Greening The Backshop
He says probably the thing that surprised him the most – even though it’s not a big cash-saver – is advice he received from Tim Michels of Energy Solutions Inc. to remove at least two lamps from each overhead fluorescent fixture in the company’s offices.
“You just don’t often hear, ‘You have too much light,’” Coovert says. “However, we held our hands over our eyes and felt our eyes relax when they were shielded, so we took out 50 percent of all the bulbs, and it’s a small thing, but it’s a better work environment.”
Click photo to enlargeAdditionally, he says he’s saving money by not using as much electricity, and in not buying as many replacement lamps.
“I didn’t consider it might be possible to remove half the bulbs,” he says. “It didn’t cost anything, and I was amazed at the ease at which I was able to implement it; I just got on a ladder, took off the cover and popped two light bulbs out.”
Michels also expressed concern about the number of lights left on in unoccupied spaces. Acting on the consultants’ advice, Coovert had several upgrades done in late 2009, including installing motion-sensor controls to the office lighting.
“My office lights had been tied to the main office lights, and even if I wasn’t in my office, my lights were on,” he says. “We’re going to separate that so I can turn my office lights off.
“It’s just little stuff,” he adds, “but it adds up.”
One suggestion from Michels that Coovert didn’t act on was painting his building’s roof a light color. The expert was concerned about how much electricity Absolute consumed in the summer to keep its concrete building cool.
“I was surprised to learn you could apply a light color of paint to the roof and it would reflect the heat rather than absorb it,” Coovert says. “It makes sense, but it’s also a Catch-22, because in the winter we want the roof to absorb that heat to melt any snow and to keep the building warmer.”
A second expert, Jean Ponzi of EarthWays Center, was brought in to help Coovert cut waste so he could legitimately market his business as environmentally conscious.
Although Coovert still isn’t selling his remnants to be crushed or crushing them himself, the company has begun separating shop waste so leftover stone is more easily accepted at the landfill.
And, the company did boost its recycling in the office.
“We started to recycle all our inner office paper, and we have a lot of it – faxes, estimates and blueprints,” he says. “There’s a company here in town that will come in and empty your office recycling bins. They also sell recycled office supplies; they deliver the recycled paper and they take the recycling.”
In a big step, Coovert also made the investment in late 2009 to begin recycling most of the water used in the shop.
Until that point, Absolute hadn’t been recycling any of its gray water. By installing a sediment pit under the shop floor, the company was able to route recycled water to its bridge saw.