Green Story

If you ask Nicely Done owner Brian Burris what about his business is green and sustainable, his answer, in short, is "everything". The Hampton-based exterior remodeling company uses all reycled or sustainable products -- be it siding, decking, wood or anything else. And if his customer's decide they want fresh woods such as cedar to adorn their back porch, Burris makes sure that he contracts the wood locally in New Hampshire. He recycles the cardboard from every shipment received, and touts numerous piles of materials from sites which would have otherwise been thrown away, but now wait for use in future Nicely Done projects.
 

Like any construction or remodeling business which touts itself as "green", Burris has to continually covnince his customers that using sustainable products really is cheaper in the long run. "People think that going green is more expensive, but it's not," says Burris. "If anything, it's an investment, and if you can get people to see the big picture, it becomes a lot easier to sway them to buy green."
 

Just as impressive as Burris' green initiatives on the job site is his unwavering committment to sustainability at home. Burris not only composts and recycles extensively; he claims to fill up about a garbage bag every two weeks -- and this for a family of four! Burris also recently invested in a smaller truck, which helped in two ways: one, it got better gas mileage than his previous hauler; and second, he can now simply haul a trailer to a jobsite and leave it there, as opposed to driving back and forth with a bigger truck bed. He even installed a computer system in his truck which monitors emissions and has helped the vehicle get significantly more miles to the gallon. While he hasn’t yet switched to biofuel for his home heating system, Burris maintains that his family only went through two tanks the entire year – a success made possible by the family’s commitment to turn off the basement boiler whenever it wasn’t in use.
 

Burris is currently working on bringing in a local lumber yard into the GA -- one that would ideally be sourcing all of its products locally.