earth-friendly design
ALTERNATIVE BUILDINGS FOR CHANGING TIMES
A company in Washington state has tripled sales each year since 1995 — satisfying buyers who are happy with their domed, tent-like structures called yurts.

Mary Harrington

What would you do if you wanted to buy a house but were not willing to mortgage your life away? If you are Jenny Pell and Will Hays of Poulsbo, Washington, you combine an age old building style with modern techniques and materials to create a sustainably built, environmentally friendly, affordable house. You would even launch your own business called Nesting Bird Yurt Company.

“Will and I think it’s so ridiculous that people have to take on a 15 to 30 year mortgage to get a house,” explains Pell. “That, combined with the fact that conventional building has such a negative impact on the environment through resource consumption and energy usage was the reason we began to research our alternatives. In the early 1990s, we wanted a living space that exemplified our idea of sustainable living. We researched our options and decided to build a yurt,” relates Pell.

For centuries yurts have been used by the nomads of central Asia. The domed, tent-like structures are valued for their easy assembly and disassembly as well as their ability to protect inhabitants from the harsh environment. Asian yurts traditionally have skins or felt stretched over a collapsible wooden lattice frame. More modern canvas covered yurts have begun to appear in U.S. campgrounds and as vacation homes. Their decision to build a yurt came after having seen one. “We’d been in a yurt before and since Will and I both have wood working experience (and Will has sail making experience), the concepts and materials used to make a yurt were familiar to us,” Pell relates.

NEW BUSINESS START-UP

At the time they were talking about an alternative living arrangement they were also examining their job situations. “We found ourselves spending hours commuting to jobs,” Pell recalls. As we built the yurt, we decided we needed to change our work situation also. By the time the yurt was finished, I had quit my job as a helicopter pilot and Will had quit his job as a boat builder. We built the yurt at an organic farm so we worked the farm and did projects to make ends meet while we tried to figure out how to make a living that was good for people and the planet.” As it turned out, their experiment to build a sturdy, affordable house held the answer to their quest. Various friends were so impressed with the yurt, they asked Pell and Hays to build yurts for them.

These requests prompted them to evaluate the option of creating a yurt building business. “I figured if I was going to throw my life energy into something it might as well be something essential, and if it’s essential, I wanted it to be environmentally friendly,” Pell states. “I also knew a market existed for the type of high end yurts we wanted to build.

“Once we decided to pursue yurt building as our new chosen profession, we sought financial advice from a good friend who owns a successful, sustainably oriented business in Port Townsend, Washington. His first advice was to write a business plan; his second was to subscribe to In Business magazine. We did both,” Pell recalls. The business plan was completed in 1995, and the pair attracted investors to provide seed money for Nesting Bird Yurt Company. Personal loans also helped them get started. “We knew we had to start small and were wary of taking financial support from anyone who didn’t support our methods or motives. We make high quality yurts with low environmental impact, and we pay the folks we work with a living wage. That’s our idea of sustainability,” Pell says with a smile.

WHICH MATERIALS TO USE?

Pell and Hays have worked hard to combine use of high quality materials with low environmental impact. Hours of research go into choosing the most appropriate materials for Nesting Bird yurts. “Some of the green products we’ve tried have been tremendously successful, others have been miserable failures. We are constantly reviewing and experimenting with products in an effort to improve our operation. The company would have turned a profit years ago if we hadn’t been so committed to using environmentally friendly products,” Pell relates.

Products that have worked include low toxic finishes and adhesives, recycled content plastic insulation and sustainably harvested wood. “Finding environmentally correct wood is an on-going process,” continues Pel. “Products that have not worked for us include hemp, water based finishes and organically grown cotton. The hemp has too loose a weave and is very water absorbent; the water based finishes did not provide adequate rot and mildew resistance; and organic cotton is still too expensive for us.”

LOW-COST STRUCTURES

All the research and experimentation have resulted in structures that are environmentally friendly and that are comparatively low cost. Two other big selling points for Nesting Bird yurts are design flexibility and portability. The yurt can rest on a raised platform, a rammed earth base, a concrete base (with radiant heat as an option), or on structural panels. Nesting Bird yurts are available in different sizes with a variety of windows, doors and configurations from which to choose. The clip on wall system, simple door frame connections, and easily managed lattice sections make the yurt easy to assemble, disassemble and transport.

WHO BUYS THESE YURTS?

The customer base for Nesting Bird Yurts is diverse and growing. Business has tripled every year since 1995 with customers from all over the country and a growing international clientele. Many live in their yurts year round; others use their yurts as vacation homes, offices or studios.

Commercial contracts are on the rise this year. The bulk orders keep workers busy and the expanded market exposes more people to these functional structures. Clients include a cross country ski resort, a Japanese resort, ecotourist organizations in Israel and Chile, a school in Colorado, Girl Scouts of America, churches, retreat centers and individuals.

Obtaining building permits provides educational opportunities for building officials as well as for Pell and Hays. “If any of our clients need help with permits, we are ready and willing to help them work with the building officials. We have found that building officials tend to be open to permitting a yurt, but it’s a new concept for most of them so we are very prepared and completely professional when we meet with them. By the end of the meeting, they know we know what we’re doing,” Pell says.

Along with encouraging conversations about permit issues, Pell is interested in reexamining building code requirements. “Current building codes promote toxicity and energy consumption. Our yurts have a much lower R value than a conventionally built structure, but they require much less energy to heat. The low toxicity of our materials also makes the indoor air quality of our yurts much more healthy than conventionally built structures. We feel this is an idea whose time has come.”

Nesting Bird Yurt Company can be reached at www.nbyurts.com; (360) 779-3338; fax (360) 779-3380; email jenny@nbyurts.com.