Board Considers "Greenest Building on Earth"

The Paramus Board of Adjustment heard testimony about plans to at their meeting Thursday night.

The building would be a house on Henry Street, home of the Parikh family. If built, the house would use 90 percent less energy and 95 percent less water than a typical home due to a variety of innovations. The house would collect and recycle all rain water that fell on the property and include its own solar panel, wind turbine and garden on the home’s flat roof. It would not need a furnace or air conditioner.

Raj Parikh is the owner of the house and the engineer whose firm, Metropolitan Building Consulting Group, designed the house.

“Because of the efficiency of this design, this will be the greenest building on Earth,” Parikh said.

According to Parikh, the building would be so airtight that a fire would be smothered and go out if it started in a room with the windows closed.

Parikh’s son, Asit, spoke about the project in the U.S. House of Representatives earlier Thursday.

However, while board members said they appreciated Parikh’s desire to build an energy-efficient home, they were concerned about some of the variances the applicant asked for.

The flat roof, containing the garden, would be 25 feet tall, but Paramus ordinance only allows flat roofs to be 20 feet tall. Also, other points of the building, such as the six-foot wind turbine, would be 35 feet tall. Paramus ordinance only allows 30 feet.

Board members asked if the height of the house could deter Parikh’s neighbors if they also wanted to build solar panels. However, the current pitched roof is 28.5 feet tall, so Parikh said there would be more sun getting to his neighbors after construction.

One major point was the requested variance for impervious coverage, which includes areas covered by buildings or pavement. Paramus allows 50 percent impervious coverage, but Parikh has requested 65 percent. Because he will be collecting and filtering all the rain that falls on the property, Parikh said his plan met the spirit of the ordinance, but board members said it was the definition in the law that matters.

“I think it’s a remarkable project, but I wonder if you’re trying to put it someplace that’s not going to work because you happen own that property,” said Patrick O’Brien, a board member. O’Brien also said he was worried about the precedent that would be set by allowing a Paramus resident to cover so much of his property.

The board will continue the hearing at its meeting on August 25 at 7:30 p.m. in Borough Hall.