Juan, a man of few words, puts up siding earnestly. Leo loves to laugh, but he loves his bulldozer more. Leticia is the most grateful person we’ve ever met. She glows ardently for her helpers.

Fervent and dedicated, these three homeowners were familiar faces on a recent Flatirons Habitat for Humanity construction project in Boulder, CO. They were never in search of a hand out, but rather a simple hand up through affordable homeownership.

Very humbly, the BOULD team had the privilege to build alongside the families during their life-changing event, which ultimately came to catalyze the creations of BOULD. BOULD is a mission-driven social enterprise seeking to eliminate substandard housing through green building education. The team behind BOULD consists of Shane Gring, a 25-years-old AmeriCorps VISTA alumnus, Shane Baldauf, a 21-year-old AmeriCorps UCAN Serve alumnus, and Stephen Lepke, a 25-year-old awesome guy. Habitat and AmeriCorps brought us together. We frequently served alongside one another on site and formed stronger bonds as the year progressed. Nevertheless, we repeatedly heard complaints from different demographics throughout our experiences with Habitat:

“We want to build ‘green’, but we just don’t have the support or resources,” cried a construction manager of a local Habitat for Humanity affiliate.”

“This is impossible, but so important to my career!” groaned a young architect, representing the 99.5% of the industry unqualified to build green. “There are no entry-level opportunities to qualify for a green accreditation and join the frontlines of sustainable building design."



Thus, out of these needs, BOULD trains local Habitat affiliates to transform housing projects into structured, green building “classrooms” for career developing professionals and students. In return, program participants pay a tuition fee that is shared between BOULD and the Habitat Affiliate. The additional revenue helps Habitat finance the upfront costs to build “green” homes for low–income families and ultimately makes “green” accessible for all. Most importantly, these “green” homes are even more affordable than traditional homes, as higher efficiencies save people like Leo and Leticia 40% on utility bills alone.

Now two years old, BOULD has grown into a national success that holds the potential to impact hundreds of thousands of low-income partner families, Habitat staff/volunteers, and green-seeking industry professionals. As of April 2012, BOULD has pioneered relationships with Habitat affiliates in seven states (CO, MI, AL, NC, MO, PA, IL) assisted on 20 LEED certified affordable homes, and raised over $20,000 for partnering Habitats by training 150 now LEED-qualified professionals. Because of the recent success, BOULD has been selected for the 2012 Unreasonable Institute, an international accelerator program for companies seeking to utilize business for social or environmental good. Additionally, BOULD has been featured in GOOD Magazine, The Huffington Post, Boulder Daily Camera, and the AmeriCorps Alumni network.

While the initial success and coverage has been pleasantly surprising, BOULD still holds dear the memories of our AmeriCorps service experiences, and we stand firm that any one person, employed by good intentions, will witness their life transform in the service of others.