About Us

We're environmentalists, gardeners and ecologists, by nature. But living in a series of cold, drafty houses got us thinking: Others probably were, too. Now, we help home and business owners make their buildings a lot more comfortable and much more energy efficient. We serve communities in and around Tompkins County, NY including Ithaca, Dryden, Trumansburg, Danby, and Watkins Glen.

We are qualified.

Snug Planet is accredited by BPI.

As certified Building Performance Institute (BPI) Building Analysts, we are trained in BPI's rigorous house-as-a-system approach and keep conscientiously up-to-date on certification. We are 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. For more information about BPI's standards, see their Technical Standards for Building Analysts (PDF). All of our energy audits are done by BPI-certified building analysts, and our contracting work reflects the latest knowledge and advances in building science.

We are an Energy Star Partner.

Home Performance with Energy Star is a subsidiary of the EPA's Energy Star program. The Home Performance program is focused exclusively on upgrading the energy efficiency of existing homes, and Snug Planet is proud to partner with ENERGY STAR.  Snug Planet is a BPI Accredited Contractor and an EPA Lead-Safe Certified Firm.

Company Values

At Snug Planet, we care about our people and the earth, and we take pride in delivering environmentally-sound solutions to building performance problems in our community.

• We are a Living Wage Employer certified by the Tompkins County Workers' Center, and we provide on-going training, health insurance and retirement benefits to our employees.

• As a Tompkins County certified Rebusiness Partner, Snug Planet is committed to minimizing business and construction waste.

• We are members of the Ithaca Green Building Alliance, the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce, and the Sustainable Enterprise and Entrepreneur Network.

Who We Are

The Snug team is a small, highly-trained group of home performance professionals.  We focus on customer satisfaction and keeping our staff trained, certified and educated on the latest in home performance. We are a locally-owned business that depends on your good word for our next job.

Jon Harrod

Originally trained as an ecologist, Jon got hooked on energy efficiency in 2000 — and he has worked as an energy auditor, installer, and trainer ever since. In 2006, Jon founded Snug Planet with the vision of a company centered around technical excellence and exemplary customer service. Jon holds multiple certifications from the Building Performance Institute and is secretary of the New York Building Performance Contractors Association.  His articles on energy efficiency and green building have appeared in Home Energy Magazine and several local newspapers. When not at work, Jon enjoys bicycling, reading and exploring natural areas with Elisabeth and their sons.


Elisabeth Harrod

Elisabeth, a self-described knitting nerd, is the voice of Snug Planet!  Her passion for saving energy and her background as an educator make her the ideal person to talk to when you call.  Because she loves to connect with people, you know that Elisabeth will help you through your project in a friendly way.  "Having an energy audit is the beginning of a relationship with Snug," says Elisabeth.  "Working with homeowners is better than working for them."



Garrett Miller

Garrett, originally from Dryden, does not rest.  He splits his time as Production Manager for Snug and farmer, orchardist, teamster & infrastructure guru at The Good Life Farm.  His farming background includes time at North Carolina’s Turtle Island Preserve and Mark Shepard’s New Forest Farm in Viola, Wisconsin.

Blake Reid

Blake brings a degree in physics, a background in building science, and strong project management skills to Snug. A former Peace Corps Volunteer and educator for the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum, Blake now calls Trumansburg home.  As one of Snug's auditors, Blake lives by certain maxims: "Different things are important to different people," "Read the instructions," and "Clean things work better."

James Dulle

James, probably our most eco-minded Snug, lives completely off the grid in an earth-sheltered home, on a homestead surrounded by state forest. He, his wife and two daughters keep a cow, goats, chickens, and ducks, and cultivate vegetables, flowers, and fruit.  When not milking his cow, his passions include energy efficiency and automobile fuel economy, and he routinely gets 55 MPG in his non-hybrid internal-combustion Honda Civic.

Jake Bengeyfield

Jake has a degree in conservation biology from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and his family owns Red Dog Farm in Moravia, where they raise grass-fed, certified Angus beef as well as all-natural pastured poultry and hay.  A former lead guitarist with a touring heavy metal band, Jake is a whiskey aficionado, sci-fi fan, and when time allows he likes to go trout fishing.

Andrew Kellner

Andrew is our resident solar PV and wind turbine answer-man, having gone to school for mechanical engineering and worked as a renewables installer.  Originally from Connecticut, Andrew is an avid mountain biker and looks forward to snowboard season.  He is a self-described "conspiracy factist" and draws inspiration from Bruce Lee, George Carlin, and Nikola Tesla, but not necessarily in that order.

Meg Meixner

Meg believes that if we all wrap up in handspun woolens we can reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, so she tends her flock of Icelandic sheep at Wolftree Farm (along with chickens, bees, flowers, herbs and blueberries) and teaches knitting classes to Elisabeth and others.  Prior to farming, Meg was an environmental educator in New Hampshire's White Mountains and an educator/deckhand on a Delaware Bay oyster schooner. Her favorite place to be is outside, watching her bees gather nectar and pollen from the succession of blooms around the farm.

Phil Allmendinger

Phil has worked in the home performance field since 2008 as an installer and energy auditor.  He's a BPI certified Building Analyst and Heating Professional, with a degree in Sociology and Anthropology from West Virginia University.  Previously a Park Ranger in Canyonlands National Park, Phil loves spending time in the woods hiking, snowshoeing and backpacking and has aspirations of someday through-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail.

Maria Rider

A graduate of SUNY Potsdam (elementary education, mathematics, and a master's in elementary education), Maria's been homeschooling her children here for the last ten years.  She has taught many age groups in public school, Montessori school and at the Northern Light Learning Center.  Maria is detail-oriented, a good communicator and enjoys being organized and thorough, which contributes to her wicked-sharp administrative skills and her favorite hobby, knitting.  Together with Elisabeth and Meg, Maria will knit the world to a better place.

Myron Gladle

Raised in DeRuyter, NY, Myron grew up dairy farming and developed an affinity for the environment at a young age.  He studied Environmental Science, became a Naturalist, and has extensive experience with graze dairy farming, commercial landscaping & construction, and many trades.  He’s a lifetime hunter, fisherman, and at-home chef with a dream of one day having his own sustainable restaurant, but in the meantime he plays guitar & Frisbee with his dog and visits National Parks.  (Yellowstone and Acadia are his favorites.)