Simple Construct is a partnership between Rebecca Tasker and Mike Long, who met in art school in Brighton, England and have been working together, in one way or another, for over 25 years. Our backgrounds in art (sculpture, printmaking, and installation art) led us to careers in art management in Boston, MA. Mike ran a large art supply store and Rebecca ran a non-profit contemporary art gallery. After being too cold for six years, we moved to San Diego, CA. The move created an opportunity to redirect our careers back toward the hands-on making of things.

For Rebecca, this led to an entry-level job in construction, helping to build a spec home in Mission Bay. After too many trips to the landfill, Rebecca began to research more sustainable ways to build and found straw bale building. With the opportunities provided by Alan Schmidt of Distinctive Builders, Rebecca began building with bales. When Mike saw how much fun she was having, he decided to join her. Building with bales led them to learn about natural plasters, which they became passionate about.

Through attending international, national, and local conferences and workshops and becoming more involved with the growing straw bale community in San Diego, we have expanded our knowledge of straw bale building and natural plasters. In 2007, to help us define and articulate our goals as strawbale and natural plaster professionals, we formed Simple Construct. In 2010, we earned a general contractors’ license, which allowed us to further expand our services. In 2011, Rebecca joined the Advisory Board of the California Straw Building Association (CASBA) and took over as editor of their Journal. In 2013, Rebecca earned the Building Performance Institute‘s Building Analyst and Envelope Professional certifications in building science. In 2017, CASBA awarded Simple Construct the “Traveling Straw Dog Award” in recognition of the furthering of straw building in California. In 2018, a home that we designed and built was the first residence in Southern California to receive Net Zero Energy Building certification through the Living Building Challenge. Our project was one of the last buildings to be included in the NZEB program before it was changed to “Zero Energy” (ZE), a streamlined version of the certification aimed at recognizing zero energy use buildings more quickly and easily. 

You may have noticed that our license number changed in June of 2019. That’s because Simple Construct became a Benefit Corporation. We restructured our business to reflect and embed our values. As a Benefit Corporation, although we are a for-profit company, maximizing profits is not our only consideration. We have written into our articles of incorporation that:

“The specific public benefit of this corporation is to preserve the environment and improve human health by reducing the embodied-energy, consumption, toxicity, and carbon footprint of construction through the use of local, natural, and carbon-sequestering building materials.”