Ep. 40: Green Minds: Building Healthier Homes

Well, April, thank you so much for joining me on this episode.

I have been eagerly awaiting a moment where I can share with more folks, share more about your work and what you do.

But for those who are not familiar with you or your firm, would you mind introducing yourself and your business?

Sure.

Thanks for having me on this show.

My name's April Magill.

I've been a Charleston resident since 2004 and I'm an architect and I have my own small architectural practice here called Root Down Designs that have been operating since 2011.

And we do a diverse range of projects, but we specialize in healthy and climate smart buildings and building materials.

And I also have a nonprofit organization focused on advancing climate smart and equitable housing solutions, as well as a house plan company focused on smaller, affordable, healthy, pre-designed housing plans.

Given your brand of business and your approach that is very sustainable, what has your work looked like here in Charleston? Have you worked with the city? Have you worked with other municipalities or governments or organizations to advance some of your methods and your practice?

Yeah, we have.

So I've worked on a few different levels from more of a policy standpoint.

I've served on the Charleston Climate Action Plan Steering Committee to help help create the policies that we want to see in the climate action plan when it as it pertains to buildings and housing.

And I've also served on other organizations and boards within the city of Charleston in that same realm to bring a more sustainable mind to the built community here.

I have worked over the years also as I'm kind of a I'm a different kind of architect, I, I sort of dabble in the educational realm as well.

And that's really was the motivation behind starting the nonprofit a few years ago, but I have led community building, educational building workshops over the years as well, both in partnership with the American College of Building Arts, but also independently through our organization.

And really just as a way to promote materials and educate about them.

People can see them and feel them and build with them and see how easy it is.

It's a lot easier to talk about it.

And so we have worked on projects together.

permitted through the city and also in our historic neighborhoods where we've had to also work with our preservation the preservation organizations that really govern these regions and we have been in a lot of conversations with our preservation groups about some of the materials that we're working with that are breathable that are healthy for our historic buildings here in the city and we We really work all over the Carolinas.

We're licensed in both South Carolina and North Carolina.

So we've worked with municipalities in Charleston, outside of Charleston.

We really see some of the, I would consider more progressive work tends to come from our North Carolina regions.

And, you know, everything from small scale looking at materials to a much larger scale bird's eye view of like really thinking about how we should be shaping communities and neighborhoods to be more sustainable.