Hands-on home builder wears many hats

When Robert Lord builds a home, he questions everything -- the direction the sun will hit the house, the placement of casements, the sustainability of building materials.

"I am committed to doing everything 110 percent," said Lord, president of Robert Lord Builders Inc. of St. Charles. "And that is the way I have been from day one. Some call it overkill. I call it a commitment to excellence."

And he doesn't delegate much.

"I am hands-on with everything. I am the architect. I am the interior designer. I have a gift for this so I do it all," Lord said.

"In the end, my clients are not just purchasing a house. They are also purchasing a builder, so I wear every hat and I also educate my buyers so that they know what they should demand."

It is not surprising that Lord, 36, is at the forefront of the green building movement. In fact, he was honored by an industry magazine last summer for his green building innovations in a home in St. Charles.

The home's green systems and products include an underground geothermal heating and cooling system, a building wrap that manages radiant heat in the roof and walls and dramatically reduces energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions, closed-cell foam that surrounds the home's building shell in air-tight insulation; windows that block 99.9 percent of ultraviolet rays, a hybrid septic system that cuts the size of the septic field by half, environmentally sensitive plumbing fixtures and green flooring materials.

"The home at Red Oaks takes energy-efficient, green home building to a whole new level," Lord said.

His dream house: An Old World stone home with a mixture of Tuscan and Spanish influences on the Gulf of Mexico in Florida.

Favorite new home amenity: "I can't pick one. I am passionate about everything. I could find a way to put a drop chandelier in a utility closet."

His background: A native of Glen Ellyn, Lord attended some college, studying mechanical engineering, and he is also certified in automotive mechanics. In 1992, he began remodeling homes and doing home additions, working on his own and for longtime West suburban builder Bob Kettell, whom Lord considers his mentor.

With Kettell's encouragement, Lord began building homes in 1998 and started Robert Lord Builders in 2000.

Last year, Lord earned the Graduate Master Builder designation from the National Association of Home Builders.

Lord builds between five and 10 custom homes per year, ranging in size from 2,000 square feet to "unlimited."

Home prices have ranged from $500,000 to $4.2 million.

Buyer profile: "Up until this year, it has been transferees who work near downtown and need to commute or who travel a lot and need to get to the airport," Lord said.

He has been building primarily in St. Charles, Sugar Grove and Elburn with a few sites in Winfield and Wayne.

"But this year, I have been getting calls from more local people in places like Barrington, the North Shore, Downers Grove and even the city who are interested in talking to me about building a home on a lot they own," he said.

Best part about being a builder: "When you have a client who goes through 100 homes and then chooses you to build their home, that is a true testimonial and the best part for me," Lord said.

"I feel that my gift for building is a reward in itself and as an artist, the homes I build are my renderings that I am leaving behind."

Biggest changes he has seen: "We are now in 'save the world' mode and because of this readjustment or recession or whatever you want to call it, every builder is looking for an angle to get people to buy their homes. So everyone is going to jump on the green building bandwagon much sooner than I had expected," Lord said.

"I also see people re-evaluating the need for 10,000-square-foot houses. They seem to be going back to wanting 3,000-square-foot houses with first-floor master bedrooms."

Lord said he also sees more owners adding that personal touch.

"And I also see people thinking more outside the box and personalizing their home instead of constantly worrying about resale," Lord said.

"They are getting away from neutral colors and going with more unique and wild colors and they are looking to make their home a resort experience by making exceptional backyards, putting lofts above bedrooms and just customizing the experience of each room."

Future plans: Lord said he plans to build no more than 10 houses a year because he does not want to let quality slip.

He also plans to continue to "change the world through how houses are constructed" by giving free seminars as he tries to educate Realtors and others on energy efficiency and green building.