About Matt Grocoff

We were stalled on our house project. . We decided not to move forward with the contractor we had initially chosen. This was wrenching and frustrating , and we were annoyed with ourselves. Our daughter, Claire (an industrial designer) found Matt for us and presented a consult with him as a Christmas gift. That inspired present and the conversation we had in January 2019 put us back on track for our net zero build. Matt did the first net zero renovation of a heritage house in the US - on his own house in Ann Arbor, Michigan. His advice - no fossil fuel, follow the system set up by Seattle-based ILFI International Living Future Institute to achieve net zero using the fewest (least) toxic materials possible. Matt reinforced the idea that “It’s not sustainable if it isn’t affordable.” We very much what we would do to be replicable by others. If money were no object - of course we could achieve our goal. We were determined to try to get a truly energy efficient outcome for a modest uncharge above a conventional remodel. Matt kept reinforcing the virtue of this idea. No doubt it caused us to look at a lot of the aspects of the build from a variety of angles - to get bids, ask questions, rebid, revise - the old maxim measure twice, cut once.

We cannot say enough nice things about Matt. He is upbeat, has a vast body of knowledge, oodles of connection in the world of green build. He’s at work on an exciting venture in Ann Arbor called Viridian. Have a look at what’s in store for a planned community that’s off the grid.