Environmental sustainability
At Origin Brewer we thoroughly enjoy pursuing environmentally sustainable business practices at every level. From how we designed and operate our brewery, to how we source our ingredients.
Building Design and Construction Practices
In 2014, we partnered with Arkin Tilt Architects to design a small brewery made with local, natural and recycled building materials. Design features include a rainwater catchment system, where we use this water as the cooling medium for our heat exchanger to chill the wort heading to our fermenters. We catch and store enough water to also use it for landscaping.
Another feature is the Watershed Block material used in construction. Watershed Block™ is a masonry unit made of locally-sourced minerals, recycled aggregates and little to no cement. The block provides enough thermal mass to keep ambient temperatures in the brewery relatively stable, keeping our energy use low when making ales in the warm and hot months, and lagers in the coolest months. Another feature that keeps the brewery temperature stable is the upcycled corrugated metal roof. This roof is coated with white silicone to reflect more sunlight and absorb less heat which reduces heat transfer to the building, keeping the temperature in the brewery around 20°F cooler in the hot summer months.
Renewable Energy and Energy Independence
In September 2019, the installation of solar panels and a backup battery system were completed. This allows us to generate enough electrical power on site to operate the brewery and main home on the property, and provide surplus electricity to the power grid. The rationale for going solar with backup battery storage was twofold, and part of our climate adaptation plan: to be an energy producer with the solar, and be energy independent with the solar and backup battery storage combination.
During 8 -10 months of the year we produce more electricity than we use, and send the surplus to the grid. After about 2 years of working out some kinks with getting our backup battery to power the brewery’s walk-in cooler during power outages, we (with Clean Solar) finally got everything working great! It turns out, we were an early adapter to the battery-backup-for-breweries scene and there were still lessons to be learned. We are grateful Clean Solar persevered (through the Covid -19 pandemic nonetheless) and found a workable solution to getting the backup batteries to power the walk-in-cooler during an outage. We are closer to our path of 100% energy independence and glad to know the battery storage industry and its customers will benefit from our trials.
Local and Low Impact - Growler Delivery
One of Origin Brewer’s goals is to deliver all our growler (glass containers) beer sales by bicycle and on foot, a modest effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions with one less car on the road. To reasonably achieve this, our current delivery range for growlers is within 6 miles of Richmond City Hall.
The use of reusable growlers is another effort to reduce our environmental impacts, preferable to recycling beer cans and bottles, and with the major bonus of meeting our customers and getting to know our community. The process is simple and straightforward: just swap out your empty Origin Brewer growlers when we deliver your next ones!
More about our sustainability practices coming soon!