David Gibson, director of energy

By Jeremy Powers ’24

College of the Atlantic director of energy David Gibson brings extensive experience working with renewable energy in the public sector, the private sector, and as an energy educator. He is excited to engage with students through COA’s interdisciplinary approach, and is already helping the COA community realize their ambitious renewable energy framework. 

“I worked for an educational nonprofit for five years out in Reno, Nevada and really enjoyed working with students and teaching the next generation the tools and skills they’ll need to address the climate crisis and transition off fossil fuels,” Gibson says. “COA’s mission to eliminate fossil fuel use on campus by 2030 really drew me in, and made me want to be somewhere that aims to be a leader and demonstrate that to the community.”

In his first months at COA, Gibson has jumped head first into bringing the college’s green energy goals to life. The college recently bought 11 units of off-campus housing, and Gibson immediately began coordinating installation of heat pumps and improving the insulation of the buildings. “Every building that we add insulation to, we’re saving money in the short term and saving carbon pollution in the long term,” he says. “If we don’t address our existing building stock and make it more efficient, we’re just going to continue wasting energy 40, 50, 100 years from now.”

Energy-use literacy and awareness is something that Gibson is working to bring to COA, partly through real-world, practical applications and partly through in-class learning. He’s taught two classes, one with math and physics professor David Feldman called Math and Physics of Sustainable Energy and one called Green Building Through the Lens of LEED, the latter in which students had the opportunity to work on sustainability projects on campus and have a meaningful impact outside of class.

“I’ve been working directly with students on some of the energy projects and see the same thing happening in other aspects of managing the college, and to me that’s just such a wonderful, real-world experience where you’re learning about stuff in classes and then being able to apply it,” he says. 

Gibson founded Powered by Sunshine, a nonprofit working to put Nevada on track for 100% renewable energy by 2040, and he worked for Envirolution (through Americorps VISTA) teaching K-12 students about energy efficiency and literacy. “The effort to educate students to be smarter energy consumers, I just see as really essential towards transitioning our building stock,” he says. 

He also serves as the vice chair for the Sierra Club Maine Chapter, and in this position has successfully led efforts to pass two energy-related bills in the Maine legislature in 2021. LD1659 requires Efficiency Maine, a quasi-state agency, to provide more affordable avenues for efficiency and clean energy projects, and is focused especially towards low-income communities and communities of color. LD99 requires the Maine State Treasurer and Maine Public Employee Retirement System to fully divest from fossil fuels by 2026. “Essentially, over the next 20 years, Maine is going to have to invest at least $40 to $50 billion to transition off of fossil fuels… and we can see a return on investment for, ideally, the homeowners and building owners,” he says. 

Gibson holds a BS in civil engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, is certified LEED AP BD+C by the Green Building Certification Institute, US Green Building Council, is a Certified Energy Manager by the Association of Energy Engineers, and holds a Permaculture Design Certificate.

Gibson has transitioned two homes entirely off of fossil fuels, including a post and beam farmhouse built in 1828. He owns a homestead with his wife, Willow, and the two of them are implementing a permaculture plan there. They have planted a nut grove with chestnuts, heartnuts, pecans, and hickories, and a fruit orchard with apples, pears, peaches, plums, cherries, and a variety of berry bushes. He enjoys hiking, mountain biking, alpine and cross country skiing, snowshoeing, paddling, and other outdoor activities.