Vital Systems is a broad-based company with the support of a large community of professionals that can be brought together on any project. Our work process allows us to focus on our client relationship and quality handicraft as our highest priorities.

Who We Are
Vital Systems Natural Building & Design is headed by original founders Tim Owen-Kennedy and Bill Camp. Tim is our resident designer, instructor and contractor. He has worked with ecological materials and designs for over 10 years and is a vital member of the natural building community in Northern California. Bill has been a carpenter, home builder, and a business owner of a 120 employee company. He is a master and teacher of the Japanese game Go. He currently handles the financial and legal oversight of Vital Systems.

 

A typical Vital Systems building crew is composed of project managers, artisans, apprentices and consultants who help make our clients' visions a reality. Our crew is uniquely talented and diverse, and quite unlike a stereotypical commercial building crew. We maintain a diversity of gender and background, with coworkers from Mexico, Canada, Europe, the all parts of the US. Many of our project managers are licensed contractors in their own rights.

Our Collaborators
We enjoy working with innovators and experts within the natural building community. Past collaborations have included award-winning architects Christopher Day, David Arkin and Anni Tilt, innovative engineers Bruce King and David Mar, consultants such as moisture expert John Straube and strawbale and earthen plaster pioneers Bill and Athena Steen. Our deep connections within the larger Ecological Development community allow us to stay abreast of new techniques.

Where we work
We are a bioregional company with centers in the San Francisco Bay area, Davis and Ukiah. The majority of our work is in Contra Costa, Alameda, Marin, Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino counties. We can coordinate job sites in remote rural settings and urban centers alike. While we prefer to work within our region, we will consider working farther afield for especially interesting projects.