Homeowner Testimonials

"I want to update you on our experience with our “new” house since we reoccupied it last July and the work was completed in September. Last winter, as you know, was a cold and snowy season. It has been followed by an exceptionally hot and humid summer. The mechanical system and enhanced insulation value you recommended and installed as part of our renovation project, has kept our indoor temperature at comfortable levels. Of equal importance, we have experienced a healthier relative humidity level without the need for a whole-house humidifier and its associated maintenance.

In the past we found that our nasal passages, skin and even hair would dry out in the winter months until we became accustomed to the heat. This heating season, we did not require the typical adjustment period due to the excessively drying nature of oil-based central heat. We have also maintained our comfortable interior living environment throughout this year’s hot and humid summer months. With the benefits of the energy recovery ventilator – constant fresh air with minimal humidity, our air conditioning unit has run only a portion of the day – when the temperature and relative humidity are exceptionally high. Our three zone design allows us to keep each floor at a comfortable level, based upon our various indoor activities and the occupants’ needs.

We were motivated to undertake as part of the renovation project, the extensive replacement of our mechanical system, including duct work, in large part due to our son’s allergies. He has survived this allergy season with only occasional antihistamines. He was on allergy shots for the past 6 years, and it was always planned that he would end the shots this year. We are pleased that he has successfully ended the shots with no negative effects. While our allergist told us that this would be the case, we are comforted to know that we have made numerous improvements in our home that would help anyone prone to seasonal allergies to better survive the allergy season.

Living in Fairfield county, we have seen numerous examples of the area’s high demand for building and renovation services. Many consumers in our area usually base their decision to engage a contractor for these services upon the contractor’s ability to deliver “high quality” – defined as premium finishes and workmanship levels. When Dwight and I decided to undertake the renovation of our home, we had a slightly different set of requirements in mind. We certainly sought the same high quality workmanship, and, we soon came to understand that our eye did prefer premium materials and finishes. However, we were seeking something beyond the aesthetic aspects of the work. We sought, and found in you, a contractor who also understands and delivers premium performance. Given the ever increasing costs of energy, we are very satisfied that we hired you to manage our project. We now have a home that is extremely energy efficient, easier to maintain and pleasant to occupy. We have had numerous compliments on the outcome. Most importantly, we now know that for us there is, truly, “no place like home.”

Kim
Stamford, Connecticut

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"We are truly amazed with our new "No Compromise" home. I can't say enough about how pleased we are with the performance of all the features this house has.

My husband has been plagued with allergies all his life but to date this fresh air exchange and the electronic air cleaner has helped 100%. His symptoms are dramatically reduced, if only he did not have to leave the house. This feature also helps to keep the house a lot cleaner. I've noticed a lot less dust on the furniture. My indoor plants also love it. They seem to thrive in this fresh air.

This brings up another thing I love: The way the house is sited on the property. Mike has placed it in such a way that we do not have a direct hit from the sun. We have wonderful windows that are not only energy efficient but let the beauty of nature in the home without the heat that could come with it. They work such that you can clean them without ever going outside.

My sister loves to visit here for she also is plagued with breathing problems and is up a lot during the night, not sleeping well. When she is here, however, I have to wake her at 11:00 am so we can start our day. She sleeps better here.

The house has a great effect on people for it is bright and cheerful. It has a lightness to it no other house I've owned has had.

Mike could not have picked a more tranquil setting. Even though we are close to a road you would never know it with the way he used the lay of the land to hide that fact.

I happen to agree with one of Mike's philosophies about not having any closed areas such as the basement and attic. Let them breathe and be ventilated like the rest of the house. It makes the whole house usable and healthy. Less mold and moisture the better we all are.

With regard to the oil usage, we used 1182 gallons in Harvard, MA in the winter of 2003-2004 versus 531 gallons at the Redding house in 2004-2005. There is no comparison really, as our old house was not well insulated, drafty, and not at all fuel efficient. We love the house here in Redding not only because of the privacy it affords, but the care you took in building it. It is very air tight, and the fuel oil usage clearly demonstrates that fact.

I hope we can find another builder that has these same principles when we build our retirement home. After having lived in this house I will not settle for anything less."

Bev and Hal
Redding, Connecticut

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"We were surprised and delighted to find in Mike Trolle, of BPC Green Builders, a local builder who not only gave us the kind of house we wanted, but helped us figure out what that was in the first place. His ideas about what a house needs -- and doesn't need -- were invaluable. He even helped us find an architect whose ideas were in sync with ours. Of course, he knows everything there is to know about air quality, energy savings, and the materials it takes to get there, and he took lots of time throughout the process to talk us through areas where our aesthetic and environmental sensibilities conflicted, always with our budget in mind."

"We renovated our house with BPC because we wanted a healthier house -- good air quality and no combustibles -- as well as an environmentally friendly one. We got a real bonus with increased comfort. We first noticed the difference with the air conditioning. Every air conditioned space I've ever been in was so cold that I preferred to turn it off and be hot. Our new system does such a great job taking the humidity out of the air that I can be comfortable at 76 degrees and not have to walk around in a parka."

"Fall has been a revelation, too. Every other house I've lived in has maintained a distinct chill -- and draftiness -- once cold weather came. By late evening I'd be freezing -- I'd climb into bed and have to wait to warm up under the sheets in order to sleep. Now, I simply get into bed and go to sleep! The temperature is so much more constant, from hour to hour and from day to night, than I thought possible. And, the other day, my husband and I decided we'd like it to be a little warmer. It wasn't ten minutes between changing the thermostat setting and feeling the difference!"

"Mike worked very hard to make sure that we were happy with every aspect of the building process, right to the end. Most important (and unlike most of our friends who have renovated), we had complete faith in our builder's integrity. He is extremely conscientious and trustworthy."

Tom and Stacy
Westport, Connecticut

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"It has been a little more than one year since we moved into our new home. In that time, we have been able to compare the experience of living in a high performance home versus the experience of living in our last house, which was built in a conventional manner.

From an energy efficiency perspective, we are very pleased. As you know, our new home is heated and cooled with an all-electric ground source heat pump, which also provides a boost to the electric water heater. Our electric bills in our new house, including space heating in our basement playroom, forced hot air heating and summertime cooling, water heating, and household lights and appliances are not significantly greater than the cost of our gas bill in our last house for natural gas heating and cooking. In the past; however, we also had an additional electric bill, so our total utility savings over time has been significant.

From a comfort perspective, we are very satisfied. The temperature in the house, summer and winter, remains remarkably stable. The cold spots and drafts that characterized our last house are completely absent in our new home. The dry winter conditions and damp summer conditions that characterized our last house are controlled in our new home, without humidifiers of any kind.

From a health perspective, our experience has also been good. As you know, we have family members who suffer from asthma and mold allergies, and we wanted our new home to help control the trigger conditions that affect their health. Since the move, the frequency of attacks for both family members has decreased significantly, and their need for medication has gone down, as well. Without question, our healthy home has played an important role in the improvement of their health. No longer do we spend time cleaning mold from the bathroom tiles and the window frames. The house smells clean and fresh.

In addition to these engineering features, our new home is beautiful! We get many compliments on the design, both inside and out. Bethany neighbors have told us how pleased they are we built a house that respects the traditional New England architecture of an old farming community. BPC also helped us to site our new home for the best passive solar efficiency, light and views, as well as aesthetic use of the landscape.

Finally, we would like potential customers of BPC to know how pleased we were with your company's work as the project manager for our new home. We found your expertise in building science to be of great help in planning the project and in the selection of appropriate equipment and materials. BPC's management of the subcontractors and communication with us always met our expectations. Moreover, BPC was conscientious and ethical in all aspects of the work. We would be pleased to recommend BPC without reservation. We would be happy to speak to any interested customers and answer any questions they may have."

Christine and Monte
Bethany, Connecticut

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"To anyone who is considering building a new home, renovating an existing one, or someone who would just like the comfort of a home that will keep a consistent temperature twelve months a year, then Chris & Mike Trolle at BPC are the men to talk to.

My wife and I Met Chris & Mike in 2001, just as we were beginning the planning stages of our new home. It was immediately apparent to us that they understood the way a home should be built and, most importantly, insulated and conditioned to control air quality and humidity. My largest concern was the home’s warmth and the quality of the air for my children. Chris worked with both my wife and me from the ground up as a consultant who helped us to subcontract for the heating/air conditioning, as well as for the insulation of the home. He was there to meet with all of my subs whenever he or I had concerns about the way the home was being constructed, from the earliest stages of construction, such as air sealing the rough exterior walls, to the final stages of ensuring that the heating system and the ERV (energy recovery ventilator, which controls the humidity in the home at MY desired humidity level) worked well together. The home is super tight yet breathes!!

Before I built this home, I would get Eczema in the winter due to our old home’s dry indoor air. Not any more. Construction of the home ended in the summer of 2003, just eleven months after we began. It is now nearly April of 2004, and I went through the entire winter without any dry skin as I had experienced in the past.

To this day, the plumber who I used still can't believe that we are only using 3 tons of cooling/air conditioning to keep this house cool in the summer months. It was the recommendations and expertise of BPC for the insulation and air sealing of our home that will have the extra we paid in insulation paid off in 5 years versus having high heating and cooling bills forever.

Today we have a home that was tested and found to be over 25% more energy efficient than an "ENERGY STAR® home." Let's see the average builder do that. The numbers speak for themselves. If you need help for any project or problem, then do not hesitate to contact either Mike or Chris Trolle at BPC."

Fred & Renee
Easton, Connecticut

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"BPC Green Builders was the builder for our new home, completed in the winter of 2006. Our goal was to build a home that balanced our personal needs with our commitment to sustainable living. We selected the LEED for Homes program to provide third party verification to ensure that our goals would be realized. Therefore, we were delighted to learn recently that our home has been certified at the silver level by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), becoming one of the first LEED rated homes in the state of Connecticut.

We love our new home. The well insulated, air-tight exterior walls contribute to the quiet and energy efficiency. The radiant heating system keeps us comfortable through the winter, with consistent temperatures throughout the house. The boiler is so quiet that we never know when it runs. Last year we used 800 gallons of propane for cooking, bathing and space heating; not bad for 4,500 square feet of living space. Since then, we have increased our use of an air-tight wood fireplace and expect to reduce our propane consumption for the coming year.

The solar thermal panels are producing a great deal of free hot water and the solar photovoltaic panels free electricity, reducing our need for expensive and unsustainable forms of energy. We are pleased to know that the reduced energy and maintenance needs of our home are helping us to do our part towards a sustainable future. We thank BPC Green Builders for helping us to achieve our vision for a new home."

Nellie and Peter
Bethany, Connecticut

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