Andy and Jennifer in 2010 – 2 years in business, realizing they needed a website with photos!
Last month marked 15 years since Andy Pease and Jennifer Rennick established In Balance Green Consulting in San Luis Obispo. In recognition of the milestone, we took a few minutes to ask for their reflections on the origins of the firm and what brought them here.
How did you two first start working together?
Back in 2005, we were both out on our own, Jennifer doing residential architecture and energy modeling, and Andy doing commercial architecture and green building consulting. We found that our clients were interested in having a full scope of energy performance and green building, so we started collaborating on projects. We worked well together and formalized a partnership in 2008.
Where did the name come from?
We spent time brainstorming and the word “Balance” kept coming up – the balance of ecology, the work-life balance with our young families, and the balance of competing needs for a project to become reality, including budget, schedule, design and environmental goals. Our connection to “balance” was also visceral, Jennifer from rock climbing and Andy from gymnastics; balance is both meditative and empowering.
How did you grow from there?
There was a learning curve on running a business, for sure. We made classic rookie mistakes, like we would get busy and forget to keep up with marketing, then would have to ramp up again. But we had some great projects and slowly grew. We were both working in our living rooms then, but as we added staff, that gets awkward, so a few years later, we moved into office space. Like any business, we adjust our services to the changing market, most recently taking on more education and training roles, but we still have our core services for energy performance modeling, LEED and other certifications, commissioning and overall green building.
Any final reflections?
Andy and Jennifer, 2023, with Tatiana, Michelle, Soham and Grant.
We love our work and both feel so lucky to work with each other and our great team!