(Photo above | Courtesy of Environmental Center)
The Energy Challenge launches new educational series with resources for businesses
Thursday, April 12 local businesses will get an opportunity to take a dive into the world of energy efficiency and solar from the perspective of one of their peers. Business owners and green team members who are trying to determine if energy upgrades fit into their business plan are invited to join Bend Whole Foods Market and hear how they started saving a whole lot of energy and even producing some of their own with a new solar installation on their roof. Community members who are just interested in hearing how businesses in our community are doing their part to reduce energy use are invited to attend too.
Of particular interest, Whole Foods does not own their building so businesses who had previously ruled out efficiency and solar projects because they don’t own their building will find this session especially helpful. “In many cases, working energy efficiency into your operating budget, just makes sense whether you own or rent your building,” said Lindsey Hardy, program director of The Energy Challenge, “some upgrades may take less than a few years to pay for themselves.”
Over the last 12 months, several projects have been completed to improve the energy consumption at the local store including new cooler doors for refrigeration, an upgraded HVAC system, new sliding doors at the entrance and an 80 kW solar installation.
“We are committed to investing in the clean energy economy,” said Angela Lorenzen, Regional President of Whole Foods Market in the Pacific Northwest. “Finding ways to offset costs that also benefit the environment is good for our customers and good for our communities as a whole.”
This week’s informational panel will be rounded out by experts who can serve as resources to businesses exploring what it takes to start an energy project, including Jesse Holland from Energy Trust of Oregon’s Existing Buildings Program and Jeni Hall from the Solar Program.
The event will be held on Thursday, April 12 and will take place in the Whole Foods Café. Attendees are invited to arrive starting at 5pm to network and enjoy appetizers compliments of Whole Foods and a pint compliments of Sunriver Brewing. The Power Hour will kick off at 5:30pm and will have lots of times for Q&A before wrapping up at 6:30pm.
This Power Hour event is part of a new educational series, launched by The Energy Challenge that will take a deep-dive into various topics every other month, including community solar, and Path to Net Zero new construction. The events are meant to be an informational networking meet-up with a panel of experts to help ignite new conversations in the community.
