Seems like everyone’s catching the green train these days! I can hardly keep up with all the ‘green’ beer news anymore. That’s a good thing, although it does raise the question of just what ‘green’ really means and who, if anyone, is defining it.
Brewer’s Brewing, a new brewpub in Beaufort, South Carolina has a link on their homepage labeled “Brewer’s Is Green.” Quoting directly from the web page, here’s a run down of the green efforts enumerated therein. Let’s see what they are calling green.
Concrete is 100% green and we will be using it for our main bar and the bathrooms, we threw in oyster shells and recycled glass in the mix.
The phrasing here is confusing. I’m not sure if they are claiming that concrete, in general, is 100% green or if the concrete they are using is green. Presumably it’s the latter since conventional concrete is by no means inherently green. Regardless, the term “100% green” is troublesome since it is a such a vague claim. It’s cool that they integrated “recycled” glass in it but I think they mean “reused” glass, because recycling glass would be silly if all they were doing was using it as a filler in concrete. The oyster shells are an appropriate touch since presumably they originate from the nearby coast.
Dakota Burl is a unique bio-based material, which exhibits the beauty and elegance of traditional burled woods. The material is created from agricutural fiber and sunflower hulls, making this a beautiful environmental hardwood. This product is being used for all our dining tables.
Sounds cool. Ag waste products in general are a good for “waste-cycling,” i.e. turning waste byproducts into new marketable products especially when they are replacing what might have otherwise been petroleum-based products such as plastic tables. Furthermore, the Dakota Burl website claims the product has zero VOC emissions.
All of our bulbs through out the restaurant will use (cfl’s) compact flourescents lights and will al be run through a Lutron dimming system.
That’s great. What’s even better is that a claim like this will be irrelevant in a few years. Last December, President Bush signed the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 setting new efficiency standards for electric lights, effectively mandating the phaseout of incandescent light bulbs in the US beginning in 2012.
Any surface that has paint on it will be coated with Sherman Williams Harmony Sure Green paint which has no odor and no (voc) volatile organic compounds.
Cool. Low and no VOC paints should really be standard for virgin paint. This benefits paint workers, employees, and customers by improving the indoor air quality of the brewpub, so folks can stick their nose in the glass and just smell beer instead of nasty indoor air pollution. I’d rather get a headache from having one too many than from huffing VOCs any day.
One no flush urinal from Kohler will be used in the mens bathroom. This unit alone will save 40,000 gallons a year.
It may sound funny but these new waterless urinals are going to be all the rage very soon. Mark my words. There is huge interest in the institutional purchasing sector for these things. I had my first waterless urinal sighting just a couple months ago in Millheim, PA at the new Elk Creek Cafe and Aleworks.
The worlds most efficient water heater will be installed for the whole brewpub. This unit is made from A.O Smith and is has a rating of 94% efficiency.
I’m guessing it must be this one. But it looks like there is even a 99% efficient water heater available out there. Not sure if they have different kinds of sizes or performance issues.
All three Toilets will have a High Efficiency Toilet valve from Sloan Valve. Push the handle up for liquid waste and it will flush with 1.1 gallons and push down for solid waste for a flush that uses 1.6 gallons. The handle is also coated with an antimicrobial agent that protects against the transfer of germs.
I’ve seen these in other countries but they haven’t really caught on yet in the U.S. I think people are confused about how to use them. Hopefully there will be a little sign near the toilet showing people how to use the toggle on the handle.
Bath room partitions are made from 100% recycled plastic from psisc out of Columbia SC.
Neat, they are even supporting a South Carolina-based business with this option. PSISC stands for Partition Systems Incorporated of South Carolina. I’ll just try to ignore the image on the company homepage depicting two young girls in a bathroom dressed like cheerleaders. Um, that’s really just kind of creepy.
All in all, these efforts seem quite worthy and I’m guessing they’ve made other environmentally preferable choices that haven’t made it onto their ‘green’ web page yet. For example, their flagship beer, Paddler’s Pale Ale, is organic. I wish these guys were open last summer when my family visited the beach in South Carolina. Guess I have something to look forward to if we go back this year!
Adnams claims to have produced the U.K.’s first carbon-neutral beer. The beer is a light ale called East Green, named after the village common in front of the brewery.
The first area of interest to brewers is addressing their own operations. Adnams took a major step in this direction with the new “eco-built” distribution center they opened in late 2006. The facility sports what was at the time the UK’s largest “living roof.”
Figure 1. Emissions from Adnams’ East Green ale before reductions strategies were implemented.
Figure 2. Emissions from East Green after reductions strategies were implemented.
Posted by beeractivist 
Beer Activist 