Franzoso Knows What’s Good for Earth is Good for Business

“As a society we need to be sustainable,” said Mark Franzoso, owner of , one of the area’s constructing companies leading the way in “green” home remodeling.

Over the last several years Franzoso has been increasing his 30-year-old roofing, siding and windows/doors business’ energy efficient services and products. Last month, Franzoso partnered with GAF roofing, a leader in roofing shingles, to be one of their exclusive “green” shingle sellers in Westchester and Putnam counties. Franzoso also offers a wide range of other energy efficient home products, like “panalized” electrical roofing systems that capture solar energy and use it to power the home, attic blankets (e-shields), energy saving windows and doors and more.

“I believe the next growth opportunity for home remodeling is energy efficiency,” Franzoso said.

The panazlied roofing is a solar system that grabs the suns rays and sends energy through a conduit into a grid and back to Con Edison, Franzoso said. The system typically costs about $30,000 but in five or six years you see a return in your investment. The energy is monitored by a meter and on sunny days you can see how much you are saving. A lot of commercial businesses are investing in this now and some home owners are seeing its benefit as well, Franzoso said. Interested owners can fill out a survey from Franzoso and, using those answers and Google Earth, they can provide an estimate before even visiting the home, he said.

Like any local business owner, Franzoso is in green contracting for the business, but also because he believes the financial savings of energy efficient remodeling really do outweigh the costs, and that working towards a more sustainable environment is important for society.

Franzoso Energy Solutions is one part of his business that offers home energy assessments. The contractors will assess heating and cooling systems, attics, doors and windows, and provide homeowners with complete audits of their energy efficiency and on how they can improve it.

Westchestser County selected Franzoso as one of four contractors to perform county-funded home energy audits for homeowners last year. The county is still funding the audits. If you are interested call Westchester County at 211.

While green contracting is one element of Franzoso’s business, he also continues the main business, which is regular roofing, siding and window work. They do about 500 jobs per year throughout Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Long Island. Many customers are return customers or referrals. He also does work out of state for customers with second homes in places like Vermont.

Franzoso got his start in Briarcliff, where he was raised. He started his business in 1982 after working a few years with another contractor. The business, which is now based in Croton and employs approximately 75 people, started with a young Franzoso, an old station wagon and borrowed toolbox. As a young man just starting out, Franzoso woke up at 5 a.m. to stuff the newspaper at a local soda shop with his advertisements.

From there the business continued to grow. Franzoso’s “high water mark” was in 2008. The economic collapse affected the company but they have pulled through unscathed.

“It affected the company like it did everyone else,” Franzoso said. He had to cut some staff, regroup and deal with less work, but since then business has been coming back.

Last year was successful for the business and this year has been a little slower. The mild winter weather caused a slight decrease in business because people didn’t experience the leaks and cracks they may have if this winter brought more snow, Franzoso said. He expects things to pick up this season and is dedicated to providing the quality service the community has come to expect.

To read more about Franzoso Contracting, visit their on Patch.