BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE

Evan Hardcastle ’05 embraces net-zero construction

By Michael Hayes

It’s an unusually sunny morning in early April in Tyringham, Mass., where a Shaker home built more than a century ago is in the midst of a major renovation. As reggae music plays over a radio, carpenters install baseboard trim in the basement of the house while a painter preps an upstairs wall for wallpaper. Outside, stone masons are finishing a large retaining wall that will hold back a hillside overlooking a sprawling valley. Evan Hardcastle and his company, 377 Builders, based in Berkshire County, are overseeing the project.

Hardcastle, who is often accompanied on the job site by his dog, Effie, stands atop the property with a coffee in hand explaining their approach to this renovation. At the heart of everything the company does is sustainability, with a goal of helping people live in energy-efficient homes that have low carbon footprints.

“When we started this project two years ago, the structure [of the property] was so bad, but we couldn’t just demo it. We had to support the entire roof system and then build it up in reverse,” he recalls, pointing out that only a single large wooden beam from the original structure could be saved and repurposed.

Hardcastle, who was a self-employed carpenter, started 377 about eight years ago, partnering with his wife, Sarah, and two childhood friends, John Sarno and Tucker Gillooly, both fellow carpenters. Over time, the general contracting company has grown to over a dozen employees and has become Berkshire County’s most sought after firm in zero net-zero construction—an approach to building homes that allows a property to produce its own energy through renewable resources, equal to or greater than the amount it consumes.

With the Shaker house, for example, they’ve outfitted the home with a geothermal heating and cooling system; replaced older windows with new, higher performing windows; and will soon install solar panels atop the standing seam roof to satisfy the home’s power needs. The new features are all hallmarks of 377’s commitment to sustainable building practices, and they are often ahead of the curve.

“Yes, we could build a house the way it was built in the 1990s. Or, we can build it the way it’s going to be built in 2030,” he says.

Clients turn to 377 to build a “forever home,” Hardcastle adds. “Building a 100year home isn’t just about the energy system. It’s about managing the water. It’s about the way you install the trim.

It’s about what you do on the exterior to make it all work. This is the next generation of construction.”

Hardcastle is a firm believer in the net-zero approach. He and Sarah live in an energy-efficient home, and over the last decade he’s dedicated time and resources to learn the nuances of sustainable construction while working closely with his partners and employees to put that knowledge into practice. He recently took a zero-energy construction course with Marc Rosenbaum, an engineer notable for his work in energyefficient sustainable architecture.

Photos on the company’s website reveal 377’s range of projects and attention to craftsmanship—from a small home with sleek modern design, to a timber frame office barn, to an historic colonial townhouse addition. One happy client has led to another, and revenue now ranges from $3 to $6 million annually, according to Hardcastle.

The company’s success, he believes, is due in large part to the “amazingly talented craftspeople” who come to work every day with a sense of purpose and pride in their work. Hardcastle likens the community of workers, which includes his employees and subcontractors, to the classmates and teachers he found at Berkshire, where he was captain of the cross country team.

“When I left Berkshire School, I missed that connection to the sense of place, and to the sense of people who knew me,” he says. “My work has given me some of that back.”

Hardcastle credits the likes of C. Twiggs Myers Hon. ’57, Dr. Sarah Bakhiet ’83, and Bill Gulotta for having the biggest impact on him as a student at Berkshire. “The camaraderie, the teamwork, and feeling a level of responsibility for the success of the team absolutely translated for me,” he says. Now, house by house, board by board, he’s crafting a level of success in the Berkshires—one that prizes the environment over short-term gains, upholding the charm of historic architecture while building and restoring houses that protect the future.

377builders.com

Celebrating Berkshire’s 116th graduating class

Longtime science teacher and Senior Faculty Member Anita Loose-Brown, who retired at the end of the school year after a remarkable 35-year teaching career at Berkshire, delivered this year’s Commencement address. All-School President Bridget Alamu ’23, the winner of the Weil Family Prize for Public Speaking, shared remarks on behalf of the students.

Alamu spoke to the Class of 2023 about what it means to find yourself amidst the chaos and how these moments shape us for years to come. “It is not the struggle that makes or defines us; it is how we respond that speaks to our characters as individuals,” she shared. “We need to endure challenges in order to learn the important character traits of pushing through, being resilient, and standing right in the face of adversity.”