Building Toward A Clean-Energy Future

One of the Maine businesses that recently made its commitment to the ‘On The Pathway’ project is Peacock Builders of Bar Harbor. Tobin Peacock, founder of the nearly 20-year-old builder of custom homes, has had energy efficiency and sustainability on his mind for a long time. Many of the architect-designed homes Peacock has built, and others inspired by forward-thinking homeowners, utilize design characteristics and systems intended to reduce the use of fossil fuel and embody many other considerations for sustainability. ‘On The Pathway” (OTP) had a delightful opportunity to visit with Tobin, by Zoom, a short while ago to learn about his work, his family, and his community.

OTP: How did you first learn about the ‘On The Pathway’ project?

Tobin: About a year ago, I was invited by the Mount Desert-area group called, A Climate To Thrive, if I would test some of the tools the organization was using to calculate the carbon emissions from business operations. It was through A Climate To Thrive that I first learned about the ‘On The Pathway’ project. 

Last year, once we started discussing the carbon reduction commitment, to figure out what we’re going to reduce, we had to figure out what we’re burning in the first place. I was happy to be one of the first companies around here to do it and to see what was involved. I could quickly identify—in terms of Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions*—what were going to be the high points that we would want to take care of. But I had no idea yet what that might be in tonnage, or what the steps might be to reduce that. I think if we can all be making efforts on our Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, then we’re making progress on other people’s Scope 3 emissions.

OTP: Let’s back up for a moment and learn a little bit more about Peacock Builders, and also, about you personally.

Tobin: My wife and I live here in Bar Harbor with our 8-year-old son. I grew up in Canada and came here for college. Most of my family is in Montreal. Peacock Builders is in its 20th year now. It started out as more of a handy-man business. Now, we employ 10 to 12 people. We build mostly custom homes here on MDI, but do some renovations and small work too. About 80% of our work is architect-design or derived. We may get a call initially from the client, or referrals from architects. We’ve developed some good relationships with architects over the years. Frankly there’s a lot of call for that kind of work around here.

OTP: It seems that several of your projects are highly energy-efficient, perhaps net-zero, or even LEED-certified designs. How have the discussions of energy and environmental thoughtfulness gone between architect and homeowner and you? Is it something that has been right from start of the conversations?

Tobin: I would say, yes, and the conversations have gotten more real over the years. Looking back at some of the houses we built many years ago, I would say they were ‘good for their time’ but I would say the majority of our clients now are very serious about energy efficiency…and being aware of what that means. There may be the odd job that may have gone away from that due to aesthetic concerns, but looking at the slate of work we’ve got now, they’re all going to be energy-efficient houses, and we know how to do the detailing to make that happen. Trying to keep people on track to that side of things is something I want to make sure is in the discussion as projects develop, if we in at the forefront of the project.

OTP: Are you finding the collaborators and partners in the trades who share your focus on energy efficiency and clean-energy systems?

Tobin: That’s an interesting question…let me think about how to put this. It’s pretty easy for some people to keep doing things they way they’ve been doing them for 20 years. With the over-abundance of demand up here, people want to do what they think is safe and not take too much of a risk—facing a call-back when they hardly have time to do the original work in the first place. That being said, with the people I’ve been working with over the years…it’s not a bad thing to work with people who aren’t always fully aligned with you, so you don’t have to do your own “Devil’s advocating…” But then there’s also…this is the way things are going in the future and this is the way Peacock Builders is going in the future. So, for example, ‘we hear ya about gas condensing boilers but we want to figure out our alternatives, and the architects want to figure out our alternatives…and now that we’ve had that conversation, let’s figure out how to keep fossil fuels out of the house.’ Generally, those conversations have gone well. I feel fortunate that the technology is on our side these days. When I first put a heat pump in this building 7 or 8 years ago, to see what it was like to live with one of these, I felt like it was pushing the boundaries, but I don’t feel like that anymore.

OTP: Is that because the technology is improving and it’s making the case for you, or because you’re getting used to living with these kinds of systems, and knowing that they can work?

Tobin: I’d say, particularly about heat pumps, installers are getting used to working with them and not worrying so much about worst-case-scenario winter weather operation. And, the capabilities of that technology is improving significantly. I wish we had better air-to-water heat pump technology because hydronic heating is that way it’s been done in this area for a long time, and it’s what the architects like. That would allow radiant heat or radiators, but we just don’t have reliable options for that (yet).

OTP: Regarding Peacock’s own business operations…have you built your own Pathway Plan for transitioning to 100% clean energy, or are you still working on that?

Tobin: We’re still working on it, but I can give you the nuts and bolts of it and some of the complications for us. As far as our operations go, we rent our office space, and our electricity is paid through our rent. So we don’t have a real handle on our consumption. So that was based on a square footage (usage factor). So having ongoing conversations with our landlord about clean energy, and by the way, they are friends, so it’s not a difficult conversation. They’ve recently built a solar array up on one of their buildings so that takes care of about 15% of their energy usage across their main building and our building, too. So certainly, the electricity I’m using is getting a little bit cleaner. I’m trying to figure out how to measure or offset that properly, and it’s kind of an interesting process. We’re not the only ones that are in this situation. We’re thinking about real options like…can I buy green power without it having to go through an account (that I control)? Or, what’s a real offset that passes the ‘BS’ test?

OTP: In terms of renewably produced electricity, are the landlords interested in that for their whole account?

Tobin: I think they are. Yes. It’s a slow process. But they were pretty excited about putting the solar in. It’s like ‘So you’ve gotten this much taken care of, and now there’s a cooperative solar plan going in in the area, what about getting on that? And if you miss that, what about getting on another one?’

OTP: What are some of the other clean energy measures you’re thinking about?

Tobin: Transportation. When I did the original audit, we had 2 trucks ‘in our fleet’ owned by the company, And I now drive an electric car as much as I can, that I charge at home, off our solar panels. So my plan is that, by 2025 or so, we don’t have anymore internal combustion vehicles going. There is a possibility that we may keep one of the trucks going for now as one of the more heavy-duty vehicles so I don’t have to put the extra $10,000 on the Lightning price to get the extra power pack. We could do the heavy-duty work with one of the existing trucks, but have it used very lightly, more lightly than it is now.

OTP: Your step-by-step planning approach is the kind of real, practical decision-making that most every business owner has to build into their clean energy plan. What other steps are you working on?

Tobin: We end up using generators before electricity gets to a job site, and as such, we’re trying out a couple of battery generators—so to speak—coupled with solar. We’re seeing if we can make those work, especially with the amount of battery-powered tools now and seeing if those can be charged offsite. Coupled with a battery generator, coupled with a solar panel, we may be able to make it work. That’s still sort of experimental but we’re trying to get rid of the little pieces of fossil fuel we can do away with. Another is…we might need an onsite cement mixer to do a couple of (concrete) piers. We can use an electric one, instead of a gas-powered one. Trying to be really cognizant of moving off (fossil fuel).

OTP: I can’t quite see through the Zoom screen, but it looks like you’ve got LED lighting all around you?

Tobin: Yes, we’ve got LED lighting, both in the office and in the home.

OTP: Those are a lot of good steps you’re working into your plan. You do business with a lot of businesses in the area, both as a resident and a business owner. How do you feel the atmosphere is, or the culture is, for transitioning to clean energy? Is there growing interest in it, or it “pushing on a rope?”

Tobin: It’s everything, there’s the obvious pushing on a rope cases that you can see from a million miles away. There’s people who see it coming and think it’s hard not to do it because it’s the future, but just when is that future? And then, there’s the people—and I would put myself there three years ago—that think they’re environmentally on board, you know, do the recycling, take the smaller car versus the bigger car, if you can. But not really understanding the whole picture. But as climate change has become mainstream news, those people are easier to get onboard. And there’s also this sort of ‘making hay’ and people around here working like crazy with the tourist industry, and not a second to think about anything…and then spending the whole fall, winter, spring recovering. I think there’s a decent appetite for it, and I think there’s an appetite to get to a tipping point—a community tipping point—where it’s just…accepted. But there’s still the work to do to get to that point, to get to those people who would be on board.

OTP: Does the ‘commitment’ to 100% clean energy change the way you think about decision-making on projects or choices of systems, or addressing replacement of equipment?

Tobin: Yeah. Just to go back to the houses I build. The jobs I’m doing now all are fully electric. But I am considering not putting fossil fuel heat sources into homes anymore. And what are the implications of that? I’ve just got to decide, ‘yes,’ (although I’ve not completely committed to this yet), but I’ve got a little time to think about it. Again, if we build a brand-new house and we put the most efficient gas condensing boiler in it, that’s a 10-15 year commitment to fossil fuels. And we don’t want to make any more of those. Every new purchase has to be electric. That’s a way we can contribute on our end.

OTP: Thinking about the mindset, or that lens through which we make decisions…our project uses the theme, ‘On the pathway to 100% clean energy.” What did you think when you saw our project’s theme or key message? What was your reaction to that?

Tobin: To me, it’s jumping onto the critical path. It is the critical route to the future. And developing peer groups working together on this kind of thing…sharing ideas…’on the pathway’…with other people…it works for me…right now, ‘the pathway’ is what we’re on. That’s what people need to be on.

OTP: Tobin, would you like to share any closing thoughts about where you’re going with your business, say over the next 5 years or so?

Tobin: The company, 5 years ago, reached the size I want it to be. It allows me just enough time once in a while to think about things like this, above and beyond the day-to-day kind of work. I’m also on the Climate Task Force here in Bar Harbor. I think if I tried to do this 4 or 5 years ago, I would have thought there was a real cliff in front of me. But, I think that now there’s a sort of pathway that’s attainable on a personal, business, municipal, worldwide level…but there’s real work involved too.

OTP: Thank you so much for sharing all this with us Tobin. You’ve got a great business and we’re thrilled that you’re ‘On The Pathway To 100% Clean Energy, and leading by example.

*Scope 1 emissions include direct emissions from the company’s owned or controlled sources. This includes on-site energy like natural gas and fuel, and emissions from combustion in owned or controlled boilers, and furnaces as well as emissions from fleet vehicles.

Scope 2 emissions include indirect greenhouse gas emissions from purchased or acquired energy, like electricity steam, heat, or cooling, generated off-site and consumed by your company.

Scope 3 emissions includes all indirect emissions that occur in the value chain of a reporting company.