Co-founder Avo Babian began to dream about sustainable living amidst what would seem to many a hostile, eco-averse Los Angeles. A single-family home in one of the most densely populated parts of the country hardly seemed the ideal place to undertake sustainable living.

The task was arduous, but Avo continued to educate himself about the latest in green technologies and practices. In 2008, inspired to meaningful action by mounting climate alarm, Avo created a “Zero Impact Home” by converting his urban unit to a net-zero carbon footprint house. Beginning with the installation of solar panels on his roof, Avo soon added rain and water collection systems to capture and reuse the precious California Water.

Lightbulbs were changed and appliances updated to be more energy efficient. With each modification, the home became less dependent on external energy and resources: a burgeoning oasis of sustainable architecture―and landscaping― in the heart of Los Angeles. As a further motivator to continue his endeavor, Avo’s bills began to decrease substantially as the renewable, sustainable, and energy-efficient technologies gradually paid themselves off.

Despite the home’s early success, Avo’s project wasn’t always easy-going. An orthodontist by trade, he often struggled with tying his new eco-friendly technologies into the electrical and plumbing infrastructure of his home. Reaching out to his entrepreneur cousin— electrical and systems engineer Spiro Azkoul— for help, the two overcame every engineering barrier they encountered and successfully transitioned the home into an environmental haven. Despite the difficulty of undertaking sustainability-oriented living before it was as accessible as it is today, Avo believed that “you can live a seamlessly green life without having to suffer or drop your standard of living.”

Witness not only to the environmentally-friendly nature of his cousin’s home, but also to his reduced costs, Spiro―the pragmatic businessman of the pair― conceived a radically disruptive idea: eco-friendly solutions can actually be profitable for businesses and users at the commercial level; there’s no need for a “green premium” on sustainable solutions, nor is there a need to sacrifice comfort or ease of use.