Benjamin Parco Interview (part 7)

What is the most important thing you want people to know about ParcoHomes? 

I want people to know what’s possible. We believe that all of the design, functionality, and longevity that you find in the best car on the road can be possible in a building. All the choice and options that you find in the best mass customization product out there, whether it be a messenger bag or laptop, can be applied to a building. It’s possible to have an incredibly wide array of choices, to get what you want, to have superior quality, to know the cost from day one. All the pain, anguish, and suffering in the construction process is unnecessary. We have all the technology and tools necessary to deliver products like those of Toyota, Ikea, and Apple.

All it takes is the right patrons, clients, investors, and a little bit of time. Once that step is solved, it can be deployed. All that’s holding us back is the resources to get all that dialed in.

You should be able to go online, configure a building, purchase it, and not have the price change.

 

Your wildest dreams are possible. We just have to do it.

It’s all possible. 

 

Until Next Time,
Christine

Learn more about Parco Homes.

 

Benjamin Parco Interview (part 6)

Looking back, how has the process been for the Berkeley zero-net energy home? 

We had a partial system in place, so there were some big wins and some conventional methods. The entire home was framed in five days, which was a big win. Other parts, where we had to do things more traditionally, took longer than they should have.

Looking back on it, from the standpoint of the client being a patron and contractors being partners, the project has turned out better than we could have ever imagined. It’s beautiful, works super well, and sits on the land beautifully. From the partnering and relationships with everyone involved, that piece has been so fantastic. Everyone involved should be super proud because it took everyone’s resilience and fortitude to pull it off.

Most important thing Mr. Parco wants you to know, in part 7…
Learn more about Parco Homes. 

Benjamin Parco Interview (part 5)

Are people understanding your concepts? 

It’s a big idea. Our system is so holistic and all-encompassing; a lego set that is so flexible and green that you can build any design from the same set of pieces and parts. It’s not a widget, which is something that investors look for that is package-able. This is a big shift and it’s a bit more to bite off, so we want to look at ways of compartmentalizing the ideas to make them more widget-like.

Our approach is similar to a Tesla type of approach where, like designing a car from the bottom up, we create a better  building system from the ground up.

The standard process does not deserve the client at the end of the day, because the process is so haphazard and improvised. The way people normally build is so unsystematized that no matter what you build, you almost always have to deal with extra costs, time delays, etc.

You look at car and airplane manufacturing, and they know every single cost down to the last penny. They give you a product that works incredibly well under incredible circumstances. We need to take the same approach to our buildings.

 

You should know how much a building costs at the beginning, and the cost shouldn’t go up in the middle of the process. It’s going to take a Henry Ford kind of investment up front, but it’s all possible.

Looking back on the berkeley zero-net-energy home in part 6…
Learn more about Parco Homes.

 

Benjamin Parco Interview (part 4)

What makes the Bay Area a great place for progress in sustainability? 

The Bay Area is more responsive than probably any other part of the country! But, we’ve also been in a bad part of the economy. People like what we talk about and we have many full-fledged emotional supporters. Financial support is what the company needs, just like how people supported google when they first started. This sector is not a world that investors are used to playing in nor one that people are comfortable with, especially because there haven’t been a lot of advances. We want to bring a new way of thinking. We want to think about buildings as product design, and something that is as clever, well-tested, and well engineered as an iPad. It’s a risky proposition because no one has ever done it before.

We see ourselves as Tesla, a company that has some great ideas and needs to deploy their technology out in the world. The day is coming soon. We’re not there yet, but we have the right pieces in place. We’re just waiting for the right moment for something to tip it over the edge. We’re ready and we have a lot of ideas just waiting to happen.

Read about the amazing ideas in part 5!…
Learn more about Parco Homes. 

Benjamin Parco Interview (part 3)

Berkeley Zero-Net Energy Home

What in particular about the home in Berkeley made it the right one for this project? 

It picked us more than we picked it. We had some incredible clients with a visionary approach. It actually didn’t even start out as a zero-energy home. The clients just needed an addition to their home. Their family was growing and they needed extra space for their kids and themselves. The addition is only 1800 square feet, so it was a modest size. We could design something super efficient, and with the nature of the clients and their interests, it was just a perfect fit. One of the parents is a scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley lab, and much of his research is about environmental efficiency, so it was a great meeting of the minds. The more we conversed with them, the more we realized that they were thinking about what we think about.

The project’s success is really a testament to everyone involved, our client, the sponsors of the project, the engineers, contractors, landscape architects, etc. In an old school kind of way, our clients have really been patrons, supporting us in doing something special.

continued in part 4…
Learn more about Parco Homes. 

 

Benjamin Parco Interview (part 2)

How did you decide to start Parco Homes?

Buildings are very costly in many ways, both monetarily and in the amount of resources used. In the commercial world, these resource-intensive projects are built as statements, and simply pleasing clients was getting hollow and boring. I would much rather solve a problem and deploy the solution in a way that people can benefit from my creation. Instead of pleasing one client at a time, I wanted to solve a bigger problem with a bigger impact.

ParcoHomes has made a zero-net energy home in Berkeley. What made you decide to pursue zero-net energy in particular? 

Well, zero-net energy is just one aspect. Energy usage, resources used to build, and the carbon footprint of the structure are also important factors. Longevity is also very important. Buildings have become disposable. 

We fill up landfills with dead buildings and building parts. One of the best things you can do is make something that lasts for a long, long time. Half the battle is not even about the tricks, gadgets, and special technological equipment. Half the battle is about having an efficient building structure. If you just design a good building, you’re more than halfway there, even before you get into the fancy stuff. Ultimately, it’s the belief that if we build better buildings, we can have buildings that perform better without jumping through a lot of hoops.

More on the zero-net energy home in part 3…
Learn more about Parco Homes.

Benjamin Parco Interview (part 1)

Benjamin Parco of Parco Homes

This past weekend, I had the absolute pleasure of speaking with Benjamin Parco, CEO of Parco Homes. I asked him questions about himself, his business, and his views on buildings and sustainability. I learned so much from talking with him, and now I get to share with you! Without further ado…

When and how did you get interested in sustainability? 

It really started when I was a kid. I grew up in the 70′s and there was a lot of interest in our environment. There were characters to teach kids about sustainability, like Ranger Rick and Woodsy the Owl. They taught us to appreciate what nature has to offer, but these characters have since disappeared. I gave a talk to Al Gore at a conference about a year ago, and I showed a slide of these characters. The next slide showed our current-day Ranger Rick and Woodsy Owl: Al Gore.

Later in life, I had an internal conflict as an architect. I was engaging in huge projects, using incredible amounts of resources to build these immense buildings. I learned from my Dad that if I’m going to build something, it had better be the best that it can be. I just had this feeling of conflict as I planned for these buildings. I thought to myself, maybe I should just not build anything at all?

Continued in part 2…
Learn more about Parco Homes.

Parco Homes

Implementing 21st century technology and environmental values, Parco Homes seeks to improve our homes, from the basic building materials to the design and aesthetics. That’s just the beginning.

Parco Homes has created a zero-net energy home in Berkeley. Zero-Net Energy - just felt like saying it again; and it’s worth saying again and again. The site consists of an addition to a home and the original home itself, and these two sections will be connected  by bridges – how cool is that? The home has high efficiency fixtures, solar panels, heat reflective glass, a butterfly shaped roof to catch rainwater, and several other applause-worthy design implementations.

Speaking of design, there’s an endless amount of aesthetic options available. It’s definitely worth taking a look. Click here to see a video clip of sample designs.

Look out for an upcoming post on an interview with Mr. Parco himself!  And click here for further info on the beautiful Berkeley zero-net-energy home.

Until Next Time,

Christine

Floor Plan for Zero-Net Energy Home

Renewable Energy Comes of Age, Part 9

Last week, I attended the Clean Economy Summit in Washington DC.  It was full of movers and shakers in the emerging markets of clean and green business.  The following series of posts are from an article by Don Schjeldahl, Vice President of Renewable Energy Strategies.

In Conclusion

“The country is also watching the states of New Mexico and California, both in the process of adopting cap-and trade regulations for greenhouse gases. State legislatures will monitor New Mexico and California programs to see what benefits may be derived from these initiatives.

The private sector will also drive investment to renewable energy as they respond to financial markets and regulatory trends emanating from climate change and sustainability initiatives. In response to these trends many companies have adopted sustainability policies that pledge to reduce their impact on the environment including zero solid waste and net-zero emission of greenhouse gases. Accounting and audit giant Ernst & Young guides corporations in being “carbon ready” – implementing a carbon management strategy to comply and account for existing and anticipated regulations.  Companies aligned with changing regulations and economics of energy are more likely to adopt renewable energy in the future and at the same time meet stockholder expectations.”
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Part 7

Part 8

Renewable Energy Comes of Age, Part 8

Last week, I attended the Clean Economy Summit in Washington DC.  It was full of movers and shakers in the emerging markets of clean and green business.  The following series of posts are from an article by Don Schjeldahl, Vice President of Renewable Energy Strategies.

Continued Growth in Renewable Energy

“Congressional inaction aside, continued growth in renewable energy and related industries in the U.S. is expected but perhaps not as robust as it might be. Helping move the market forward in the leadership vacuum are federal and state regulators who will likely step forward to drive industry supporting initiatives. Guaranteed markets for renewable energy products exist in the 29 states that have adopted mandatory RPS. An additional seven states have RPS goals.

Limits placed on greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon cap-and-trade legislation, would help renewable energy markets to develop by shifting demand from coal to non-emitting power sources. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has authority, under the Clean Air Act and confirmed by an April 2007 Supreme Court ruling, to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. However it is unlikely that the EPA will issue carbon regulations anytime soon.

Congressional and EPA inaction on carbon doesn’t mean the EPA won’t dramatically impact the future for renewable energy. By mid-2011 the EPA is expected to finalize power plant emission regulations for mercury, SOx (sulfur oxides) and NOx (nitrogen oxides) under the current Clean Air Act. With compliance targeted for 2015, up to 30% of U.S. coal plants could be decommissioned because they use older technology and plant upgrades are not economical. When this happens greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced by default and renewable energy systems become more attractive from both cost and clean air standpoints.”
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Part 7

Part 9