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CO VER S T OR Y Tanks, glycol lines and wiring are arranged around the perimeter of the production area at Tan- talus vineyards, creating a clear floor area. weeding are done by hand with the help of two guest workers from Mexico. Geological limitations The new winery incorporates a wall of the previous structure as part of its ware- house and backs into the hillside. The alluvial soils—primarily fine silts with some gravels and clays—made excavation for barrel cellars impossible, however. While the building's design respected site topography, geological conditions limited what the topography allowed. "We looked at digging barrel caves and things like that for temperature control and for humidity control, but the soils here just don't support that," Paterson explains. "We don't really have any solid rock or anything we can blast into." A variety of native species including wild roses, wild strawberries and a selec- tion of conifers and grasses were employed in landscaping to hold moisture in the soils without boosting irrigation requirements. The winery itself is a sleek, two-story structure. Savics originally approached re- spected Vancouver architect Bing Thom to design a landmark building for Tantalus, but the job ultimately fell to another Van- couver firm, MQN Architects. The design specified a simple set of materials: The major elements were cement, steel and Kingspan panels, which were chosen for their insulative properties. Wall paneling is rated R-30 (a higher R-value indicates greater thermal resistance), while roof panels are R-45; fiberglass insulation is typically rated R-5. The orientation of the building keeps it largely hidden from the road above while maximizing the amount of natural light entering the building's double-height production and warehouse spaces through clerestory windows. It's "just a small bank of windows, but the way that they're placed in the archi- tecture gives us enough natural light to work all day without having to turn on the big banks of lights, which obviously take a lot of electricity," Paterson says. "The only times I really turn on lights is on bottling days, or if I really need a lot of light to rack barrels. But most of our operations are done under natural light." The use of natural light is one of the most obvious ways to increase energy efficiency, but Paterson says the design of the entire building has reduced energy consumption in mind. The key factor, especially in the Okanagan's arid climate, where temperatures can range from -4°F to 104°F during the course of the year, is managing interior temperatures. Energy efficiency "We're trying to keep a very regular tem- perature in the building so we can make very good wine," Paterson says, "but do- ing that as energy-efficiently as possible. "If it's not well insulated, you're going to be losing or gaining a lot of energy, de- pending whether it's hot or cold outside, and then you're going to be fighting that energy exchange the whole time." Kingspan paneling on the outside is a first line of defense. A heat-exchange sys- tem on the inside further reduces energy requirements for heating and cooling, while seamless Fusiotherm piping runs glycol throughout the winery for heating and cooling purposes. A natural gas-pow- ered blast furnace is available for extreme winter weather. Geothermal heating systems were investi- gated, but a backup system would have been needed to address the significant change in temperatures throughout the year—some- thing that wasn't cost-effective. Earth tubes, such as those in place at the new winery at the University of California, Davis, were too new at the time Tantalus' reconstruction was first discussed, though Paterson feels they are superior to geothermal. Wines & Vines sePTeMBeR 2011 27 PETER MITHAM PETER MITHAM