Getting a nod for sustainability was Julie Jensen’s goal before she even began building Echoview Fiber Mill in Weaverville. She knew the best route was through the LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) green certification program that recognizes the best in environmentally friendly buildings.
“Everyone told us we wouldn’t get LEED certification because it’s tough to get, and the building requirements cost a lot,” says Julie Jensen, owner of Echoview. “I don’t know if I would do LEED again. But at the time, it was the easiest way to say that we believe in sustainability.”
Jensen’s efforts were rewarded in June, 2013, about a year after the mill began operating: Echoview was named the first manufacturing mill in the United States to be Gold LEED Certified (the second-highest designation). The certification resulted from the mill’s features such as solar energy, a geothermal well, and sustainable materials.
But it also resulted from Jensen’s forward thinking. She was so determined to get the rating that she hired consultant Shelley McPhatter, President of BridgePoint General Contracting in Raleigh-Durham, at the outset of the 18-month building process. “She did all the record keeping and helped make decisions about the materials we wanted to use,” says Jensen.
She also hired architect Steve Schuster, FAIA, founding principal of Clearscapes, a design firm in Raleigh, and J.S. Clark & Co., a general contractor (now closed) in Mount Airy, North Carolina, experienced with LEED properties and textile factories.
LEED sets a high bar, says Jensen: “You have to keep the land that the building is on, as much as possible, like it was originally. We kept every tree.”
Only a limited set of materials can be used. For instance, tainless-steel grates are required at each entryway, to limit the tracking in of debris and pollutants. “It’s things like that where you don’t have a lot of choice,” notes Jensen.
Applicants only get one chance to apply, says Jensen: “If you really want to score high, you have to start even before you build. We lost points because we took down a house on the site ourselves before we started designing the building. Even though we took a lot of the materials to Habitat for Humanity, we got no credit for that.”
Occasionally, Jensen second-guessed herself for taking on such an ambitious endeavor: “There were many times I thought what a crazy thing I’d done — many times. But I come from a family of business people and farmers in Iowa. If you farm, you gamble every day. So, just because something’s hard, doesn’t mean you don’t do it.
“And I’m an upbeat person,” she adds. “Often things that are hard are the most worth doing.”
Bringing textile manufacturing back to North Carolina in any form is no small feat. From the 1920s through the 1990s, the state was the national center of the textile business, particularly cotton mills. Then global outsourcing began, and the industry collapsed to rubble. Boutique operations, such as Oriole Mill in Hendersonville and Echoview, have a chance of renewing the state’s proud textile history in a modern, sustainable way.
A tax lawyer by training, Jensen spent 20 years in nonprofit community development. After her husband died, she and her two children moved from D.C. to a farm in Weaverville. Jensen had friends in the area, and her children had gone to camp in Brevard. “I loved all the music, art, and the mountains,” she says. She took several classes on community mills and found herself faced with opportunity: “I had angora goats on my farms and no place for their fiber. So I thought there might be an opportunity to do processing for myself and for the other farmers. I liked the idea of adding value to farm products. Now I have 30 alpaca, 35 goats, and two angora rabbits.”
Despite the hardships of jumping through LEED hoops, Jensen believes it has already reaped rewards: The building won the 2012 COTE Award, given by the North Carolina chapter of the American Institute of Architects for sustainable building (the acronym stands for Committee on The Environment). “We’re very proud of that award because we didn’t expect to get it — it’s not usually won by manufacturing sites.”
Jensen also feels that the LEED certification persuaded Appalatch Outdoor Apparel Company, previously sited in the River Arts District, to move into the Echoview building last April.
“We would have moved there regardless,” says Appalatch co-owner Grace Gouin. “But LEED certification gives us a great marketing tool. People understand when we tell them we’re LEED certified. It’s impressive and completely in line with the mission of the company.”
The two businesses do not have a formal partnership. But both are excited about the ways in which their business can benefit each other — and the environment. Gouin notes that after the oil industry, the apparel industry is the second-largest contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions. And after farming, it’s the second largest polluter of waterways worldwide.
“We’re creating a commercial version of farm-to-fashion,” says Gouin, who shares the company’s ownership with Mariano deGuzman. “We too hope that we’re helping the local farmer grow his fiber flock by finding a final outlet for that end product.”
Appalatch has just purchased a 4,000-pound knitting machine. “We needed space and the power to run it,” says Gouin, explaining the move to Echoview. “And to have part of the energy come from Echoview’s solar panels and to be working with like-minded people who are also doing manufacturing is a dream come true. And we’re an in-house customer for Echoview’s yarn, and share the looms that are already there. Plus, the building is beautiful and calming. “
Jensen feels much the same. “We hope to spin yarn for Appalatch sweaters with our new machines. And since no transportation between us is involved, we lessen our carbon footprint. And Appalatch will be able to make their custom-fit sweaters with almost zero waste. That’s very unusual in the textile industry. It will show people what can be done.”