Cascade Built
Cascade Built is a Seattle-based sustainable real estate developer and Passive House builder founded in 2006, delivering multifamily, townhome, and single-family projects that consume up to 90% less energy for heating and cooling, serving homebuyers, renters, impact investors, and developer consulting clients in the Pacific Northwest.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2006
- HeadquartersSeattle, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Cascade Built does
Cascade Built is a Seattle-based sustainable real estate developer and general contractor founded in 2006 by Sloan Ritchie, specializing in Passive House construction across multifamily, townhome, and single-family residential projects. The company pioneered Passive House building in Seattle, completing the city's first certified Passive House (Park Passive) in 2013 and has since delivered a portfolio of award-winning projects including View Haus 5, BASE Capitol Hill, Pax Futura, Solis, and a planned 107-unit development at 24th & Union. Its technical approach combines airtight envelopes, dense insulation, high-performance triple-glazed windows, Zehnder Heat Recovery Ventilators, Cross Laminated Timber, Structural Insulated Panels, and modular prefabrication to deliver buildings that consume up to 90% less energy for heating and cooling while maintaining 100-year building envelopes.
The company's revenue model spans multiple streams: direct sale of completed for-sale townhomes and single-family homes, rental income from apartment buildings, development consulting services for other developers seeking Passive House expertise, and impact investment partnerships with capital providers including HAL Real Estate and Wolff brothers. Distribution is direct-to-buyer and direct-to-renter in the Seattle market, supplemented by a dedicated investor portal. Cascade Built's Passive House buildings reportedly command 19% higher rents than market average and lease more quickly, with cost premiums as low as 3-5% over conventional Seattle construction.
The business serves urban Seattle homebuyers, renters, impact investors, developer clients, and select commercial tenants, supported by a leadership team headed by founder Sloan Ritchie. Cascade Built has earned national recognition including an AIA National Housing Award, multiple PHIUS Passive Projects Competition wins, Green Builder Home of the Year awards, and NAIOP Night of the Stars, positioning it as the region's preeminent Passive House builder with a track record of scaling from single-family infill to large institutional multifamily developments.
Cascade Built firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Cascade Built
- Legal name
- Cascade Built
- Website
- https://cascadebuilt.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2006
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Cascade Built is a Seattle-based sustainable real estate developer and Passive House builder founded in 2006, delivering multifamily, townhome, and single-family projects that consume up to 90% less energy for heating and cooling, serving homebuyers, renters, impact investors, and developer consulting clients in the Pacific Northwest.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Cascade Built industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Sustainable Real Estate Development
- NAICS
- Residential Building Construction (2361), New Multifamily Housing Construction (except For-Sale Builders) (236116), New Housing For-Sale Builders (236117), Residential Building Construction (23611)
- SIC
- General Bldg Contractors - Residential Bldgs (1520), Prefabricated Wood Bldgs & Components (2452)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Residential Design-Build & Renovation-Integrated Builders (IMAFABAE)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Mass Timber & Structural Engineered Wood (CLT, Glulam, NLT/DLT) (IMADADAC), Custom Home Building (IMAFABAC)
Keywords
Where Cascade Built is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Seattle
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Cascade Built business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Real estate development and construction services: Cascade Built develops and builds multifamily and single-family residential properties in Seattle, generating revenue through the sale of completed homes and townhomes, rental income from apartment buildings, and development consulting services for other developers.
- Development consulting: Cascade Built offers development consulting services as a separate revenue stream, providing expertise in high-performance and Passive House construction to other developers.
- Impact investing / investor partnerships: The company engages investors to co-finance Passive House development projects, with dedicated investor login portals and 'Become an Investor' contact channels, suggesting returns shared with external capital providers.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Real estate units (townhomes, apartments, single-family homes) |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
Cascade Built product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Cascade Built is a Seattle-based real estate developer and builder that develops and constructs high-performance multifamily, townhome, and single-family residential buildings certified to Passive House standards. The company's buildings use up to 90% less energy for heating and cooling than conventional construction through airtight envelopes, dense insulation, HRVs, and high-performance windows, and include 100-year building envelopes with fresh filtered indoor air. Cascade Built also provides development consulting services to other developers and operates an impact-investor portal to co-finance Passive House projects.
Product overview
Cascade Built is a Seattle-based construction company specializing in high-performance Passive House buildings that require significantly less energy for heating and cooling. The company offers a portfolio of residential projects including single-family homes (Park Passive, CLTHouse), townhome communities (View Haus 5, SolHaus), multifamily apartment buildings (Pax Futura, BASE Capitol Hill, 1300 Pike), and modular/eco homes (Alley House 2, Valley 3). Projects range from LEED Platinum to Built Green certifications, with Passive House certification being the company's primary focus. The company pioneered Passive House building in Seattle with Park Passive as the city's first certified Passive House.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Passive House Multifamily Buildings High-performance, energy-efficient multi-family residential buildings constructed to Passive House standards, using up to 90% less energy for heating and cooling than conventional buildings and providing 100-year building envelopes with fresh filtered indoor air. Targeted at Seattle renters and investors.
- Park Passive Seattle's first certified Passive House single-family home, designed to reduce heating energy consumption by nearly 90% and meet PHIUS standards. Targeted at individual homebuyers.
- View Haus 5 Seattle's first Passive House-constructed townhome project, featuring five distinct homes designed by b9 Architects with views of the Cascade Mountains. Targeted at individual homebuyers.
- SolHaus Passive House-constructed townhome community in North Capitol Hill featuring Net Zero-ready units with healthy indoor air quality. Targeted at individual homebuyers.
- Pax Futura Rental apartment building with 35 units in the Columbia City neighborhood, consuming up to 80% less energy compared to conventional buildings. Targeted at renters and impact investors.
- BASE Capitol Hill Built Smart mixed-use micro-housing development with 32 furnished studio apartments and ground-level commercial space. Targeted at renters and small commercial tenants.
- CLTHouse Single-family home constructed using cross laminate timber (CLT), one of Washington's first CLT homes, built to exceed Built Green 4-star requirements. Targeted at individual homebuyers.
- Valley 3
- Alley House 2 First LEED Platinum certified modular home in Seattle, a 3-bedroom / 2-bathroom home fabricated by Method Homes and designed by David Foster Architects. Targeted at individual homebuyers.
- 1300 Pike 48-unit Passive House apartment project planned for Capitol Hill's Pike/Pine corridor with street-level retail space. Targeted at renters and impact investors.
- Development Consulting Services Paid consulting service that provides other developers with Cascade Built's expertise in Passive House and high-performance construction methodology, including multi-family Passive House design at a 3-5% cost premium. Targeted at other developers.
Quantifiable outcome
- Passive House buildings use up to 90 percent less energy for heating and cooling compared to standard built buildings
- +6 more outcomes
Companies that use Cascade Built
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Cascade Built technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature5 records
Cascade Built partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- B9 ArchitectscoreB9 Architects (Bradley Khouri) has collaborated with Cascade Built on multiple Passive House projects including View Haus 5 (Seattle's first Passive House townhome project) and the 24th & Union 107-unit project.
- NK ArchitectscoreNK Architects (Nicholson Kovalchick Architects) designed Park Passive, Seattle's first certified Passive House, which won the AIA National Housing Award and multiple other honors.
- Method HomesminorMethod Homes fabricated the Alley House 2 modular home, a LEED Platinum certified modular project. Cascade Built collaborated with Method Homes on this and other modular prefabricated projects.
- David Foster ArchitectsminorDavid Foster Architects designed the Alley House 2 LEED Platinum modular home built by Cascade Built in Madison Valley.
- atelierjones (Susan Jones)coreatelierjones designed the CLTHouse, one of Washington's first CLT-constructed homes, meeting BUILT GREEN 4-star requirements. The CLT House received AIA Seattle Honor Award Honorable Mention.
- Weber ThompsoncoreWeber Thompson designed Solis (Seattle's largest newly certified Passive House) and 1300 Pike (48-unit Passive House apartment project). They co-presented at the 2016 Built Green Conference with Cascade Built.
- S+H Works Architecture & DesigncoreS+H Works designed BASE Capitol Hill (32 micro-studio mixed-use project) and Valley 3 (triad of single family home and townhomes in Madison Valley).
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Cascade Built competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Cover Materials: Emerging tech-enabled prefab builder offering design-to-completion custom homes with a focus on sustainability and efficiency. Partial overlap with Cascade Built's modular/CLT/Passive House innovations but focused on custom single-family rather than multifamily development.
Direct peers
- Hammer & Hand: Pacific Northwest (Portland/Seattle) builder specializing in Passive House, deep-energy retrofits, and high-performance residential construction. Direct competitor in the same Passive House niche with overlapping architect-partner network and similar sustainability positioning.
- Green Canopy: Seattle sustainable homebuilder known for Built Green, ENERGY STAR, and high-performance urban townhomes and single-family homes. Direct competitor for the same conscious Seattle homebuyer segment that Cascade Built targets.
- TC Legend Homes: Seattle-based net-zero and Passive House custom home builder. Direct competitor in the Seattle high-performance residential market with overlapping certifications, customer base, and energy-efficiency value proposition.
- Method Homes: Seattle-area modular prefab builder focused on sustainable, high-performance residential construction. Already a Cascade Built partner (fabricated Alley House 2) and competes for the same green-building developer clients with comparable prefab + Passive House capabilities.
- Plant Prefab: California-based modular prefab builder focused on sustainable, custom and multifamily housing using factory-built components. Comparable in their use of modular prefab + sustainability + multifamily focus, and represents the broader category of tech-enabled sustainable construction.
- Dwell Development: Seattle-based green homebuilder focused on sustainable, energy-efficient urban infill single-family and townhome projects. Competes for similar Seattle urban sustainable homebuyers and uses comparable high-performance construction methods.
Regional players
- BrightBuilt Home: Modular, net-zero home builder operating in the Pacific Northwest (Maine/National). Overlap in net-zero + modular prefab methodology but primarily serves the Northeast U.S., making them a regional rather than direct Seattle competitor.
Market position
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Cascade Built social profiles
Digital presenceCascade Built compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance4 records
Cascade Built financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Cascade Built leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Cascade Built funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Cascade Built M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Cascade Built
What does Cascade Built do?
Cascade Built is a Seattle-based real estate developer and builder that develops and constructs high-performance multifamily, townhome, and single-family residential buildings certified to Passive House standards. The company's buildings use up to 90% less energy for heating and cooling than conventional construction through airtight envelopes, dense insulation, HRVs, and high-performance windows, and include 100-year building envelopes with fresh filtered indoor air. Cascade Built also provides development consulting services to other developers and operates an impact-investor portal to co-finance Passive House projects.
Is Cascade Built a public or private company?
Cascade Built is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Cascade Built founded?
Cascade Built was founded in 2006. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Cascade Built based?
Cascade Built is headquartered in Seattle, United States, in the North America region.
How does Cascade Built make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Real estate development and construction services are the primary driver. The others are development consulting and impact investing / investor partnerships.
Who are Cascade Built's main competitors?
Cover Materials is listed as an emerging player. Direct peers are Hammer & Hand, Green Canopy, TC Legend Homes, Method Homes, Plant Prefab and Dwell Development. BrightBuilt Home is listed as a regional player.
Does Cascade Built have an API?
No public API is recorded for Cascade Built.
What industry is Cascade Built in?
Cascade Built's product category is Sustainable Real Estate Development. Its primary akta.pro industry code is IMAFABAE, Residential Design-Build & Renovation-Integrated Builders, with a secondary code of IMADADAC, Mass Timber & Structural Engineered Wood (CLT, Glulam, NLT/DLT). Its NAICS code is 2361 and its SIC code is 1520.