About Us
Carl Donovan, Founder and Managing Member
HHP, GPA, ASHRAE, BA, RW Born into a “real estate and rocket science family”, Carl’s carpenter’s-apprenticeship was complete by age eleven, when he fell through a roof during a shingling job. Carl got his “MBA” before age ten, selling hand-made trinkets to tourists on the streets of the French Quarter in New Orleans. Though he went on to take a Bachelor’s Degree in art from Eckerd College in St Petersburg, Florida, Carl was never able to get far from the “trades” and has spent the bulk of his adult life renovating and remodeling houses. In 2005, Carl developed the idea that would become Conservation Pros. The concept was a simple one; retrofit the existing housing and light commercial stock with a focus on Comfort, Durability, Safety and Energy-Efficiency. He set about learning everything there was to know about energy efficiency in houses and light commercial structures as he began employing what he was learning in traditional renovation work. In April of 2007, Conservation Pros, LLC was officially formed. Every year since has produced triple-digit growth. More importantly, in those years, Conservation Pros has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 700 metric tons, and saved North Carolina’s residents nearly $90,000 in annual energy costs. Carl lives in West Asheville with his wife, Samantha and their two sons Dexter and Lucas.
Robert Price, Project Manager
Robert has spent the past 5 years in Asheville’s growing green building scene. He has experience in several aspects of high performance home construction. Including working on NC Healthy Built homes, as well as insulating and rating them as a HERS ( Home Energy Rating System) rater. He has advanced his knowledgee of building science with classes from The Southface Institute in Atlanta, the Green Building Council, FLIR, and the Energy Office of NC.
Holding a degree in Fish and Wildlife management he has long worked to preserve both the natural and built environment as a research assistant and private land manager. Robert is also finishing a degree in environment ethics. He has also managed several of his own remodels as a homeowner, and understands the need for contractors to respect the needs of those who live in the homes they work on. Robert is an assistant Scout Master, a member of the WNC Green Building Council, The Wildlife Society, and the Appalachain Trail Conservancy. As the project manager at Conservation Pros, Robert will be your primary point of contact throughout the duration of your home performance upgrade. He will ensure that your home or building receives the personal attention it deserves.
Rick Bayless, Building Analyst CIEC, HHP, BA, HVAC Journeyman Rick brings a wealth of environmental know-how to your doorstep (and then up into your attic, down into your crawlspace, through your living space ,and outside around your house). “No one’s ever done such a thorough inspection of my house before. I’ve learned so much about my house from Rick’s visit. I feel I should be paying you guys more for this.”, are the comments that we continually hear from our clients. Rick was bred to be the best at what he does: From his achievement of the rank of Eagle Scout in his earlier days… to his earning of the Woodbadge leadership award as an experienced Scout leader with the Boy Scouts of America ( www.scouting.org ). From his environmental degree with studies in what seems like every subject that ends with “…ology” from Rutgers University ( www.rutgers.edu )… to confirming his mastery of indoor air quality as a Certified Indoor Environmental Consultant with the American Council for Accredited Certification ( www.acac.org ), and the Indoor Air Quality Association ( www.iaqa.org ). From his confirmation as a Healthy Homes Practitioner through the National Environmental Health Association ( www.neha.org )… to his presently working to bring additional indoor air quality assurances as a Certified Lead Inspector and Certified Lead Risk Assessor through the National Center for Healthy Housing ( www.nchh.org ). Rick brings along this wealth of knowledge as he helps each of our clients find the best solution to every improvement need they may have in their home, at their workplace, or in the places they meet. He has always placed himself in the trenches of the battles being fought on the fronts of making things better as they ought to be. That’s where you’ll find Rick, literally in the trenches. “It’s usually in those hard-to-get-to areas of the home that you’ll find the source of many of the energy, safety, comfort, and health-related problems.”, Rick says. And, on the subject of another unrelated but often-asked question, yes, this Rick Bayless cooks some of the best Mexican dishes in areas this side of Chicago.
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“This was a superlative experience. I’ve become rather jaded about contractors, but Conservation Pros has gone a long way towards restoring my faith in service providers. They were punctual, extremely knowledgeable, professional, meticulous with their work, and very careful to contain all dust, debris, trash, etc. The attention to detail was impressive: I watched the mechanical room sealing basically from start to finish: I didn’t think some parts of the area could be sealed at all, but they accomplished it effectively. The air sealing made a noticeable difference after the first day of work. To reiterate: I was very impressed, in particular, with the extreme attention to detail. They took great care to seek out the smallest crack, etc., attacking it with expanding foam. I had paid another contractor about 2 years ago to do some air sealing of "can" style ceiling lights. This work was not done correctly, and I was not aware of that at the time. They showed me what had not been done right the first time, and showed me (patiently) the process they used to rectify the problem. I like to watch at least part of work being done, largely to learn about what a contractor does, and why they do it. Watching these guys was a pleasant experience. I’m only rather sad that they don’t do other types of work. I’d put them on retainer.” Victor D
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