Houghton lake resorter, Building Performance by Design, article, East Bay Lodge, Houghton lake Michigan, TV show, filming

October 25, 2009 Going green’ subject of filming at East Bay Lodge
Lights, camera, action!
By Cheryl Holladay

(CHP) Randy and Lorrie Krause, owners of East Bay Lodge, Prudenville, got a taste of
Hollywood last weekend when their resort was used for the filming of a pilot for a proposed
reality television program focused on going “green.”
The filming project began with an idea of one of their long-time guests, Jason Karbowski.
Karbowski, a contractor from Madison Heights, had taken an energy efficiency class in
Flint, and thought the lodge would make a great site for a reality show on green technology.

(CHP) Before long, through a series of connections, the Krauses were welcoming a TV
crew led by Emmy Award-winning producer Lars Ullberg, as well as the instructor from
Karbowski’s class, and some classmates.
One of those classmates was Rob Riley, who had briefly lived at Houghton Lake when he
was a disc jockey for WJGS/WUPS. Karbowski had been a guest at the lodge over the past
17 years and knew the former owners, Bob and Laura Shea, and he mentioned his idea to
Riley after he had come back from vacationing at East Bay Lodge last summer.
Riley, an instructor in green technology, had gone to grade school with Ullberg in Fox Lake,
IL (a resort area similar to Houghton Lake), and gave Karbowski Ullberg’s phone number.
Ullberg, owner of Entertainment Labs of Chicago and Los Angeles, has produced many
shows for television, and the guys started talking about how great a show on green
technology would be. He said people tend to think going green consists of only high-brow,
academic solutions, like “solar panels and wind collectors,” but that’s not the case.
“Green works everywhere,” he said.
He said East Bay Lodge has a legacy to it and needed a helping hand. The crew had no
idea what they would find. The Krauses, he said, have a personal stake in the project, and
the lodge is a character in the show.
Built 80 years ago by developer Earl Johnson and run first by the Oliver family and then by
the Sheas, the lodge has 27 guest rooms. The log building is in need of some energy
efficiency improvements, such as plugging gaps, improving energy efficiency and
increasing the amount of insulation.
Filming began Friday when an energy audit, blower door test, thermal scan and visual
inspection were performed on the building.
Energy efficiency expert Joe Ludy of Building Performance by Design of Kawkawlin,
prospective star of the show, performed the audit with his crew, Sharon Howell and his
wife, Virginia Ludy.
Ullberg said they discovered “overwhelming heat loss.”
Ludy immediately took steps to improve a few things. He installed a power factor correction
unit (a design he came up with to provide surge protection), called a Kill-awatt, a
component that conditions electricity coming into the building. Other, simple, measures,
can be taken, as well, like installing foam around conduit and installing energy efficient
windows and insulation.
“I liked the idea of using technology and materials to go green, especially with energy costs
so high,” Randy Krause said. He would like to stop diverting his profits.
During the weekend, crew member Dave Woodin, a virtual worlds expert, displayed a
computer mockup of the lodge he created after measuring all the walls. The idea is for
viewers of the show to go on-line and view the computer animation to see various parts –
including “behind the wall” visuals – of the lodge.
Another graphic, developed by producer-director Larry Miller, shows Ludy and his crew
posing under a “king of green” sign.
Ludy said he feels flattered about the prospective title, but he is interested in getting the
message out about helping the environment.
“It’s for the greater good,” he said, adding his company has been focusing on energy
efficiency since the 1970’s. “It wasn’t easy being green back then.”
Miller said the prospective show is a bit more playful than some other home improvement
shows.
“It’s more like ‘This Old House’ meets ‘Myth Busters,’” he said.
He said their show is more reality base, unscripted and natural, and highlights things
people can do least regionally, and perhaps nationally. “We feel like we’ve got a show.”
They will try to pitch the idea, using East Bay Lodge as its pilot project, to cable channels
like Discovery’s A&E and Planet Green.
After three days of filming, the Krauses not only learned about the condition of the lodge,
they had made a new set of friends.
“Oh my gosh – it was a riot,” Lorrie Krause said. “They had a connection with each other.
Over the weekend we built bonds personally.”
She said the crew involved has “humble ambitions” to spread the word about saving
money and energy. The improvements completed in three days alone will make the lodge
more comfortable for guests, she said.

Houghton Lake
Resorter

Building Performance
by Design
"Your energy conservation experts"

CONSERVATION COWBOYS Producer-
director Larry Miller films the title
sequence for the proposed show
Sunday morning on the road leading to
East Bay Lodge. Miller dubbed the bunch
the “conservation cowboys,” ready for a
showdown. Pictured sauntering toward
the camera are (left to right) Sharon
Howell, Virginia Ludy, Joe Ludy, Jason
Karbowski and Rob Riley. Miller and
Executive Producer Lars Ullberg will
pitch the proposed pilot to cable
television stations.

CONNECTIONS Through a series of
connections, starting with longtime East Bay
Lodge guest Jason Karbowski (second from
right), the lodge was the site of filming Oct.
23- 25 for a proposed pilot on building with
energy efficient materials. An idea led to
conversations which led to a phone call, and
before too long, owners Randy and Lorrie
Krause were hosting the production cast.
Pictured are (left to right) Executive Producer
Lars Ullberg, green technology instructor
Rob Riley, Joe Ludy of Building Performance
by Design of Kawkawlin, Karbowski and
Krause.

Phone:
989-414-6699
866-783-4877

Location:
2051 S. Huron Rd.
Kawkawlin, MI 48631