I'd like some feedback on an idea to address housing equity. I'm a licensed architect in Virginia running an 8 person general services firm. Historically, about a quarter of our projects have been residential in nature. I'm in the very beginning stages of organizing a benefit corporation to address the housing equity issue. The company consists of an online retail marketplace to purchase plans created by licensed architects. I'm most interested in plans that address energy efficiency and sustainability through building envelope, material specification and passive solar design. Architects who choose to contribute plans will do so on a consignment basis. Every time a plan set sells, the architect is compensated with one third of the purchase price. Another third is used to run the business, including marketing and payroll. The last third of the purchase price is donated to a non profit working to solve housing equity issues. An example might be a chapter of Habitat for Humanity.
This model is based on the premise that architects have access to many residential designs they have created throughout the years that they retain intellectual property rights for. These plan sets can be used to provide a resource stream for housing initiatives, a higher quality product for prospective homeowners to build in their communities, and a passive income stream for the architects who created the plans. Plans will be sold as a digital download to reduce unnecessary printing and shipping.,
If this idea sounds interesting to you and you would like to connect, please email me at the address included below.
Respectfully,
Pennie Garber
Pennie Zinn Garber, AIA, LEED AP, NCARB
Principal Architect
Lineage Architects PC
98 Lee Highway
Verona, Virginia 24482
Phone: 540-248-3771
Fax: 540-248-1628
Primary email: pgarber@lineagearch.com
Secondary email: penniegarber@gmail.com
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Pennie Garber AIA
Principal
Lineage Architects, P.C.
Verona VA
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