Bridging the Supply Chain, Building, and Innovation – a Conversation with Mark Eckard Owner Founder of Restoration North
I recently had a conversation with Mark Eckard, the Founder of Restoration North, a leading ground-up building materials supplier including foundation systems, passive home door and windows systems, cladding systems, mechanicals, electrical, flooring, cabinets, appliances, outdoor kitchens, playsets, hardware, tools, and more. His thoughts on the homebuilding industry transcend being a supplier to the construction industry. He is a student of building science. Read below and be looking for more insightful thoughts in future interviews, on how Mark sees the offsite industry and the construction industry can be “fixed”.

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Bill Murray Offsite Innovators: Can you tell us about your background and how your journey led to founding Restoration North?
Mark Eckard owner of Restoration North: As I approach nearly three decades of real-world, in-the-trenches experience, I often wonder when I actually started learning to build; I do have pictures dating back to my toddler years of me swinging the hammer! I did grow up in real estate, though, working on rehabs and rentals that my family owned. I started doing everything revolving around building at a very young age. I purchased my first rehab at 21 years old and progressed in that concept, then naturally worked into new construction. During the construction and rehab phases, I realized the design and material supply process was very broken, creating poor results, lots of waste, and building cheap products that corporate America supported. I am the type of person who always wants to enhance and develop better ways to do anything. I learned about the materials and supply industry while forming Restoration North. This led me to develop a high-performance ecosystem of material supply, garnered through experience, aimed at fixing the broken construction industry while driving down cost, increasing performance, and improving efficiency.

Thermal Stud – a Restoration building product
Bill: Restoration North is a material supplier but this has given you some unique insights and has shaped your approach to the commercial and residential building industry. What effects have your experiences on the supply side of the industry had on framing your outlook on the industry?
Mark: The industry is incredibly broken, to say the least. I am not one for doom and gloom, but I am also not one for sugarcoating reality; facts are facts; I didn’t create these facts; they are data-driven and experience-based. There are so many factors that drive this concept, and I see the industry from many facets based on the vast range of data and projects that I am involved in. My hope is that we can drive positive change in the construction industry from residential to commercial. We must increase efficiency and drive down the cost of building while increasing longevity. Reducing our impact on the planet, and creating healthier, more comfortable, sustainable homes is a significant part of changing the stigma of homes being unaffordable.
Bill: Innovation seems to permeate your responses throughout our conversations. Can you give some examples of how innovation has played a role in your past and ongoing efforts to successfully navigate the choppy waters of the construction industry?
Mark: Everything of tangible value is cemented in math and science. I have a deep gratitude for all of the relationships I enjoy with some of the most innovative minds in construction. Some truly game-changing materials we have access to and actively promote and utilize are the way forward. I like to pioneer new concepts by combining them with other proprietary materials and patented technologies to create a massive, unrivaled solution to the many problems plaguing the industry.

Some of those products that work hand in hand are Superior Wall foundation systems, precast in a factory set in a day or two. Coupled with various other high-performance solutions, such as Envirobon’s Thermal Stud product lineup and new panelized products, high-performance window and door systems, and the Unico HVAC system, you have built a bulletproof high-performance home. These are all core concepts for us, and in unison with some other high-performance tactics and goods, you are driving extreme efficiency, increasing your energy performance, and reducing maintenance for years to come, all while reducing costs to build with me as the maestro of the orchestra.

Bill: For builder developers looking to adopt offsite construction practices, what advice would you offer and what pitfalls should they avoid?
Mark: Offsite has various advantages and logistical improvements over site operations. People often get wrapped up in the face value cost, but don’t realize the business cost of their poor operations and poor quality built homes. The main avenues of failure that I have seen in the industry are poor communications, poorly incentivized, poorly trained workforce, lack of systems in place to increase efficiency, inefficient sales pipelines, a lack of education and experience in leadership. Most important is the inability to want to learn, grow, and do things differently, the age-old concept of “This is how we have always done it.” Some really great operators out there are absolutely killing it, and they can still benefit from some of the concepts mentioned earlier. I am a big advocate of teamwork and communication. A rising tide lifts all boats, and as an equal and opposite force, a falling tide will ground those same boats. The last time I checked, running aground has never benefited anyone, so choose wisely and execute with intent.
Bill: Looking ahead, what’s next for Restoration North, and how do you see your role evolving in the construction industry?
Mark: The next steps involve growth, education, and more outreach. We will also focus on building out experiential showrooms to display how our ecosystem of high-performance materials and systems all work together. Seeing, touching, learning, and understanding how these concepts work will advance the educational curve, allowing people to see firsthand the extreme benefits of utilizing better tactics and systems.
Mark is in a unique position as a supplier/builder, selling to builders, but also as a student of building science. His take on the supply chain and its overlooked impact on sustainable affordable housing, will be explored in future interviews.