Success Stories

Mt. Hood Athletic Club, Sandy
Mt. Hood Athletic Club owners Paul and Lila Reed installed a solar pool heating system to warm the Sandy club’s outdoor pool, which operates May through August. The system cost just over $16,000 to install and is saving approximately $2,000 in natural gas charges each year. The savings will increase as energy costs rise. With a $2,658 Energy Trust incentive, plus energy cost savings and an Oregon Business Energy Tax Credit, the club expects to recover its investment in just a few years.

Mt Hood Athletic Club“I’m a business man first and foremost. Anything with a five-year return or better is a no-brainer. Energy costs just keep going up,so the more independent you are from those costs, the more viable you are in the long run.”  Paul Reed, owner

Vernier Software, Beaverton
Vernier Software updated their Beaverton headquarters with efficiency improvements that save the company 152,000 kilowatt hours of electricity and 7,100 therms of natural gas each year and earned a LEED-EB (Existing Buildings) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. A 17-kilowatt solar electric system tops off this high-performance building by generating about 19,000 kilowatt hours each year.

Solar Panels and Mt. Hood “Having an eco-friendly business is important to our company, so it made sense for us to make our facility as energy efficient as possible. Our solar array is doing more than generating clean energy for our company. By making our system data available on our Web site, www.vernier.com/solar, we are encouraging the community to learn about solar energy.” David Vernier, owner

 

Lucky Labrador Brewing Company, Portland
Lucky Labrador Brewing installed a solar water heating system to preheat water to 160–200 degrees for their brewing process. After receiving an Energy Trust incentive, an Oregon Business Energy Tax Credit and a federal tax credit, the net cost of the system was about $4,640. Gas savings are expected to be $1,560 a year.

Lucky Lab Solar Panels“We use a lot of water to make beer. The solar water heating system really helps reduce our energy costs and our carbon footprint. It just made sense for economic, ethical and community reasons.” Gary Geist, co-owner