Little green shop on the corner

It will be the first of its kind in Sacramento, so they wanted a name that really nailed it. They considered “Sustainability Complex,” but scratched that: too Freudian. “Green Central Station?” Nope: lacked pizazz. At one point the three friends joked they might just have to buckle down, head to a bar and drink their way to a consensus. Suggest a name, chug a beer. Last man standing had the final word.

But it didn’t come to that. Josh Daniels of Green Sacramento, Scott Blunk of GreenBuilt Consulting and Construction, and Micah Baginski of LJ Urban amicably—and soberly—settled on “Green Living Center” as the perfect moniker for their hub of three businesses committed to green building and sustainable lifestyles.

On Monday, March 3, GLC’s doors will open at 1931 H Street, the current home of real-estate developer LJ Urban, which is making space for the new roommates.

Midtown’s Green Living Center will offer Sacramentans convenient solutions to green-building issues. Thinking about a green remodel of your home? GLC is your place. Looking for wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council? They’ve got it. Interested in infill development or the LEED-certified Washington Neighborhood housing project in West Sacramento? Check and check.

“The center’s bringing together a gravity of likeminded people and it’s going to bring more attention to the green movement,” said Baginksi, construction manager for LJ Urban.

Until March, Daniels will be hauling carpet tiles, organic cotton bedding, cork flooring, recycled glass countertops, non-toxic paints and more from Green Sacramento, his green-building supply store in north Sac, to the new digs. The Midtown location’s smaller than Daniels’ current 2,000-square-feet showroom, so “it’s going to be a bit of a challenge,” he said. “But it’s worth it to be in the Midtown area.” His customer base is, after all, primarily urban.

“This has always been the spot where he belongs,” Baginski agreed.

The move won’t be quite as daunting for Blunk, of GreenBuilt, who up until four months ago, headed operations out of his West Sacramento home. His construction company grew from one employee to eight since its inception in 2004, so the Midtown move from their current temporary abode in Folsom is the next logical step. Once settled, the company will continue to focus on balancing health, comfort and safety with respect for the natural world.

“I love that green building is science-based building,” said Blunk, who has a mechanical-engineer background. “It’s an intellectual pursuit, as well as a values-based pursuit.”

Green building is also a necessary pursuit, as Daniels will attest. Several years back, while remodeling his house, he discovered that eco-friendly products were hard to come by. He started his store in March of 2005 to fill this void, opening his business on a shoestring budget and with a simple conviction: “Hey, somebody’s got to do it.”

And the general public has arrived as well. A decade ago, green building was considered fairly radical. Now, Senators Clinton and Obama, NBC and even Raley Field and Loftworks are in on the act. It’s an issue everyone can rally around.

“I’d say we’re just about on the verge of the masses getting it,” Daniels said of going green. “Instead of complaining about a problem, green building is a solution.”

The solution will soon be at our fingertips, right in the heart of Midtown.