Our Story

What makes a person start a business and why do they pick that business?

We would like to share with you our story in an effort for you to get to know us better.  Looking back, there are three events, built on each other, which led Cassandra Delaune to found Make Mine Green.

First, a personal example, in 2004: A family member of Cassandra’s moved into a 1940’s home after extensively renovations.  The renovations were done with an eye toward improving the indoor air quality and energy efficiency of the home.  Decades-old carpet and wood paneling were removed and replaced with hardwood floors throughout, an old forced-air furnace was replaced with radiant floor heat, a traditional hot water tank was replaced with an on-demand hot water heater and a state of the art air filtration system was installed.  The impact was profound: sniffles, asthma and eczema symptoms of the occupants improved dramatically.  This was her first concrete lesson in how our home environment can greatly impact our health, negatively or positively.

Second, a life changing experience, In May of 2005: Cassandra and her husband Chris moved from Seattle to Biloxi, Mississippi to work with Chris’ family in their residential construction business.  Three months later, Hurricane Katrina swept five feet of water throughout their home.  Although sheetrock dissolved from the walls, exterior brick crumbled to the ground and cabinetry was ripped from the studs, the home was structurally sound.  In December of 2005, Chris and Cassandra decided to rebuild their home and Cassandra become the General Contractor.  She saw first-hand the toxicity of conventional building products and their impact on the health of the people who work with them every day.  Insulation, Paint, Carpet, Pad, Sealers and Adhesives of all types off-gassed to such an extent that there were days she could not enter the home.  When it was all done, in August 2006, she walked through the beautiful, completed home and decided she would never again build or remodel a home using conventional building products.

Last, a paradigm shift, In April 2007: Cassandra attended the USGBC Cascadia Chapters annual Living Future 2007 to listen to Ed Mazria, AIA speak.  Ed launched Architecture 2030, www.architecture2030.org, where he calls for all buildings to be carbon neutral by the year 2030.  This is a lofty goal.  Ed is an accomplished, intelligent, respected architect who focused almost all of his talk on commercial buildings.  Cassandra agreed with Ed and felt inspired by his talk. She then thought to herself, how are we going to get carbon neutral in 23 years with no one addressing the nation of energy-wasting homes that exist?  Since no one appeared to be in business to help homeowners navigate the ever-growing green choices available to them and help make their homes more energy-efficient, that day, Make Mine Green entered the residential realm.