, in cool part of Austin, Texas. How is it going?

Zach: It's going great. We experience the obvious hurdles that any startup are going to experience.

Russ: Sure, sure.

Zach: We're in a pretty bad economy at the moment.

Russ: Yes, we are.

Zach: We're still very optimistic. We're getting our name out there more. We're seeing a lot more response and we can be, we can have a brighter future.

Russ: Okay. So before I let you go though Zach, tell me about the formation of the idea. I mean, this isn't just a normal kind of hardware, construction product store. Where did it come from and you have a partner, it's and a partner that did this, right?

Zach: Exactly. My partner, Scott Kuriak and I have been actually running with this idea for about four years now.

Russ: Okay.

Zach: Since initial concept came to us.

Russ: Right.

Zach: The initial idea was, why couldn't there be the whole foods concept applied to the building industry.

Russ: Ah, okay, pretty cool.

Zach: There's been this concept of green building for a long time.

Russ: Right.

Zach: And we thought, let's check it out.

Russ: Right.

Zach: The more we explored it, we saw that other companies were doing it very well, not necessarily in Austin, and so it seemed like a natural fit for the demographic here in the city.

Russ: All right, well it's impressive and now we're gonna keep watching you to see how well you do and congratulations on what you've done so far.

Zach: Thank you so much, Ross.

Russ: And Zach thanks for being a guest on the BusinessMakers Show.

Zach: I appreciate it. Thanks for having me.

Russ: You bet. That's Zach House, co-founder of House and Earth and this is the BusinessMakers Show, heard on the radio and seen online at thebusinessmakers.com