ENFIELD — Snug Planet, LLC — an energy-efficiency company based in Enfield, west of Ithaca — grew its revenue 40 percent in 2014 compared to the previous year. “We had years of slow, incremental growth and [it] was just a really big year,” says Jon Harrod, who co-owns Snug Planet, along with his wife, […]
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ENFIELD — Snug Planet, LLC — an energy-efficiency company based in Enfield, west of Ithaca — grew its revenue 40 percent in 2014 compared to the previous year.
“We had years of slow, incremental growth and [it] was just a really big year,” says Jon Harrod, who co-owns Snug Planet, along with his wife, Elisabeth.
The firm projects 20 percent revenue growth in 2015. Harrod spoke with CNYBJ on Sept. 3.
Before 2014, Snug Planet had more demand for its services than it had capacity to deliver the services, he noted.
Harrod says the company made a “big” investment in systems for its sales, production, training, and equipment “so that we had more capacity and so we could take on more and bigger jobs.”
The firm’s customer base “is more than 90 percent residential,” he adds.
Snug Planet can handle home-performance assessments, or what are known as energy audits, and any improvements to increase energy efficiency. The improvements could include installation of insulation, storm windows, ventilation, or air sealing and weatherstripping, according to the company’s website.
Snug Planet also handles the contracting work for any improvements on a given home. It can tackle “most” jobs, including insulation, air sealing, and moisture-control measures, Harrod says.
If the job involves improvements to a home’s heating system, then Snug Planet will subcontract the work to “a couple trusted partners,” which Harrod declined to name.
“Typically, people who call us have some combination of high energy bills, comfort problems like drafts, or rooms that they can’t keep warm,” says Harrod.
The firm is located in a 4,000-square-foot space at 1730 Mecklenburg Road in Enfield. John Rancich is their landlord, according to Harrod.
Harrod launched the business in 2006.
Snug Planet employs 12 full-time workers, including Harrod, and four part-time employees.
About the company
Snug Planet seeks to reduce a building’s energy usage and “improve people’s comfort in ways that make sense for customers and also for the planet,” says Harrod.
The company has what some people refer to as a “triple bottom line guiding” the business.
“We want to do right by people, by the planet, and, at the same time, run a profitable business,” says Harrod.
The Malta, New York–based Building Performance Institute Inc. (BPI) has certified Snug Planet as a building analyst and accredited the firm as a contractor, according to the Snug Planet website.
The firm is “certified to conduct blower-door tests, combustion-appliance inspection and repair, air quality testing including carbon-monoxide detection, duct testing and airflow testing in addition to our other contracting services,” its website says.
Harrod describes a blower-door test as a “big fan” that Snug Planet connects to a house’s door. It “depressurizes” the house, enabling Snug Planet “to go around and find where air leaks are happening.”
BPI “develops standards for energy efficiency retrofit work using an open, transparent, consensus-based process built on sound building science,” its website explains.
Snug Planet is also a partner in the Energy Star program.
Energy Star is a joint, voluntary program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy that “helps businesses and individuals save energy and fight climate change through energy efficient products, homes, and buildings,” according to the Energy Star website.
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is a partner with the EPA with its Home Performance with Energy Star and other related programs, according to NYSERDA.
Most New York homeowners can get a free home-energy assessment and a low-interest loan to help pay for any work to make improvements for better energy efficiency, NYSERDA says.
About Jon Harrod
Harrod, a New Jersey native, earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Harvard University in 1993.
He later earned his doctorate of philosophy in ecology at the University of North Carolina in 1999.
From there, Harrod served as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard through the end of 2000, he says.
The Harrods then moved to Ithaca where Jon Harrod started working for Performance Systems Development between 2001 and 2006. The Ithaca–based firm “specializes in translating building science expertise into powerful software tools and innovative program services for energy service professionals, building performance contractors, commercial property owners, and program implementers,” according to its LinkedIn page.
