BPC Green Builders Review

It was a pleasure to work with Mike Trolle-from the time we met him at his award-winning energy efficient home for a first look at what is possible, until the time our super-energy efficient home was completed. His mastery of building science, along with unlimited patience in conveying the details, was extraordinary. Just as important were the superb subcontractors working for him. Their attention to the details and willingness to modify standard building practices to achieve high performance homes made them invaluable. If you are thinking of building a state-of-the- art home, BPC Green Builders are a must!

We highly recommend Mike Trolle and BPC Green Builders as an excellent general contracting firm. Mike's thorough knowledge of green, efficient homes enables him to deliver a beautifully constructed and comfortable home that we are so thrilled and pleased to live in. We very much appreciated Mike's problem solving and follow up skills - he was always available to answer our questions and help us with decisions that needed to be made. We are very happy to recommend Mike and BPC Green Builders as the only choice for homeowners who wish to have the best possible home building experience.

Mike Trolle and the BPC team were wonderful to work with and daringly worked with us through the entire demolition and remodeling of our dream house. It has now been almost nine years since our new house was completed and we are stilled delighted with the house and are enjoying the energy savings throughout the seasons.

Mike built us a custom high end modern house in Ridgefield CT, and we would recommend him without reservations. We did not know Mike prior to building our house and have no reason to recommend him other than for the great job he did on our project. If you are considering going on the same journey, we are happy to discuss and answer questions. The process was so much fun that we would almost be tempted to build another house now.

We have been living in the house for almost six years, and the house feels as comfortable as when we moved in, has had only fairly minor issues, and looks new. The house is almost 40% glass, and has about 5000+sf of conditioned space. With our recently installed solar panels, our electric costs (which include heating and cooling) will be nearly zero.

Trust: We started looking for builders after designing the house. We bid it out to 4 other builders and almost dropped BPC when they refused to bid on our project. It is not that they had another project lined up (this was 2009). They just don t feel comfortable with the adversarial relationship that a bid process generates. To win it you have to low ball it, and then you have to make up for it by charging for change orders or for things which were not fully detailed in the bid (for which there will inevitably be lots!). The builder s incentives then become to skimp on quality (particularly for the non aesthetic structural things which you will not see). Mike instead works on a management fee. He created a budget, and during the whole process he was a partner. Mike laid out options allowing us to choose every step of the way. The various stages of the construction are bid out to subcontractors, and we had full transparency on costs. Nothing during the process led us to ever question Mike s honesty and transparency. The bottom line is that no matter what contract structure you chose, the builder will have opportunities to abuse your trust. Finding someone you are comfortable with makes all the difference.

Working with Mike: Mike was AWAYS AVAILABLE. He is a great problem solver. Down to earth, and extremely easy to talk to. E-mails were detailed. Site meetings were great, etc. Awesome.

Quality: We picked BPC because we wanted more than an aesthetically beautiful house. We wanted a structurally sound house. We wanted to have no water leaks, no mold, and no air quality issues (we have respiratory issues AND pets). Mike and Chris passion is quality in this sense of the word. And it was clear from day one when we spoke to them, and it was clear through out the process that focusing on making sure that house was air tight, that water would drain properly and that structurally the construction was sound was a priority. Unlike most builders Mike has not only the experience of having built homes for a long time, but also the scientific knowledge to assess and incorporate the latest technologies in the industry. From an aesthetic perspective the execution was very good as well. We have a beautiful house. And one that is unlikely to give us headaches.

Cost: Mikes management fees were in line with, or less than other high end builders we interviewed. However, to be honest we have no way to know whether the total house would have cost more or less working with someone else.

Time: Expectations were that the house would be ready in about 12 months (though we never asked for a precise guarantee ). We moved in 13 months after we started.

My wife and I lost our home to hurricane Sandy one week after we got married. We decided to rebuild on the same spot only higher. We felt that building an energy efficient home was consistent with our values and a smart decision.

Mike took some very basic plans we got from the internet and gave us the direction and expertise to build a beautiful home that is incredibly comfortable. When our friends visit in the winter they are always jealous about how comfortable our home is.

These guys guys did a great job managing the job. Because we live by the coast they had to build our home on top of 12' high concrete piers. The attention to detail throughout was really outstanding too.

If you are considering on building a home and want it done well, with integrity and built with performance in mind - BPC Green Builders is the way to go.