Building Green

Dan Phillips in Huntsville, Texas formed Phoenix Commotion, Inc., a for-profit construction company that builds low-income housing where each project contains at least 80% recycled materials. He's part inventor, part artist and part out-of-the-box strategist. Anyone who's shingled a roof with cast-off license plates, crafted a floor out of wine bottle corks, and made door knobs out of tree branches left in a landfill by a landscaper has my respect as a green builder. He's built homes that run the gamut from a 350-square foot one bedroom that cost the new homeowner - dru-u-u-um-rol-l-l-l - $199 a month! to a 1,000-square-foot four-bedroom that the new homeowner purchased with a $450 per month mortgage! Now that's green building with a conscience.

How does he do it? Hint - he's not above Dumpster diving for home building materials.