Building History and Use
Pepper Construction has been one of the Midwest’s most prominent general contracting and construction management firms since its founding in Chicago in 1927. Today, the company ranks among the nation’s top contractors and operates across Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Wisconsin, with a client base that spans healthcare, K-12, higher education, senior living, commercial, and institutional projects. Illinois remains the company’s home state and largest center of operations, with its Barrington office at 411 Lake Zurich Road serving as a regional hub for project teams and administration supporting clients throughout the state and beyond.
Pepper’s core philosophy holds that building performance impacts human performance, and this belief shapes how the firm approaches sustainability across its own operations as much as in the facilities it builds for others. The Barrington office’s adoption of groundwater geothermal is an expression of that philosophy in the most direct way possible: a high-performance mechanical system installed in the building where Pepper’s own teams work every day.
Why Geothermal?
For a company that routinely advises clients on high-performance building systems and sustainable construction strategies, choosing a conventional HVAC approach for its own facility would be a missed opportunity. Pepper’s Barrington office was identified as a strong candidate for a Darcy geothermal retrofit that could meaningfully reduce energy costs, demonstrate the technology’s real-world performance, and give Pepper’s teams direct experience with a system they can speak to credibly in client conversations.
The single-well Darcy system delivers 192 tons of cooling and 1,095 MBH heating from a compact installation along the roadway approach to the building, where the wellhead is intentionally visible. This was a deliberate choice that turns the geothermal system into a conversation piece for visitors and a tangible example of what Pepper practices as well as preaches.
The project also takes advantage of the Investment Tax Credit available through the Inflation Reduction Act, improving the financial case for the installation and providing a firsthand reference point for Pepper when advising clients on how to structure similar investments.
Design and Construction
Drilling commenced in spring 2026 with system commissioning targeted for later in the year. The single groundwater well accesses the local aquifer to deliver stable, efficient thermal exchange for the building’s heating and cooling load, integrated with the facility’s existing mechanical infrastructure.
Building What You Believe In
There is a particular kind of credibility that comes from installing in your own building the same systems you recommend to your clients. For Pepper Construction, the Barrington geothermal project is that credibility made concrete. When Pepper’s project managers, estimators, and sustainability specialists walk clients through the case for high-performance HVAC, they can now point to a working system in their own regional office as proof that the math works and the technology delivers.
For Darcy, the Pepper project marks a first project in a new state, delivered for a partner whose commitment to sustainable construction runs deep and whose network of clients spans exactly the kinds of buildings where groundwater geothermal belongs.