diff --git a/phing/build.xml b/phing/build.xml
index 004139296..5b8ff96cb 100644
--- a/phing/build.xml
+++ b/phing/build.xml
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
   <taskdef name="randomstring" classname="phingcludes.RandomStringTask" />
   <taskdef name="disabletargets" classname="phingcludes.DisableTargetsTask" />
   <taskdef name="filterFileListByFileSet" classname="phingcludes.FilterFileListByFileSetTask"/>
+  <taskdef name="verbosityTask" classname="phingcludes.VerbosityTask"/>
   <taskdef name="phpVariable" classname="phingcludes.PhpVariableTask"/>
 
   <if>
@@ -89,7 +90,7 @@
           <available file="${target-hooks.${hook-name}.dir}" type="dir" property="dirExists" />
           <then>
             <echo>Executing command in ${target-hooks.${hook-name}.dir}:</echo>
-            <exec dir="${target-hooks.${hook-name}.dir}" command="${target-hooks.${hook-name}.command}" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="info" passthru="true" />
+            <exec dir="${target-hooks.${hook-name}.dir}" command="${target-hooks.${hook-name}.command}" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true" />
           </then>
           <else>
             <fail>The directory ${target-hooks.${hook-name}.dir} does not exist. Will not run command for ${hook-name}.</fail>
diff --git a/phing/build.yml b/phing/build.yml
index c022850ab..663d5fed6 100644
--- a/phing/build.yml
+++ b/phing/build.yml
@@ -13,15 +13,25 @@ behat:
     # - ${docroot}/profiles
     - ${repo.root}/tests/behat
   tags: '~ajax'
+  verbose: ${blt.verbose}
 
 blt:
   update:
     ignore-existing-file: ${blt.root}/scripts/blt/ignore-existing.txt
+  # Default verbosity level for <exec> tasks.
+  exec_level: verbose
+  # If blt.level >= info, this will be changed to true. Affects verbosity of tasks like Drush, Behat.
+  verbose: false
+  # From most to least verbose: debug, verbose, info, warn, error.
+  # Equivalent of using Phing arguments -debug, -verbose, [none], -quiet, -silent
+  # Note that this does not affect passthru output.
+  level: info
 
 composer:
   bin: ${repo.root}/vendor/bin
 
 deploy:
+  # If true, dependencies will be built during deploy. If false, you should commit dependencies directly.
   build-dependencies: true
   dir: ${repo.root}/deploy
   exclude_file: ${blt.root}/phing/files/deploy-exclude.txt
@@ -44,7 +54,7 @@ drush:
   uri: ${multisite.name}
   assume: yes
   passthru: yes
-  verbose: yes
+  verbose: ${blt.verbose}
 
 multisite:
   # The docroot/sites/default directory is used by default.
diff --git a/phing/phingcludes/BehatTask.php b/phing/phingcludes/BehatTask.php
index f54a50a5d..8d4eb2e47 100644
--- a/phing/phingcludes/BehatTask.php
+++ b/phing/phingcludes/BehatTask.php
@@ -289,7 +289,7 @@ public function setStrict($strict)
    */
   public function setVerbose($verbose)
   {
-    $this->verbose = StringHelper::booleanValue($verbose);
+    $this->verbose = StringHelper::booleanValue($verbose) || StringHelper::booleanValue((bool) $verbose);
   }
 
   /**
@@ -385,6 +385,13 @@ protected function behatExists($executable)
     return (empty($return) ? false : true);
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Initialize the task.
+   */
+  public function init() {
+    $this->setVerbose($this->getProject()->getProperty('behat.verbose'));
+  }
+
   /**
    * The main entry point method.
    *
@@ -471,6 +478,10 @@ public function main()
       $this->options[] = 'verbose';
     }
 
+    if (Phing::getMsgOutputLevel() >= Project::MSG_VERBOSE) {
+      $this->options[] = 'verbose';
+    }
+
     if ($this->colors) {
       $this->options[] = 'colors';
     }
@@ -488,7 +499,12 @@ public function main()
       $command[] = $this->createOption($name, $value);
     }
     $command = implode(' ', $command);
-    $this->log("Running '$command'");
+    if ($this->verbose) {
+      $this->log("Running '$command'", Project::MSG_INFO);
+    }
+    else {
+      $this->log("Running '$command'", Project::MSG_VERBOSE);
+    }
 
     // Run Behat.
     $last_line = system($command, $return);
diff --git a/phing/phingcludes/VerbosityTask.php b/phing/phingcludes/VerbosityTask.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c7a7156cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/phing/phingcludes/VerbosityTask.php
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+<?php
+
+/**
+ * A phing task to loop through properties.
+ */
+require_once 'phing/Task.php';
+use Symfony\Component\Yaml\Yaml;
+
+class VerbosityTask extends Task {
+
+  /**
+   * Path the Drush executable.
+   */
+  public function setLevel($str) {
+    $this->level = $str;
+  }
+
+
+  /**
+   * The main entry point method.
+   *
+   * @return bool
+   * @throws BuildException
+   */
+  public function main() {
+
+    $map = [
+      'debug' => Project::MSG_DEBUG,
+      'verbose' =>  Project::MSG_VERBOSE,
+      'info' =>  Project::MSG_INFO,
+      'warn' =>  Project::MSG_WARN,
+      'error' =>  Project::MSG_ERR,
+    ];
+
+    if (is_numeric($this->level)) {
+      $this->setLoggerLevel($this->level);
+    }
+    elseif (array_key_exists($this->level, $map)) {
+      $this->setLoggerLevel($map[$this->level]);
+    }
+    else {
+      $this->log("blt.level '{$this->level}' is invalid. Acceptable values are " . implode(', ', array_keys($map)), Project::MSG_ERR);
+    }
+  }
+  public function setLoggerLevel($level) {
+    $listeners = $this->getProject()->getBuildListeners();
+    foreach ($listeners as $listener) {
+      $listener->setMessageOutputLevel($level);
+    }
+  }
+
+}
diff --git a/phing/tasks/acsf.xml b/phing/tasks/acsf.xml
index 187a36144..84f8f02bb 100644
--- a/phing/tasks/acsf.xml
+++ b/phing/tasks/acsf.xml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
   <target name="acsf:init" description="Initializes ACSF support for project.">
     <echo>Adding acsf module as a dependency.</echo>
-    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="composer require drupal/acsf:^8" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" passthru="true" level="info"/>
+    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="composer require drupal/acsf:^8" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" passthru="true" level="${blt.exec_level}"/>
     <echo>Executing initialization command for acsf module.</echo>
     <drush command="acsf-init">
       <option name="include">"${docroot}/modules/contrib/acsf/acsf_init"</option>
diff --git a/phing/tasks/blt.xml b/phing/tasks/blt.xml
index cd7b6ae6a..781fb5d32 100644
--- a/phing/tasks/blt.xml
+++ b/phing/tasks/blt.xml
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 <project name="blt" default="update">
   <target name="create-project" hidden="true">
-    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="git init" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="info" passthru="true"/>
+    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="git init" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true"/>
     <echo>Updating composer dependencies, this make take a while...</echo>
-    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="export COMPOSER_PROCESS_TIMEOUT=600; composer update --no-interaction" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="info" passthru="true"/>
-    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="git add -A" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="info" passthru="true"/>
-    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="git commit -m 'Initial commit.'" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="info" passthru="true"/>
+    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="export COMPOSER_PROCESS_TIMEOUT=600; composer update --no-interaction" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true"/>
+    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="git add -A" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true"/>
+    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="git commit -m 'Initial commit.'" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true"/>
     <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="cat ${blt.root}/scripts/blt/ascii-art.txt" logoutput="true" passthru="true" checkreturn="false"/>
   </target>
 
@@ -17,10 +17,10 @@
   <target name="blt:rsync-template" hidden="true">
     <echo>Copying files from BLT's template into your project.</echo>
     <!-- @todo Do not overwrite structured or executable files. Instead, update them intelligently settings.php, drush.wrapper etc. -->
-    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="rsync -a --no-g ${blt.root}/template/ ${repo.root}/ --exclude-from=${blt.update.ignore-existing-file}" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="info" passthru="true"/>
+    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="rsync -a --no-g ${blt.root}/template/ ${repo.root}/ --exclude-from=${blt.update.ignore-existing-file}" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true"/>
 
     <!--Rsync files without overwriting existing-->
-    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="rsync -a --no-g ${blt.root}/template/ ${repo.root}/ --include-from=${blt.update.ignore-existing-file} --ignore-existing" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="info" passthru="true"/>
+    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="rsync -a --no-g ${blt.root}/template/ ${repo.root}/ --include-from=${blt.update.ignore-existing-file} --ignore-existing" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true"/>
   </target>
 
   <target name="update" depends="blt:rsync-template, blt:update-composer, blt:update-yml, setup:drupal:settings" hidden="true">
@@ -41,9 +41,9 @@
     <echo>Merging BLT's composer.json template with your project's composer.json.</echo>
     <echo>This MAY overwrite some existing values.</echo>
     <!--Values in the project's existing composer.json file will be overwritten.-->
-    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="${repo.root}/vendor/bin/blt-console composer:munge ${repo.root}/composer.json ${blt.root}/template/composer.json > ${repo.root}/composer.json.tmp" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="info"/>
+    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="${repo.root}/vendor/bin/blt-console composer:munge ${repo.root}/composer.json ${blt.root}/template/composer.json > ${repo.root}/composer.json.tmp" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}"/>
     <!--@todo Find out why can't we just redirect output directly back to composer.json. -->
-    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="mv ${repo.root}/composer.json.tmp ${repo.root}/composer.json" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="info" passthru="true"/>
+    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="mv ${repo.root}/composer.json.tmp ${repo.root}/composer.json" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true"/>
     <echo>If your composer.json was modified, you need to run "composer update".</echo>
   </target>
 
@@ -52,14 +52,14 @@
     <echo>Merging BLT's project.yml template with your project's project.yml.</echo>
     <echo>This WILL NOT overwrite existing values.</echo>
     <!--Values in the project's existing project.yml file will be preserved and not overridden.-->
-    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="${repo.root}/vendor/bin/blt-console yaml:munge ${blt.root}/template/project.yml ${repo.root}/project.yml > ${repo.root}/project.yml.tmp" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="info"/>
+    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="${repo.root}/vendor/bin/blt-console yaml:munge ${blt.root}/template/project.yml ${repo.root}/project.yml > ${repo.root}/project.yml.tmp" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}"/>
     <!--@todo Find out why can't we just redirect output directly back to project.yml. -->
-    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="mv ${repo.root}/project.yml.tmp ${repo.root}/project.yml" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="info" passthru="true"/>
+    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="mv ${repo.root}/project.yml.tmp ${repo.root}/project.yml" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true"/>
     <echo>project.yml has been modified.</echo>
   </target>
 
   <target name="cleanup" description="Removes deprecated BLT files and directories.">
-    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="${blt.root}/scripts/blt/remove-deprecated.sh" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="info" passthru="true" />
+    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="${blt.root}/scripts/blt/remove-deprecated.sh" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true" />
   </target>
 
   <target name="install-alias" description="Installs the BLT alias for command line usage." hidden="true">
@@ -69,10 +69,10 @@
         <if>
           <equals arg1="${create_alias}" arg2="true"/>
           <then>
-            <exec dir="${blt.root}/scripts/blt" command="./install-alias.sh -y" logoutput="true" level="info" passthru="true"/>
+            <exec dir="${blt.root}/scripts/blt" command="./install-alias.sh -y" logoutput="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true"/>
           </then>
           <else>
-            <exec dir="${blt.root}/scripts/blt" command="./install-alias.sh" logoutput="true" level="info" passthru="true"/>
+            <exec dir="${blt.root}/scripts/blt" command="./install-alias.sh" logoutput="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true"/>
           </else>
         </if>
       </then>
diff --git a/phing/tasks/deploy.xml b/phing/tasks/deploy.xml
index 929c79f81..a30065484 100644
--- a/phing/tasks/deploy.xml
+++ b/phing/tasks/deploy.xml
@@ -49,19 +49,19 @@
     <echo message="Fetching from git remote ${deploy.remote}"/>
 
     <!-- Generate an md5 sum of the remote URL to use as remote name. -->
-    <exec command="echo ${deploy.remote} | openssl md5 | cut -d' ' -f 2" outputProperty="remoteName" checkreturn="true" level="info"/>
-    <exec command="git remote add ${remoteName} ${deploy.remote}" dir="${deploy.dir}" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="info" passthru="true"/>
+    <exec command="echo ${deploy.remote} | openssl md5 | cut -d' ' -f 2" outputProperty="remoteName" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}"/>
+    <exec command="git remote add ${remoteName} ${deploy.remote}" dir="${deploy.dir}" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true"/>
 
     <!-- @todo Only call this for the first remote. -->
     <phingcall target="deploy:remote:pull" />
   </target>
 
   <target name="deploy:remote:pull" description="Checks out deploy branch from upstream remote." hidden="true">
-    <exec command="git fetch ${remoteName} ${deploy.branch}" dir="${deploy.dir}" logoutput="true" level="info" passthru="true"/>
+    <exec command="git fetch ${remoteName} ${deploy.branch}" dir="${deploy.dir}" logoutput="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true"/>
 
     <!-- Create the new branch, "[source-branch-name]-build". -->
     <!-- We intentionally use checkreturn="false" in case the branch already exists. `git checkout -B` does not seem to work as advertised -->
-    <exec command="git checkout -b ${deploy.branch}" dir="${deploy.dir}" logoutput="true" checkreturn="false" level="info" passthru="true"/>
+    <exec command="git checkout -b ${deploy.branch}" dir="${deploy.dir}" logoutput="true" checkreturn="false" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true"/>
 
     <!-- Pull the latest updates (if available). -->
     <exec command="git merge ${remoteName}/${deploy.branch}" dir="${deploy.dir}" logoutput="true" passthru="true"/>
@@ -88,8 +88,8 @@
 
   <target name="deploy:commit" hidden="true">
     <!-- We make these commands quiet because they can cause the output to be so long that Travis CI stops logging. -->
-    <exec command="git add -A" dir="${deploy.dir}" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="info" passthru="true"/>
-    <exec command="git commit -m '${deploy.commitMsg}' --quiet" dir="${deploy.dir}" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="info" passthru="true"/>
+    <exec command="git add -A" dir="${deploy.dir}" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true"/>
+    <exec command="git commit -m '${deploy.commitMsg}' --quiet" dir="${deploy.dir}" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true"/>
   </target>
 
   <target name="deploy:composer:install" description="Downloads core and contrib to deploy folder." hidden="true">
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@
             <include name="composer.lock"/>
           </fileset>
         </copy>
-        <exec dir="${deploy.dir}" command="export COMPOSER_EXIT_ON_PATCH_FAILURE=1; composer install --no-dev --prefer-dist --no-interaction --optimize-autoloader" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="info" passthru="true"/>
+        <exec dir="${deploy.dir}" command="export COMPOSER_EXIT_ON_PATCH_FAILURE=1; composer install --no-dev --prefer-dist --no-interaction --optimize-autoloader" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true"/>
       </then>
       <else>
         <echo>Dependencies will not be built because deploy.build-dependencies is not enabled.</echo>
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@
     <!-- @todo Support multisite. -->
     <chmod file="${docroot}/sites/default" mode="0777" />
 
-    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="rsync -a --no-g --delete --delete-excluded --exclude-from=${deploy.exclude_file} ${repo.root}/ ${deploy.dir}/ --filter 'protect /.git/'" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="info" passthru="true"/>
+    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="rsync -a --no-g --delete --delete-excluded --exclude-from=${deploy.exclude_file} ${repo.root}/ ${deploy.dir}/ --filter 'protect /.git/'" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true"/>
 
     <!-- Use our own .gitignore -->
     <copy file="${deploy.gitignore_file}" tofile="${deploy.dir}/.gitignore" overwrite="true"/>
@@ -131,8 +131,8 @@
 
   <target name="deploy:prepare-dir" description="Delete the existing deploy directory and re-initialize as an empty git repository." hidden="true">
     <delete dir="${deploy.dir}" failonerror="false" quiet="true" />
-    <exec command="git init ${deploy.dir}" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="info" passthru="true"/>
-    <exec dir="${deploy.dir}" command="git config --local core.excludesfile false" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="info" passthru="true"/>
+    <exec command="git init ${deploy.dir}" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true"/>
+    <exec dir="${deploy.dir}" command="git config --local core.excludesfile false" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true"/>
     <echo>Global .gitignore file is being disabled for this repository to prevent unexpected behavior.</echo>
   </target>
 
@@ -142,13 +142,13 @@
 
   <target name="deploy:push-remote" description="Pushes to a git remote." hidden="true">
     <exec command="echo ${deploy.remote} | openssl md5 | cut -d' ' -f 2" outputProperty="remoteName"/>
-    <exec command="git push ${remoteName} ${deploy.branch}" dir="${deploy.dir}" outputProperty="deploy.push.output" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="info"/>
-    <exec command="export DEPLOY_UPTODATE=$(echo '${deploy.push.output}' | grep --quiet 'Everything up-to-date')" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="info" passthru="true"/>
+    <exec command="git push ${remoteName} ${deploy.branch}" dir="${deploy.dir}" outputProperty="deploy.push.output" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}"/>
+    <exec command="export DEPLOY_UPTODATE=$(echo '${deploy.push.output}' | grep --quiet 'Everything up-to-date')" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true"/>
   </target>
 
   <target name="deploy:sanitize" description="Removes sensitive files from the deploy docroot." hidden="true">
-    <exec command="find . -type d | grep '\.git' | xargs rm -rf" dir="${deploy.dir}/docroot" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="info" passthru="true"/>
-    <exec command="find . -type d | grep '\.git' | xargs rm -rf" dir="${deploy.dir}/vendor" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="info" passthru="true"/>
+    <exec command="find . -type d | grep '\.git' | xargs rm -rf" dir="${deploy.dir}/docroot" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true"/>
+    <exec command="find . -type d | grep '\.git' | xargs rm -rf" dir="${deploy.dir}/vendor" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true"/>
     <delete>
       <fileset dir="${deploy.dir}/docroot">
         <include name="core/*.txt"/>
diff --git a/phing/tasks/properties.xml b/phing/tasks/properties.xml
index 0b56e72e4..747b6e48e 100644
--- a/phing/tasks/properties.xml
+++ b/phing/tasks/properties.xml
@@ -23,6 +23,20 @@
     </then>
   </if>
 
+  <verbosityTask level="${blt.level}"/>
+  <!-- When blt verbosity level is above "warn", then increase verbosity of exec_level and various other tasks using blt.verbose property (Behat, Drush). -->
+  <if>
+    <or>
+      <equals arg1="${blt.level}" arg2="debug"/>
+      <equals arg1="${blt.level}" arg2="verbose"/>
+      <equals arg1="${blt.level}" arg2="info"/>
+    </or>
+    <then>
+      <property name="blt.exec_level" value="info"/>
+      <property name="blt.verbose" value="true"/>
+    </then>
+  </if>
+
   <echo level="verbose">Executing commands against multisite "${multisite.name}"</echo>
 
   <!-- Default drush alias. -->
diff --git a/phing/tasks/setup.xml b/phing/tasks/setup.xml
index c7db741b5..1412dcb75 100644
--- a/phing/tasks/setup.xml
+++ b/phing/tasks/setup.xml
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
         <not><available file="${phantomjs.bin}"/></not>
       </or>
       <then>
-        <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="composer install-phantom" checkreturn="true" logoutput="true" passthru="true" level="info"/>
+        <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="composer install-phantom" checkreturn="true" logoutput="true" passthru="true" level="${blt.exec_level}"/>
       </then>
       <else>
         <echo>Found PhantomJS at ${phantomjs.bin}</echo>
@@ -89,11 +89,11 @@
         <include name="vendor"/>
       </fileset>
     </delete>
-    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="composer clear-cache" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="info" passthru="true"/>
+    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="composer clear-cache" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true"/>
   </target>
 
   <target name="setup:composer:install" description="Installs project dependencies, including drupal core and contrib.">
-    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="export COMPOSER_EXIT_ON_PATCH_FAILURE=1; composer install --ansi --no-interaction" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="info" passthru="true" />
+    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="export COMPOSER_EXIT_ON_PATCH_FAILURE=1; composer install --ansi --no-interaction" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true" />
   </target>
 
   <!-- We intentionally do not run setup:behat because we'd like to delay setting values in local.yml until just before they are run. -->
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@
     <echo>Making ${docroot}/sites/default/settings.php writable.</echo>
     <chmod mode="0644" failonerror="false" file="${docroot}/sites/default/settings.php"/>
     <echo>Ensuring that blt.settings.php is required by settings.php</echo>
-    <exec dir="${docroot}/sites/default" command="grep vendor/acquia/blt/settings/blt.settings.php settings.php || echo 'require DRUPAL_ROOT . &quot;/../vendor/acquia/blt/settings/blt.settings.php&quot;;' >> settings.php" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="info"/>
+    <exec dir="${docroot}/sites/default" command="grep vendor/acquia/blt/settings/blt.settings.php settings.php || echo 'require DRUPAL_ROOT . &quot;/../vendor/acquia/blt/settings/blt.settings.php&quot;;' >> settings.php" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}"/>
 
     <echo>Generating local settings files.</echo>
 
@@ -177,8 +177,13 @@
           description="Installs a specific Drupal site."
           depends="setup:drupal:settings, setup:drush:settings, setup:hash-salt">
 
-    <echo>Printing drush status.</echo>
-    <drush command="status"/>
+    <if>
+      <istrue value="${drush.verbose}"/>
+      <then>
+        <echo>Printing drush status.</echo>
+        <drush command="status"/>
+      </then>
+    </if>
 
     <echo>Installing Drupal.</echo>
     <drush command="site-install">
@@ -217,7 +222,7 @@
     </drush>
 
     <!-- Make db site uuid match site uuid of exported config. -->
-    <!--<exec dir="${repo.root}" command="cat ./config/default/system.site.yml | grep uuid | tail -c +7 | head -c 36 | ${drush.cmd} config-set -y system.site uuid -" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="info"/>-->
+    <!--<exec dir="${repo.root}" command="cat ./config/default/system.site.yml | grep uuid | tail -c +7 | head -c 36 | ${drush.cmd} config-set -y system.site uuid -" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}"/>-->
 
     <drush command="config-import" assume="yes" alias="${drush.alias}">
       <option name="partial"></option>
@@ -231,7 +236,7 @@
     <delete dir="${repo.root}/.git/hooks" quiet="true" failonerror="false"/>
     <delete file="${repo.root}/.git/hooks" quiet="true" failonerror="false"/>
     <echo>Symlinking ${repo.root}/scripts/git-hooks to ${repo.root}/.git/hooks.</echo>
-    <exec dir="${repo.root}/.git" command="ln -snv ../vendor/acquia/blt/scripts/git-hooks hooks" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="info" passthru="true"/>
+    <exec dir="${repo.root}/.git" command="ln -snv ../vendor/acquia/blt/scripts/git-hooks hooks" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true"/>
 
     <!-- Grant execution permissions. -->
     <echo>Making git hooks executable.</echo>
@@ -251,7 +256,7 @@
       <then>
         <echo>Writing hash salt to ${repo.root}/salt.txt</echo>
         <randomstring propertyName="project.hash_salt" />
-        <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="echo '${project.hash_salt}' > salt.txt" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="info"/>
+        <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="echo '${project.hash_salt}' > salt.txt" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}"/>
       </then>
       <else>
         <echo>${repo.root}/salt.txt already exists.</echo>
diff --git a/phing/tasks/simplesamlphp.xml b/phing/tasks/simplesamlphp.xml
index bed215753..0c5da0929 100644
--- a/phing/tasks/simplesamlphp.xml
+++ b/phing/tasks/simplesamlphp.xml
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 
         <!-- Sets a value in project.yml to let other targets know simplesamlphp is installed -->
         <echo>Updating project.yml.</echo>
-        <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="drupal yaml:update:value project.yml simplesamlphp true" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" passthru="true" level="info"/>
+        <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="drupal yaml:update:value project.yml simplesamlphp true" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" passthru="true" level="${blt.exec_level}"/>
 
         <!-- Creates a symlink from the docroot to the web accessible library dir. -->
         <echo>Creating a symbolic link from ${docroot}/simplesaml to web accessible directory in the simplesamlphp library</echo>
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
   <!-- Adds simplesamlphp_auth as a dependency. -->
   <target name="simplesamlphp:lib:init" hidden="true" unless="simplesamlphp">
     <echo>Adding SimpleSAMLphp Auth module as a dependency.</echo>
-    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="composer require drupal/simplesamlphp_auth:8.3.x-dev#283994f" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" passthru="true" level="info"/>
+    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="composer require drupal/simplesamlphp_auth:8.3.x-dev#283994f" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" passthru="true" level="${blt.exec_level}"/>
   </target>
 
   <!-- Copies the configuration templates from the library to a simplesamlphp directory located in the project root. -->
diff --git a/phing/tasks/tests.xml b/phing/tasks/tests.xml
index 175dd7cca..7ce54de9a 100644
--- a/phing/tasks/tests.xml
+++ b/phing/tasks/tests.xml
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
     <if>
       <not><contains string="${behat.path}" substring=".feature"/></not>
       <then>
-        <exec command="find ${behat.path} -name *.feature -print -quit" logoutput="true" outputProperty="behat.tests.found"/>
+        <exec command="find ${behat.path} -name *.feature -print -quit" logoutput="true" outputProperty="behat.tests.found" level="${blt.exec_level}"/>
       </then>
     </if>
 
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
         <behat executable="${composer.bin}/behat"
                config="${behat.config}"
                profile="${behat.profile}"
-               verbose="true"
+               verbose="${behat.verbose}"
                strict="true"
                haltonerror="false"
                returnProperty="behatPass"
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@
               passthru="true"
               spawn="true"
               checkreturn="true"
-              level="info"/>
+              level="${blt.exec_level}"/>
         <echo message="Waiting 10 seconds for PhantomJS (http://127.0.0.1:4444) to become available."/>
         <waitfor maxwait="10" maxwaitunit="second" checkevery="1" checkeveryunit="second">
           <http url="http://127.0.0.1:4444"/>
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@
 
   <target name="tests:phantomjs:kill"
           description="Launches a GhostDriver." hidden="true">
-    <exec command="pgrep phantomjs | xargs kill" logoutput="true" level="info" passthru="true" />
+    <exec command="pgrep phantomjs | xargs kill" logoutput="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true" />
   </target>
 
   <!-- Execute PHPUnit tests. -->
@@ -121,8 +121,8 @@
       <then>
         <echo message="Using 'drush runserver' for tests." />
         <echo message="Running server at ${behat.server-url}"/>
-        <exec command="pkill -f runserver" logoutput="true" level="info" passthru="true"/>
-        <exec executable="${drush.bin}" dir="${docroot}" spawn="true" level="info">
+        <exec command="pkill -f runserver" logoutput="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true"/>
+        <exec executable="${drush.bin}" dir="${docroot}" spawn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}">
           <arg line="runserver ${behat.server-url} -l ${multisite.name}"/>
         </exec>
         <echo message="Waiting 10 seconds for ${behat.server-url} to become available."/>
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@
           description="Check local Drupal installation for security updates.">
     <exec dir="${docroot}"
           command="! ${drush.cmd} -n ups --check-disabled --security-only 2>/dev/null | grep 'SECURITY UPDATE'"
-          checkreturn="true" level="info"
+          checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}"
           logoutput="true"
           returnProperty="securityPass"
           passthru="true"/>
diff --git a/phing/tasks/validate.xml b/phing/tasks/validate.xml
index 6cf4924a4..5f2e970d2 100644
--- a/phing/tasks/validate.xml
+++ b/phing/tasks/validate.xml
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 
   <!-- Verify that composer json and lock files are in sync. -->
   <target name="validate:composer" description="Validate composer files.">
-    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="composer validate --no-check-all --ansi" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="info" passthru="true"/>
+    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="composer validate --no-check-all --ansi" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true"/>
   </target>
 
   <!-- Run linter against all php files in repository. -->
diff --git a/phing/tasks/vm.xml b/phing/tasks/vm.xml
index c44a9a2b0..59418b60e 100644
--- a/phing/tasks/vm.xml
+++ b/phing/tasks/vm.xml
@@ -30,8 +30,8 @@
   <target name="vm:local:init" depends="setup:drupal:settings" description="Initializes DrupalVM for this machine." hidden="true">
     <!-- Sadly this wipes out comments in the file. -->
     <echo>Updating project.local.yml.</echo>
-    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="${composer.bin}/drupal yaml:update:value ${repo.root}/project.local.yml drush.default_alias '${project.machine_name}.local'" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="info" passthru="true"/>
-    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="${composer.bin}/drupal yaml:update:value ${repo.root}/project.local.yml drush.aliases.local '${project.machine_name}.local'" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="info" passthru="true"/>
+    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="${composer.bin}/drupal yaml:update:value ${repo.root}/project.local.yml drush.default_alias '${project.machine_name}.local'" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true"/>
+    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="${composer.bin}/drupal yaml:update:value ${repo.root}/project.local.yml drush.aliases.local '${project.machine_name}.local'" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true"/>
     <!-- Load new values into Phing. -->
     <property file="${repo.root}/project.local.yml" override="true" logoutput="false"/>
 
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@
     <echo>BLT support for Drupal VM is EXPERIMENTAL. Not all BLT features currently work with Drupal VM. </echo>
     <echo></echo>
     <echo>Creating a drush alias for the new VM.</echo>
-    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="cat ${blt.root}/scripts/drupal-vm/drupal-vm.aliases.drushrc.php >> ${repo.root}/drush/site-aliases/aliases.drushrc.php" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="info"/>
+    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="cat ${blt.root}/scripts/drupal-vm/drupal-vm.aliases.drushrc.php >> ${repo.root}/drush/site-aliases/aliases.drushrc.php" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}"/>
     <reflexive>
       <fileset dir="${repo.root}">
         <include name="drush/site-aliases/aliases.drushrc.php" />
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@
     <copy file="${blt.root}/scripts/drupal-vm/Vagrantfile" todir="${repo.root}" verbose="true"/>
 
     <echo>Adding geerlingguy/drupal-vm to composer dev dependencies.</echo>
-    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="composer require --dev geerlingguy/drupal-vm:~3.3" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="info" passthru="true"/>
+    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="composer require --dev geerlingguy/drupal-vm:~3.3" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true"/>
 
     <echo></echo>
     <echo>A new "box" directory and a Vagrantfile have been added to ${repo.root}</echo>
@@ -110,14 +110,14 @@
       <istrue value="${vagrant.hostsupdater.missing}"/>
       <then>
         <echo>The vagrant-hostsupdater plugin is not installed! Attempting to install it...</echo>
-        <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="vagrant plugin install vagrant-hostsupdater" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="info" passthru="true"/>
+        <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="vagrant plugin install vagrant-hostsupdater" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true"/>
       </then>
     </if>
 
   </target>
 
   <target name="vm:up" depends="vm:requirements" hidden="true" description="Boots DrupalVM.">
-    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="vagrant up" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="info" passthru="true" />
+    <exec dir="${repo.root}" command="vagrant up" logoutput="true" checkreturn="true" level="${blt.exec_level}" passthru="true" />
   </target>
 
 </project>
diff --git a/template/project.yml b/template/project.yml
index ba1403fb0..704261b68 100644
--- a/template/project.yml
+++ b/template/project.yml
@@ -42,13 +42,13 @@ target-hooks:
     # E.g., ${docroot}/sites/all/themes/custom/mytheme.
     dir: ${docroot}
     # E.g., `npm install` or `bower install`.
-    command: echo 'No frontend setup configured.'
+    command: echo 'No frontend-setup configured.'
   # Executed when front end assets should be generated.
   frontend-build:
     # E.g., ${docroot}/sites/all/themes/custom/mytheme.
     dir: ${docroot}
     # E.g., `npm run build`.
-    command: echo 'No frontend build configured.'
+    command: echo 'No frontend-build configured.'
   # Executed after deployment artifact is created.
   post-deploy-build:
     # E.g., ${docroot}/sites/all/themes/custom/mytheme.