Photo: Men’s Journal
This August, Birdsong Brewing will become the first brewery in Charlotte, North Carolina to use solar paneling for its breweries’ electricity needs, according to Men’s Journal magazine. The endeavor is a pricey one at the start, but according to Chris Goulet, the owner of Birdsong, the expected paneling will generate over $325,000 worth of electricity over the next 25 years.
Goulet tells writer Cat Wolinski that the cost of the paneling comes to roughly $110,000, adjusting for federal tax credits and reduced property taxes the brewery became eligible for. But it’s not just the roughly $13,000 a year in savings that pushed Birdsong to make the move, it was also about helping the community.
“We want to be a contributing member of the community. Reducing our carbon footprint makes sense” Goulet said.
While Birdsong may be an innovator, they certainly will not be the lone brewery going green. Many larger craft brewing companies such as New Belgium, Sierra Nevada, and Highland Brewing, have also started plans to install solar panels. It seems to be a trend raging across the country for the better with breweries in Texas even getting in on solar panel plans.
Overall, it seems the benefits of turning to solar and going green for energy purposes has become the new norm. And why not? In our industry of tabletop, forward thinking glassware and dinnerware making companies are doing the same. It saves money, it saves the planet, and even better… it creates a whirlwind of great press.
Customers want to know the places they support and the products they support are in line with their values. Knowing disposables are used from recycles materials, that a restaurant is “going green” and doing their part to help with energy consumption can be critical to their experience. Try seeing what energy efficient alternatives can be made. See what materials can be used over traditional ones that have some sort of reduction of your carbon footprint. Every bit helps, and every bit can be shown to the customer.
Check out the full article at http://www.mensjournal.com/food-drink/articles/birdsong-brewing-launches-110k-solar-panel-project-w494204
