Winery, a house of energy savings

Photo: Contributed - House of Rose Winery

House of Rose Winery will receive $25,000 to help complete an energy efficiency project as part of the LiveSmart Small Business Champion program. The provincial government is providing a total of $269,415 to 13 small businesses across B.C. to help complete energy efficiency upgrades.

Project details:
Like many wineries, House of Rose Winery is a large energy-user for several reasons:

• There is significant use of hot water to sterilize and clean tanks, the bottling line and all other equipment.
• A constant temperature of between 12 and 15 degrees year round is required.
• Several pieces of equipment, most drawing a 220 volt current, are used.
• The building uses significant energy as it is steel and concrete with a metal roof built in the early 1990's. Energy codes have changed significantly since that period.

House of Rose Winery is undertaking a variety of steps to produce energy savings. They are:

• Heating Upgrade: Installing an air source heat pump and efficient fans to distribute the heated or cooled air as well as installing a programmable thermostat to turn down heat in working areas during the evening and weekends.
• Adaptation to solar hot water.
• Insulation improvements to the building envelope.
• Building a separate area for fermentation (to provide a two-tiered temperature control in the winter: 15 degrees in the fermentation room and 10 degrees elsewhere).
• Installation of solar tubes over the working areas to add natural light and reduce the light energy requirement.
• Lighting upgrade from older fluorescent to newer lights.

“As the owner of a winery, I appreciate the value of these energy efficiency upgrades. Not only are they good for the environment, but they also minimize costs. I commend House of Rose Winery for acting as an industry leader as they reduce their carbon footprint, "says Westside-Kelowna MLA Ben Stewart.

Why this matters:

• Each project demonstrates innovative energy-efficiency opportunities and/or energy savings of at least 20 per cent above current consumption.
• The LiveSmart Small Business Champion applications were evaluated on project feasibility, energy and cost savings, innovation and their benefit and value to other companies and the community.

“Helping these businesses achieve energy savings will also benefit other organizations in the community. Other organizations will be able to leverage their experience and ideas to increase energy efficiency in their operations as well," says Kelowna-Mission MLA Steve Thomson.

This $17-million program assists business owners in saving money by reducing their energy consumption with free energy-efficiency advice, equipment and incentives. The funding for this program ends on March 31, 2013.

Small business can receive a free assessment from Business Energy Advisors through business associations and Chambers of Commerce across the province.

he LiveSmart BC Champion program awarded up to $25,000 to the successful LiveSmart Small Business Champions.

To date, LiveSmart BC has helped over 9,000 small businesses to save energy and money.

For more information visit the website.