Case Study: Natural resources

Grace Dinsdale, owner of Blooming Nursery, wanted to gain control over the nursery’s energy costs by using a renewable energy source, but she also wanted to show that it could be done.

“Somebody has to go first,” Dinsdale said. “Somebody has to jump in with both feet and take the hit. I’ve always been the kind of person to do that.”

Geothermal energy wasn’t available at her nursery’s location in Cornelius, Ore., and the wind wasn’t reliable enough, so solar power was the best choice.

Dinsdale chose a solar thermal system, in which panels collect energy from the sun and use it to heat up glycol. The heat is transferred to a closed-loop water system that heats 55,000 square feet – more than 30 percent of the nursery’s greenhouse space.

The reduced energy cost has allowed the cool-environment grower to turn up the heat and diversify its plant mix.

“This has given us the ability to branch out and produce some more exotic crops,” Dinsdale said.

Work started in 2010 and the system was completed in spring 2011. Dinsdale took advantage of a substantial tax credit and expects her payback to be seven or eight years.

Keeping track of tax incentives is time-consuming, but the project may be impossible without them. Dinsdale recommends finding a contractor with experience, expertise and insurance to take on a project like hers. Then, conceptualize your plan before a beneficial tax incentive occurs. The contractor will contact you when a window opens.

Geothermal options
IFA Nurseries also benefitted from tax incentives when it broke ground on its Klamath Falls facility in 2001. But the main reason the seedling grower was attracted to the area was the availability of geothermal energy, which costs 20 percent less than natural gas. Geothermal heat has powered the downtown district heating system since 1981, and heated area homes for much longer.

“Even though we’re in the coolest climate, our heating bill is less than IFA’s facilities in Aurora, outside of Portland, and Olympia, Wash.,” said Jacky Friedman, nursery manager of IFA Nurseries’ Klamath Falls location.

Geothermal energy is the primary heat source for IFA’s 175,000 square feet of greenhouses. The city installed 700 feet of pipe to connect the nursery to the downtown district heating system.

­— Matt McClellan

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