Constructive Alternatives

These guys have over 40 years experience creating smart and renewable energy systems. You get a self sustainable property with immediate equity growth potential, lasting value and low maintenance costs. They will build it right the first time so taking the risk of using someone who might be able to do it for less money is not worth it.

This is a great company! I can personally attest to their quality craftsmanship, cutting edge systems, and exceptional execution. We had our old home remodeled on 7th Street in Boulder overlooking North Boulder Park. What started out as a small and dated bungalow was completely transformed into a solar and green-built show piece. We built it with 80% recycled ICF block walls for the foundation and exterior...which no one would ever guess with its Craftsman home look and feel. Because of the high performance building envelope, only a small rooftop solar PV and thermal along with battery storage system was able to handle our 4,400 square foot homes energy, heating, and cooling needs. It was extra cool that I got to come up with my own little addition to the project...a trap door from my bedroom directly to the rec room in the basement! It was definitely a great place to have friends over to play pool, watch movies, or hang out in our oversized hot tub that was totally heated by the sun. How the final product turned out was so impressive, we submitted it for an Architect's Institute of America Award, which it won. Our home was also featured 3 years in a row on Boulder' Solar Home Tour. After that experience, I was hooked and began working on and off with this company. We broke ground on several other fully custom and off-grid homes and ranches (Vagabond, Roosevelt, Caribou, Conifer, Blackhawk) across Colorado's Front Range. One of the coolest projects I worked with them on after my own home was the Sunshine Canyon "Horseshoe Home." If you include the garage and showroom there ended up being over 8,000 square feet of conditioned space that was heated and powered with solar and geothermal. That house is epic! It has amazing views and insane craftsmanship. All in all, Constructive Alternatives is a future forward company with so much experience incorporating renewables to support a sustainable living experience for its customers (whether a barn, small bungalow, ADU, guest house, earth-sheltered dwelling, or large luxury home). It's been a privilege to live in one of their homes and then go on to work with them, allowing me to work side-by-side with so many master tradesmen who are creating the next generation of cool net zero homes. Highly Recommend!

I'm an architect and have worked with Davide Picard on several projects. Constructive Alternatives brings loads of skill and passion to every project, and their follow-through is thorough and detailed. This man has no fear of those building details that architects tend to draw (!) - though they may look amazing at the end, some contractors don't want to go out of their comfort zone. At Constructive Alternatives I found willing and able partners in creating beautiful buildings. Thank you CA team!!

Incredible experience with Constructive Alternatives and I wholeheartedly recommend them to anyone in need of a professional solar company. From the moment contacted, knew was dealing with true experts in the field. The team was knowledgeable, courteous, and efficient. They patiently answered questions and guided through the entire process with clarity and transparency. Their attention to detail during the installation was impressive, and they ensured that every aspect of the solar system was set up perfectly.

I worked with Constructive Alternatives as an apprentice, specifically assisting with the self sustainable airport hangar project. I worked on acoustical soundboard panel fabrication for the executive hangar. I also helped support solar thermal, geothermal, and solar PV system installs, as well as painting, light tool, and some heavy machinery operation (e.g., magnetic drilling machine and scissor lift). For me Constructive Alternatives is aligned with my environmental protection and preservation values, as well as executing creative and eco-intuitive solutions to complex constructive projects. I am inspired by the way this company creates community and accomplishes impressive engineering, mechanical, and electrical feats so efficiently. This company, and the people in it, is one in a million, and I am always excited to see what problems they are going to solve next!

We had an unfinished attic room that we’ve wanted to finish into a bedroom for years. To make it a bedroom we had to remove a stationary window with an arch and make it code compliant for egress. This was challenging to find and install a specialty window for the space. The floor had to be leveled to take out a dropped step again to make the entry code compliant. The entry is now level with our loft floor upstairs. I was impressed with the expertise for the walls and ceiling adjustments because we had so many angles and it was a challenge from a framing and drywall perspective. This is probably why it was difficult to find a contractor who would take on the project. They were even able to remove some studs and further increase the room size and this made adding another storage space possible that we hadn’t even planned on. All told, we were able to get another 50 square feet added to the room. We had a skylight that they were able to install and they also put in an additional 5 flush round recessed LED lights that we could dim (including two more in the closets that they framed out and wired). This allowed a lot more light in the space, far more than I expected given the room is 420 square feet and we only have the one window. We had a vent pipe that they framed in and they additionally created another enclosed storage space with shelving and custom doors to match the custom arched door that they fabricated for the extra storage room. The door they made for the storage room looks like a cute little hobbit door that they stained to match the pergo flooring that they installed for us. They insulated the whole room and below the floor to make it tight and well weatherized so it can stay cool when it’s blazing outside and warm in the winter. Because there was no ductwork to that room, they installed a mini split to heat and cool the space. This was a very energy efficient path, and they advised us on the tax credits we could obtain for the insulation, high efficiency mini split, and the well insulated casement window. They did a good job of matching the knockdown pattern and paint color that is in the rest of our house. I was impressed with their creativity given all the different angles of the walls in the room, also with the cost effective approach to heating and cooling this large new space that once was just an attic. Our new “hobbit door” with an arched entry was custom fabricated it to fit the space and maximize head height. We even found the “just right handle” to bring together the old world style of our home. Because of all the different parts that had to be ordered and come together at just the right time, they were always good about communicating timeframes and making sure to always be there to keep the job moving forward even while waiting a long time on some things to arrive from vendors. Working with them was a joy.

I have had the pleasure of consulting with Davide and Nichole on an equity land trust partnership development framework since 2020, and I have been consistently impressed with their skills, knowledge, and work ethic. They have a deep understanding of the principles of passive solar design, and they are always looking for new ways to use sustainable materials and practices in their designs. We have been reviewing options for ICF construction, photovoltaics, and battery storage so each project can be completely self-sustaining and intermittently off-grid.

Nichole and Davide at Constructive Alternatives are simply amazing. If you're looking for an honest consultation, quality products, great workmanship, and customer service, you have to consider them. It's rare to come across a single company that can provide that and also a high level of expertise across a wide variety of equipment (Solar PV, Battery Storage, Geothermal, Solar Thermal, etc.)

I work for a manufacturer of one of the products that Constructive Alternatives utilize to help their customers be more energy efficient. Nichole and Davide have been a joy to work with. They took advantage of all of the training resources that we have to offer and brought lots of great questions to us. It's obvious that this is a company that really does their back-end research and due diligence. Wish I lived a little bit closer to Boulder (for lots of reasons haha) because I'd happily have them build and design my net-zero dream home.