About Us

Why We Are

We found out the hard way that houses can eat paychecks like big affable dogs eat...most stuff. When our energy bills started to hurt, we examined our houses to figure out where all that money was going. We discovered air leaks everywhere, uninsulated pipes, inefficient bulbs, thermostats that revved up and died off, drafty windows and doors . You name it. When we started searching for the things we needed to set things right, we stumbled on a hole. We wanted a resource that delivered information well and clearly, and also provided the tools we needed. We found technology sites and solar sites, government sites and green sites. We did not find answers for practical homeowners looking for smart solutions to expensive energy costs.

We're enterprising folks, so when we didn't find what we needed, we set out to create it.

Energy Circle aims to be the best place for gathering the information you need on good, cost-effective energy efficient products. We'll give you the 411 on sensible, realistic and money-saving steps for your home, and provide access to the best products on the market. We like cool gadgets. But we don’t like to pay more than we ought to for them. Especially not now. We want to be warm in the winter and cool in the summer, and we like to know what our houses are doing, and why. One thing we do not like? Doling money out to utility companies. Not if we can avoid it. Being smart about how we spend our money may sound practical, but we get fired up about it. Can't help it.

We believe deeply that companies need to contribute not only to the communities in which they work, but also to the well-being of the planet. We like this planet. We'd like our kids to find out that we took decent care of it. That's why Energy Circle wants to make taking a few money saving (and carbon positive) steps super easy for just about anybody. Start here. We'll help you save money and feel good. Feel smart, even.

We will constantly be looking for ways to do this better, and we'll be turning to you for insight. Come back often, and keep in touch.

Welcome.

Who We Are

Peter Troast, Founder/CEO, leads the Energy Circle team, is a passionate advocate for energy efficiency and drives innovation for both Energy Circle PRO and the growing selection of hand picked products within the Energy Circle store. He contributes to the popular Energy Circle blog for home performance professionals nationally, maintains the EnergyCircle presence on twitter, and is a frequent presenter at national conferences on topics of energy efficiency marketing and communication, use of social media and energy monitoring. He currently serves on the marketing and/or communications committees of the Maine Association of Building Efficiency Professionals (MABEP), Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) and Efficiency First. Angered by profligate 765KV powerlines in upstate NY, he dropped out of college at 19 to work for Friends of the Earth in Washington, where he had the amazing experience of sharing an office with Amory Lovins. It's taken a while, but thanks to mentors like Amory, David Brower and others along the way, he's ecstatic to be back working exclusively on energy issues. In prior business life he was: co-founder/Managing Director of Moulded Fibre Technology (recycled packaging startup acquired in simultaneous IPO by UFP Technologies, Nasdaq: UFPT), Strategic Principal, VIA Group (professional services, marketing consulting), VP Marketing & Brand Strategy, American Skiing Company (a resort consortium sold at historic multiples), and a cofounder/head of internet of FetchDog.com (a VC backed ecommerce site for dog products and information.) He is a graduate of the Resource Economics program at UC Berkeley where he studied in the Energy and Resources Group.

Connect with Peter on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Tom Harrison, Chief Technology Officer, leads both software development and our technical strategies involving search engine optimization (SEO) and search marketing and analytics. Tom was turning his thermostat down as a teenager in the first energy crisis, and comes from a family whose motto is "Waste not, want not".  During and after college, Tom was an independent building contractor, and spent some years in property management. He has worked in software development and leadership positions in software companies for the last few decades, and was part of the first recent bubble as a founder of Internet start-up Direct Hit, a search engine, bought by Ask Jeeves.  Tom worked in one of the businesses of TripAdvisor as it was getting off the ground, and then was a partner in DigitalAdvisor, an e-commerce company involved in electronics like digital cameras and HDTVs.  In short, Tom was part of the problem, not part of the solution. He was just another "consumer" until reading the End of Oil in 2004.  The next year during a vacation in smoggy LA as the Katrina hurricane battered Louisiana, Tom decided it was time to change, and started writing his popular Five Percent: Conserve a Little Energy blog on ways he and his family conserved energy around the house and after several years his family has reduced their footprints by more than half. After finding Energy Circle, Tom left his job selling cheap stuff destined for landfills to be part of the next great wave of human evolution: being smart about how we use energy.  In addition to development geekery, Tom tests energy monitors, usually having at least four or five running at any given time, as well as many of the technical products we sell in the store. Officialness on his prior lives: VP Engineering, Direct Hit (acquired by Ask Jeeves), VP Development, Ask Jeeves. Partner/VP Engineering DigitalAdvisor (spin off of TripAdvisor, acquired by Expedia), Director of Cust. Svc, Easel (IPO 1991). He is a graduate of Princeton University.

Connect with Tom on Twitter. 

Lisa Fahay, Director of eCommerce and Customer Service.  Cutting plastic 6-pack rings to spare marine animal life since she was 10, Lisa's environmental values have always been paired with practical application.  She founded Reternity, a full-service recycling service for small businesses and restaurants in the Portland, Maine area.  Later, as a Recycling Specialist at Waste Management of Maine, her persona as resident treehugger was quickly dispelled when she proved to management that recycling could be profitable.  They bought her a truck.  As Deputy Director of GrowSmart Maine, Lisa spearheaded the outreach efforts and drove the van that led the Brookings Institution road trip in 2007.  That road trip, consisting of public 'listening sessions,' informed the research and writing of "Charting Maine's Future:  An Action Plan for Creating Sustainable Future and Quality Places," also known as The Brookings Report.  The Report's release had a significant impact on Maine people and policy-makers.  Its policy recommendations continue to be borne out at the legislative and local levels.  Lisa was trained in the art of Customer Service at L.L. Bean.  Dedication to extremely high standards in customer service drives Lisa's work at Energy Circle.  She is a graduate of the University of Maine, where her love of the state created deep roots.  She has a secret passion for foaming & caulking.

Connect with Lisa on Twitter.

Greg Cutler, Energy Circle PRO Account Advisor.  Juggling comes naturally to Greg who describes himself as a chronic late-bloomer.  He has a background in sales and marketing related mostly to the broadcast industry, nonprofit management and maintains a voice-over career just to keep things spicy!  Peter and Greg have worked together in the past on many advertising campaigns which explains how he came to join Energy Circle as an Account Advisor during the summer of 2010.  He finds that 'selling' has a whole new meaning in this amazing field.  He not only strongly believes in the Energy Circle PRO platform, but he really enjoys getting to know all of his clients on a personal level.  Greg co-founded AbilityPLUS Inc., a nonprofit Adaptive Sports and Recreation Organization with programs throughout New England.  Greg attended Emerson College but found that going right to work earning a salary was a better path to happiness than starting the weekends on Thursday like his college pals. He also suffered far fewer hangovers.  He, his wife, three kids and two cats live in southern Vermont where they like to ski, snowboard, hike and do all those things you see in travel brochures.

When we are at home, we are entrepreneurs, activists, writers, partners, parents and handymen. When we are at work, we are dreamers, hoping to make the world better and cleaner, one house at a time.