About

Lehto Design/Build, LLC was founded in 2012 by Nick Lehto. Nick comes from a family of builders and grew up on construction sites. As a young man he dreamed of being an architect, as he has always had an interest in building and design. Ultimately he went to The University of Connecticut's School of Business where he received a bachelors degree in Real Estate and Urban Economics. Upon graduation, Nick went to work with his father Paul, a builder for 30 years.

One winter Nick traveled to Finland to visit family. During his travels he noticed just how differently the homes were built there. The Finnish homes featured thick insulated walls, triple pane windows, and had state of the art whole house ventilation systems. In a country with frigid temperatures and high energy prices, the Finns have no choice but to build this way. It became apparent to Nick just how far behind the US was in energy efficient construction. This disparity coupled with the rising energy prices in the United States inspired Nick to take a new approach to building.

Upon Nick's return to the US, he and Paul (Nick's father) took the challenge head-on. After countless hours of research they decided to focus exclusively on building energy efficient homes. In 2009 Nick began Passive House Consultants training, which is one of the most rigorous energy standards in the world. Nick became one of only a handful of Certified Passive House Consultants in the state of Connecticut. Passive House training combined with his building experience makes Nick a leader in low energy home construction.

In 2012 Nick started his own company, Lehto Design/ Build LLC . He was named CT Green builder of the year by the CT Business journal in 2012, as well as recently being an Overall co-winner of the 2013 CT Zero Energy Challenge. His goal is to remain ahead of the pack in energy efficient construction and to continue to exceed his client’s expectations.