BRATTLEBORO — The Brattleboro Energy Committee is pleased to announce the three recipients of the 2012 Sustainable Business Awards. The three award winners are the Marina Restaurant, the Windham & Windsor Housing Trust, and jointly, Carbon Harvest Energy and the Windham Solid Waste Management District.
These awards are given annually to Brattleboro-area businesses and nonprofits that are making extraordinary efforts to reduce energy and water use, lower carbon emissions, use renewable fuels, reduce solid waste, promote local food production, and use recycled materials and other environmentally-friendly products.
The awards will be presented at the May 15 Brattleboro Selectboard meeting.
The original Marina Restaurant, located along the West River at 28 Spring Tree Rd., was destroyed by a fire in 2010. The new building, completed in 2011, is designed with many green features, including passive heating and cooling.
It is oriented to the south and west with large windows to collect the sun's warmth in the winter. The building stays cool in the summer without the use of mechanical air conditioning. The building was designed to give it a “chimney” effect, where the cool air off the river enters the building low through the large windows and then rises up through the building, exiting through a large cupola that creates a constant circulation of air throughout the building.
All paint, floor finishes and stains in the restaurant are low in toxicity. The floor is made from local hardwood from a local mill that minimizes the negative effects of carpeting. Decking, trim, and siding are made from recycled materials. The Marina uses “Energy star” kitchen equipment, and made every effort to use local products, local suppliers, local builders and a local design team.
The restaurant also participates in “Project Cow,” which composts most waste, and uses a 4,000-gallon in-ground grease processing unit to eliminate the strain that most restaurants put on the town sewer treatment plant.
The Windham Solid Waste Management District (WSWMD) is hosting the country's first integrated renewable energy-to-agriculture and algae biodiesel project. Demonstrating capture and beneficial re-use of landfill gas, a potent contributor to global climate change, Carbon Harvest Energy, LLC, has restored the former landfill gas-to-energy project at the Brattleboro landfill.
Brattleboro Carbon Harvest is now generating up to 220kW of electricity and sending it to the grid. A second, state-of-the-art combined heat and power (CHP) plant will soon be installed on site to harvest heat from the engine and provide it to an adjacent greenhouse and aquaponics operation. This system will supply high quality fish and fresh vegetables to the Vermont Foodbank and other markets.
Waste heat recovered from power generation will provide low-cost heat to the greenhouse, and the 30,000 gallons of aquaculture will provide high-value nutrient for the organically grown plants (in an aquaponics system).
The Brattleboro project also includes the installation of a demonstration-scale algae culture facility for growing, harvesting and processing microalgae to produce sustainable animal feed and biofuels. A portion of the algae will be used to feed the fish raised in the greenhouse. During summer months, when heat from the landfill gas-to-energy co-generators is not needed to heat the greenhouse, it will be used to dry algae grown on a 1-acre area located on the landfill face.
In the next phase, scaled up culture systems will be designed and installed next to the Brattleboro power plant to take advantage of its waste heat and carbon dioxide.
The Windham & Windsor Housing Trust (WWHT) has developed robust green specifications and energy conservation measures for its existing properties and new construction.
WWHT began installing domestic solar hot water systems in several of their buildings in 2008.
All of the trust's projects focus first on building envelope, paying special attention to exterior insulation and air sealing, as well as efficient windows and doors. The trust uses green materials and building products that minimize global environmental impacts, and strives to purchase local and native materials and products.
The new Brattleboro Food Co-op building, which incorporates affordable housing units owned by the trust in the upper two floors, employs cutting-edge building envelope and mechanical energy features: a sophisticated heating system which will recapture waste heat produced by the store's refrigeration equipment to heat the building, solar electricity, plans for a green roof which will help cool the building and mitigate storm water runoff, and using local building materials such as Vermont slate and wood harvested from Vermont Land Trust land.
“The Brattleboro Energy Committee is pleased to recognize businesses that are leading us toward a greener future by using innovative technologies and thoughtful design,” said Town Energy Coordinator Paul Cameron. “We can be proud that the Brattleboro area is becoming a hub of sustainable practices.”
The Brattleboro Energy Committee, made up of 10 Brattleboro residents, assists Brattleboro residents, businesses, and town government in reducing energy consumption and costs through conservation, increased energy efficiency and conversion to renewable energy sources. For more information, contact Cameron at 802-251-8135.