Susan Colwell

MyGreenCottage President and CEO, Susan Colwell began as a regional custom home builder in Northern Virginia when “green” still described color.
Disappointed with the quality of most new home construction, Susan looked to the past to make cutting edge advances in her custom homes. By combining building science with nature, she used traditional products to construct energy efficient homes that conserve natural resources.

As the concept of MyGreenCottage took shape, she and Executive Vice President, Jim Hueser, collaborating with National Project Manager, Paul Puryear, incorporated the principles of organic, responsible living, volume-discount pricing, low overhead and lean construction practices to create affordable, high-performance, non-toxic structures. The result is residences, multi-family dwellings and office buildings perfect for those with chemical sensitivity or those who simply want to breath healthy indoor air, save money on utility bills and help the environment.

Today, MyGreenCottage builds eco friendly homes and commercial structures all over the United States. The MyGreenCottage team works inside a virtual business community, offsets corporate travel with carbon credits and utilizes paperless systems and online meetings to reduce its carbon footprint while helping others reduce theirs. Working and meeting from their respective homes, team members read books together and engage in weekly online conferences that are designed to educate, empower and uplift.

Being a family-friendly company is something that is very close to Susan’s heart. “Humans are communal by nature. I am convinced that it is the separation of family and the individualistic nature of today’s society that breeds much of our discontent. I encourage my team to honor their families and their own health first. By doing that, they help others lead happier, healthier lives by example.”

Members of: The USGBC, Virginia Sustainable Building Network, National Association of Women in Construction, National Association of Home Builders, The Green Building Initiative and the Northern Virginia Green Building Committee