Designing Wellness In with Christy Howell of CRH Design Build Everyday Green Home

Lately, I’ve been talking about health and wellness and how much it impacts our living environment. That means how we design, build or remodel a house or building, how we live in it, and how we interact with it. 
I’m Marla, the Green Home Coach! For the last few months, I have hosted one of my business partners on the podcast. It has been exciting to build a group of people who care about how people live in their homes! 
Today, I am happy to have Christy Howell of CRH Design Build back on the show! Christy has been on The Everyday Green Home podcast several times before. I have enjoyed connecting with her and watching how she has progressed with transforming her business and how she shows up in Oklahoma and Oklahoma City as she learns more!
Mainstream culture
I moved back to Oklahoma City six years ago after living in St. Louis, where I got deeply involved with the sustainability culture. In St. Louis, the green culture eventually became part of the mainstream culture through work with the regional Chamber of Commerce. I loved being part of that evolution!
People care about their health
Christy and I have discovered a fair amount of interest in the green and sustainability culture because people care about their health. That is important because people’s health and how they live their lives blend.
Crafting the story
Oklahoma is very conservative. That sometimes closes people off from hearing the whole story. So we have learned to craft the story in a more meaningful way. 
Professional Women in Building  
Professional Women in Building is a council of the Homebuilders Association and a national council with the National Association of Homebuilders. It is all about supporting women in the building industry, trades, and the ancillary industries around the building industry. 
Like-minded go-getters
It was fun and inspiring bringing Professional Women in Building back to Oklahoma City because it brought together a group of like-minded go-getters who were all parts of the building industry! Some great personal and professional relationships have emerged from that group. 
Build My Future
Professional Women in Building was the genesis of, Build My Future, a construction career day for high school students. The Construct My Future camp for middle school students also came about after that.
Christy’s background
Christy started her career in interior design about twenty years ago. She was working for a homebuilder when she decided to spread her wings and open a design firm. After that, she moved on to her current design form, CRH Design Build. Christy is gradually educating herself as she educates others about her type of build.
A healthy home
With a wellness-inspired design aspect, a home built with a solid envelope creates a healthy home.
Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF)
Insulated Concrete Forms are well-insulated life-sized Lego blocks used to create the envelope for solid, energy-efficient, health-oriented, air-tight, comfortable homes.
Mechanical ventilation
ICF homes are air-tight, so they require mechanical ventilation. (Affordable options are readily available.)
Remodels
Remodels tend to be more expensive than new construction. 
My home remodel
We brought Christy in to do our home remodel. (Before that, she consulted with me about remodeling her parents’ home.) Being each other’s clients has been insightful for both of us! Our rebuild was green-oriented, and we also brought in some sustainability factors. Fortunately, we managed to salvage many of the old materials and donated them to be reused by those who needed them.
Why did we remodel?
Our main driver for remodeling our home was health and wellness because we spend a lot of time there. Another reason for our remodel was that during Covid, my husband and I started cooking together, but we soon discovered that our kitchen was too small.
Challenges
Some things were challenging to do. We had to work with supply chain issues, and