Every week, Jennifer Mankins, owner of the Bird boutiques, tells us about the new 2,500-square-foot store on Grand Street in Williamsburg that she’s getting ready to open. Up this week: Contractor Walk-throughs. For a larger set of plans, click through.

Two weeks ago, Ole (architect), Mark (LEED specialist) and Stephanie met with four different general contractors to walk through the space and talk about the bid process. Ole had prepared the preliminary pricing sets an initial set of design plans for the space, which include most of the materials that we have picked out. They are similar to what are called ‘bid sets’, but less detailed. The main reason we decided to do this, to go with a less detailed set of drawings, is time. While the contractors begin to look at the design aesthetic, the major building themes and materials, and become familiar with the LEED requirements, Ole and I can settle on the finer details. Plus, this first phase may actually narrow the field after reviewing the plans and learning about LEED, some contractors may not still be interested.

Because the LEED specifications are so new, three of the four potential contractors have never completed a LEED certified job, and Mark’s concern is that these contractors really don’t know what they’re in for in terms of management and paperwork. To facilitate the bidding process, Mark put together an extensive booklet outlining the LEED requirements particular to our project and specifying exactly how we wanted the bids formatted. This will make it easier to compare the different bids, and ensure that the contractors have addressed all the issues.

We scheduled the walk-throughs for an hour apart, starting at 2 pm. The first to arrive was Danny, a contractor we had previously met during the bidding process for our recent 5th Avenue store renovation in Park Slope…

Although we didn’t end up hiring him for that job, I liked his demeanor. Patient, unassuming and attentive, he listened to all of Mark’s exacting details of the bid format. He measured his words and questions carefully, admitting his lack of experience with green building, but pointing out that he was eager to get more sustainable work under his belt. There was much more to go over than the 55 minutes allowed, but I felt sure Danny would do his homework and take Mark’s suggestions to heart.

Second to arrive, casually late with a tiny paper cup of espresso in hand, was Bill, the contractor who did the demo. He is smart and confident and very familiar with the intricacies of the space at this point. I also like that he speaks fluent Spanish with his crew. I admire his sense of egalitarianism and don’t doubt he can do the job and do it beautifully, having seen examples of his work at a showroom in the city. I do, however, wonder at his ability to play by the rules, specifically the LEED rules. He bristled at Mark’s repeated insistence on going over both the LEED requirements and our bid requirements, interrupting often to debate the necessity of this or that.

Our third potential contractor, Sam, is a believer, dyed-green-in-the-wool. Having never met any of us (he was recommended to us by a blog reader), he was eager to prove his unwavering dedication to environmentally conscious building practices. He bragged about running an entire construction site on solar power and dismissed other contractors’ excuses for being late as lame, saying they wouldn’t have to worry about traffic if they just rode their bike everywhere. The work I’ve seen of his (his wife’s store/café, Get Fresh, in Park Slope) is creative and beautiful, and it’s clear that his first-hand knowledge of green building is extensive.

At the end of the long, very hot day, Evan arrived, calm, cool, and collected. He was even-keeled and very professional, and I could easily imagine working with him. He and his crew just finished a LEED certified carpet showroom in Manhattan, and he seems more than qualified. He efficiently got the information he needed from us and said he wanted to come back later with his engineer after further reviewing the plans and the bid specifics. Perfect? Maybe. Affordable? Maybe not. I guess we’ll know in a couple of weeks.
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