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WINEMAKING TECHNICAL SPOTLIGHT 32 WINES&VINES April 2018 Sierra Nevada Brewery, which built a brewery in Mills River, N.C., as part of a major East Coast expansion that earned a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) platinum certification. After hearing Gross- man describe the project in a speech, Duncan had most of his employees visit the company's sustainable brewery in Chico, Calif., to learn some of Sierra Nevada's principles. "The team came back just totally fired up, and I was already fired up by Ken; so, if he can do it in beer, I can do it in wine." The new Alexander Valley winery is expected to become one of the few wine-production facili- ties to earn LEED Platinum certification, joining the Silver Oak Oakville winery. When Wines & Vines visited, the company was in the midst of the certification process. Duncan said it also complies with several of the standards of the Living Building program, which is even more exacting. That commitment to sustainability, however, was made to pay for itself. "One of my big statements, too, was that I was not willing to go green at any cost," Duncan said. "Every single decision we've made is fully justifiable in under seven years." The solar panels that cover the roof of the winery and tasting room should pay out after two-and-a-half years. Redwood siding that covers the winery in wood once was used for Sanitary Stainless Welding Inc. is the exclusive North American distributor for the Marzola product line SUSTAINABLE IN EQUIPMENT AND DESIGN S ilver Oak Cellars' project manager Haley Duncan discussed several of the key ele- ments of the facility's sustainable design. Wastewater treatment: A membrane bio- reactor (MBR) treats process wastewater so it can be reused in a variety of ways that include washing equipment, toilets, cooling tower and vineyard irrigation, when needed. The MBR employs the biological process called "activated sludge," followed by ultra- filtration screens to further clean the water, and has reduced the winery's potable water needs by 37%. Solar power: The winery is equipped with 2,595 individual solar panels located on the winery, tasting room and MBR building. Plans call for 720 more panels on a canopy covering outdoor water tanks behind the MBR. The existing system will provide 79% of all energy needs. The winery plans to add an additional 855 panels on an existing warehouse after studying power usage at the new facility. Battery system: A 330-kW Powin battery system will act as an emergency backup energy source as well as serve as a "mi- crogrid" to store and discharge energy in times of peak demand. A computer sys- tem will monitor and identify periods to discharge energy to optimize savings. For example, during a busy harvest day, when the solar panels can't provide all of the win- ery's power needs, the battery system will kick on and provide stored battery power that's much cheaper than electricity pulled in from the outside grid. "This is really cool and cutting-edge technology," Duncan said. Building materials: All of the redwood sid- ing on the winery and tasting room was salvaged from large redwood wine tanks decommissioned by a larger wine company. An oak staircase in the administration of- fices was built with wine barrels from the old winery on the property. Oak flooring, walls and ceiling panels in the tasting room were built with fire-damaged oak trees that had to be removed. More than 3,000 other building materials and equipment were vetted to en- sure they were free of "red-list chemicals."