NEWS > MOUNTAIN VIEW BUILDERS IN THE NEWS 03.16.08 They're Going Green Morgan County builder commended for efforts By TRISH RUDDER (trishr@herald-mail.com) Originally printed in The Herald Mail Brothers Mike, left, and Pete McKechnie, owners of Mountain View Builders in Berkeley Springs, W.Va., recently were honored with the 2008 Green Entrepreneur of the Year award by the West Virginia Environmental Council. Brothers Mike, left, and Pete McKechnie, owners of Mountain View Builders in Berkeley Springs, W.Va., recently were honored with the 2008 Green Entrepreneur of the Year award by the West Virginia Environmental Council. (Trish Rudder/Bureau reporter) BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. - Mountain View Builders was named the 2008 Green Entrepreneur of the Year by the West Virginia Environmental Council (WVEC) and recently was presented with an award in Charleston, W.Va. Company owners and brothers, Mike and Pete McKechnie, have been building homes in Morgan County for more than 10 years. The company encourages people to build energy-efficient homes, and it helps them make energy-saving choices, Mike McKechnie said. "Every one of our subcontractors, vendors and employees deserves recognition for their part," he said. "Making this world a greener place and raising awareness for renewable energy technology is not something that can be done by one person, and I am very thankful we are able to work with people that share our vision," Mike McKechnie said. advertisement "The environmental friendliness of the vendors and subcontractors helped us research and brought the products we use to market. We are constantly researching and sourcing out new products that are better for the home and the environment," said Pete McKechnie. John Christensen, WVEC board member and lobby team member for the Eastern Panhandle, nominated Mountain View Builders. He said he was looking for a company in the Eastern Panhandle that represented the best opportunity for the future. Christensen spent a day with the McKechnies and got to see their work. "I came away feeling very positive about their business plan, their philosophy and their work," he said. Christensen said that the average person can afford to live in an energy-efficient home and make a smaller footprint on the power grid. Pete McKechnie said, "We want people to understand the consequences of their choices and give them more environmentally sound options. We want builders to understand with very little change or effort they can incorporate environmentally sound elements into the houses they build." "Our focus is to educate the public and the building community to conserve energy and build healthier homes with healthier products inside them," Mike McKechnie said. "What has changed for Pete and me in the last several months is we more acutely feel the intensity of the environmental crisis, and we are strongly motivated to influence people directly by speaking with any organization or group interested in doing their part to help the environment," he said. "Many of us are aware there are environmental problems. If you want to get together to talk about solutions, contact us," Pete McKechnie said. "This is the time we need to be involved. We need to take action," Mike McKechnie said. "Can we do this? As (activist) Cesar Chavez said, 'Yes, we can.'"