Our Story

We come from humble beginnings.

Sustainergy Cooperative is a worker-owned solar and energy efficiency company committed to sustainability and social justice. Founded in 2013 by members of the Cincinnati Community and Coop Cincy, a non-profit focusing on social business incubation in underserved communities, we have served thousands of Cincinnati homeowners and added to our team of trained technicians and energy specialists. We focus on building science to offer free home energy assessments and work closely with homeowners to design low cost, high impact energy efficiency and solar upgrades to their homes. Our background in energy efficiency makes us unique among solar installers. After lowering a home’s energy consumption, we are able to design a less costly and more effective solar array that will successfully cover the home’s electrical usage. This holistic approach allows our customers to be certain that the system we install will bring them the highest impact possible.

What makes us different?

Every worker that joins the Sustainergy team has the opportunity to become an owner of the Cooperative.  We provide fair compensation, health insurance, a matching 401K, a collective bargaining agreement, free college education, bonuses, and paid holidays and vacation so our team can live full lives and spend time with their families. This commitment to our workers’ quality of life results in equally high quality service to our customers because when you have owners on the job, your success is their success.

A union co-op is a hybrid business model with elements of both democratic worker-ownership and worker solidarity. In a worker cooperative, worker-owners own and democratically govern their business according to the principle of One Worker, One Vote. In a unionized business, workers are members of a union and elect a union committee to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement on their behalf. The union also promotes solidarity between workers in different businesses, industries and countries. Sustainergy workers are proud members of the United Steelworker’s Union.

You can meet our team of passionate worker-owners here!

We believe that bringing these two elements together is a powerful tool to generate family-sustaining jobs that are the foundation of an economy that works for all. Every year, we donate 10% of our profits to our business incubator, Coop Cincy. To learn more about this model or to visit our sister worker co-ops in Cincinnati, Dayton, and around the globe, check out their website.

Outside of the thousands of homes we have helped, we are also proud of these recent accomplishments:

• 2024 Certified 513 Green

• 2023 recipient of the Green Umbrella IMPACT Award

• 2023 participant in creation of the Green Cincinnati Plan

• 2022 recipient of the Cincinnati Business Courier CLIMB Award

• 2022 recipient of the HCDC Economic Gardening Grant

• 2021 participants in the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment