Larry Zarker Email & Phone Number

Kensington, Md, Us

Saratoga Springs, New York, United States

Mr. Zarker is CEO of the Building Performance Institute, the professional standards setting and credentialing organization for the home performance contracting industry. BPI now has a broad footprint of over 40,000 certifications in all 50 states and six foreign countries. Mr. Zarker oversaw BPI's process of gaining accreditation by ANSI as a standards development organization and its accreditation by ANSI under ISO 17024 for its personnel certifications. He was responsible for the national expansion of the network of BPI Test Centers from six in 2006 to over 200 today and oversaw the growth of professional certifications from approximately 150 in 2005 to over 14,000 in 2011 with a total certification population of over 30,000 professionals today. He also oversees the building out a national network of contracting companies who are accredited by BPI and submit to independent, third-party quality assurance on the work they perform for customers. He was named by ACHR The News as one of the top NEWSmakers of 2013 for his role in initiating collaboration with the HVAC industry.In mid-2012 he committed to create a testing platform for the professional trades that relate to housing but do not require the diagnostic testing required of BPI professional certifications. These trades include real estate, appraisal, home inspection, lending, government and utility program management, and dealer and big box sales of energy efficiency products. It is also ideal for mature high school and community college students who are looking for "green" or "sustainable" careers. The Building Science Principles certificate of knowledge was introduced to these audiences in early 2013 and is gaining a strong foothold throughout the industry. Mr. Zarker is a featured speaker at numerous national and regional conferences, workshops and forums.

National Organization

Larry Zarker helped found Efficiency First, the trade association for building performance contractors, in 2009 and has served on its Board of Directors since its inception. His principle focus on the board has been in the expansion of relations with manufacturers and their network of distributors and dealers to help them align with Efficiency First expansion into state and local markets. He also focused on the development of state and local chapters in the organization.

Washington, Dc

Mr. Zarker performed market research, codes and standard support, and product development consulting for a broad range of mid-size and Fortune 500 product manufacturers and industry trade associations. His clients also included manufacturers from other countries attempting to understand how to penetrate U.S. building markets, or in one case how to bring U.S. products more widely into the Canadian building market.

Upper Marlboro, Md

Mr. Zarker helped expand the Research Center from 16 employees when he first joined the organization in 1983 to over 110 employees twenty years later. He started the ToolBase program to provide two-way communications between builders/remodelers and the manufacturers selling products into the industry. He served on the team to develop the first building integrated solar PV roof that was featured in the Research Center's 21st Century Townhomes project in the NAHB National Research Home Park in Bowie, MD. In addition to managing the development of six New American Homes for NAHB, he managed research initiatives to build four homes in the National Research Home Park featuring post-consumer recycled materials incorporated into building products, advanced concrete masonry products, next generation natural gas systems, and adaptable designs for physically challenged individuals. In addition, he served for a year as the Executive Director of the Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing, a collaboration between the building industry and the agencies of the government dealing with housing.Mr. Zarker has a broad international portfolio in housing having worked in Russia, Poland, and South Africa and participating in housing events in Mexico, Venezuela, and China. He helped form the Building Technology Information Center in Moscow for emerging entrepreneurial builders after the fall of the Soviet Union. He also traveled extensively at this time to Gdansk, Poland to support emerging entrepreneurial builders throughout Poland. He performed a similar function in South Africa, working with small entrepreneurial black owned building firms in Cape Town and Johannesburg, after the fall of Apartheid.

M.A., Labor Economics And Technology Assessment

B.A., Sociology