Judy Martin recently sent me some great press about her new biz, Green Home Consulting. I have included the press she got at the end of my blog. I asked Judy to write about what was happening to her personally during the roll out of her new biz last fall. You’ll understand why I think she’s one cool, courageous lady… and a single mom of two fabulous teenage daughters to boot.

Janet,

Here is my story! I have a family history of breast cancer so I have always stayed on top of the annual diagnostic screening and added the breast sonogram to the process 3 years ago. Although BC always was in the back of my mind, I am so healthy (my doctors have called me a “poster child” for good health) that I never really expected to hear those fateful words from the radiologist after my annual screening.

At that time, on the career front, I had been building my new business, Green Home Consulting, for about a year and had been actively working for several months on Westchester’s Global Warming Task force to develop a County Action Plan. In early October, I launched my website, greenhomeswestchester.com, for my new business, including announcing it to one and all, and planned a marketing effort around my new brochure. The business was really well received and there was a lot of excitement around its launch. On the night of October 25th, which was the day the radiologist told me there were areas of concern on my routine mammo and sonogram, I gave my first one hour lecture on green home building at a local nature center. Having to concentrate on giving a long lecture kept me from thinking about the bad news! Then with the tentative diagnosis, everything with my business came to almost a complete stop. I suddenly found myself scrambling for biopsy and MRI appointments, consulting with a seemingly endless stream of specialists when the BC was confirmed, doing research and, most importantly, seeking the support of a broad group of friends and family. The BC became a full time job—and I am also a single mom of two young teens whose normal lives I was trying to maintain as well as I could.

During the earlier part of the fall, I had been very involved in getting my daughter’s learning issues diagnosed and attended to and so also had been very busy with specialists and educational testing as well as working with her school to change the way she studied foreign language. Fortunately, although that process had consumed a lot of time in September and October, it had just fallen into place at the end of October and things have worked out very well for her. My girls were scared about what was happening to me and could feel my stress, but we tried to keep things as normal and low key as possible. Once I decided to wait to have the surgery until January 4th, we knew we could enjoy Christmas as always and then we took a glorious trip to Rome for a few days. The memories of that wonderful trip sustained us all during the difficult days of recovery, post-op decisions and treatments in January and February.

I re-launched my business on February 26th, the day of the Westchester County Action Plan roll out—still tired but mentally rarin’ to go. I was a panelist on the green households panel, which was very well received. Things have been busy every since.

Life and the future look different to me now. During the darkest hours of that four month period, it seemed as though the time would never come when I could put the BC behind me. Then suddenly, the process (other than breast reconstruction) was over. I’ve made my choices and decisions and now must look forward with fingers crossed, knowing that I have done the best for myself that I can. My words of advice to women facing similar issues? 1) It is essential to get second and third opinions, even though it is time consuming and draining, 2) get breast sonograms—mammograms don’t show some kinds of tumors, and 3) keep a broad group of family and friends informed about what is going on with your cancer on a regular basis—they want to help and not enough can be said about how important of a role they play in one’s recovery.

All the best,
Judy

The Guru of Green Households

– By Bill Lawyer –

Among the nearly 400 participants at the Westchester County Global Warming Action Plan Conference at Manhattanville College last month was Rye resident Judith Martin. Martin, along with four other environmentalists, participated in a well-attended and well-received panel discussion on the subject of actions households can take to reduce global warming.

Martin, the principal of Green Home Consulting LLC, knows of what she speaks. Formed less than two years ago, Green Home focuses on the growing interest in the home building and remodeling marketplace for environmentally sensitive homes in Westchester and southern Fairfield counties.

As explained on the company website, Martin coordinates and oversees the construction process, encouraging homeowners, builders, product suppliers and architects to incorporate as many environmentally sensitive steps as possible. She’s the “wedding planner” of the home building field. If she succeeds, the end result of her advocacy is a marriage of comfort and cost-effective green design, systems and materials.

A simple example is a project where the architect had put the children’s playroom above the garage, with a bathroom far from the boiler. On her advice, the final plan included much more insulation than originally called for, and an “on demand” water heater at the bathroom. The result was significant energy saving.

Depending on the homeowner’s interests and desires, Martin’s work can range from a full-scale “green” approach to earn Energy Star, LEED or other “green” certification to a “shades-of-green” plan that is significantly more energy efficient and less toxic than historical norms.

She encourages her clients to see the “big picture” of green households, which includes such things as daylighting, landscaping, rainwater retention, and semi-pervious driveways. Clients are urged to make up a “green budget” and to design their house so that more green features can be added at a later time if they can’t be afforded right away — solar hot water panels, for example.

Following a career path that started as an investment banker with Goldman Sachs, Martin began home renovation projects for herself in the late ‘80s, and began taking on jobs for clients in the ‘90s. One of her first jobs in 1993 was a “gut renovation” of an 1875 house near the harbor in Mamaroneck. The existing house was, as she puts it, “ripped out to the studs” and the floor plan rearranged. And yet the original character of the historic design was retained.

In 2002 she built a large colonial home on Greacen Point Road in Mamaroneck on the footprint of a smaller house. Part of the project involved providing a conservation easement for wetland on half of the two-acre property to the Westchester Land Trust.

Martin’s “aha” moment came about two years ago when she realized that she could combine her skill and experience as a house construction and renovation specialist with her passion for environmental conservation — and the Green Home Consulting business was born. Her projects can be all-inclusive, or various aspects can be “bundled.” With her help, homeowners can really drive the “going green” engine in the coming years. Clients often come via word of mouth.

Practicing what she “preaches,” Martin recently hired a firm to conduct an energy audit on her own early 20th century home in Rye, where she‘s been living since 2004. As a result of the audit, additional attic insulation and air seals of the windows, doors and basement pipe and wiring holes have yielded a 20% reduction in her natural gas use.

Her latest project, which is just in the beginning stages, is to work her “green magic” on everything from the drywall in for a new house in Connecticut.

As for the future, Martin intends to become certified for the US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) projects, and with the NY State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) on energy projects. Already the depth and breadth of her expertise is very impressive.

In the short term, she’ll be actively involved in promoting awareness of green home possibilities, through the Rye Environmental Advocates, local garden clubs, and continued involvement with the Westchester County Global Warming action plans.

More information about her projects and home-related topics can be found at www.greenhomeswestchester.com.