ENERGY SAVINGS & EFFICIENCY

Making wine is actually quite energy intensive. It takes a lot of refrigeration to cool, ferment, and age wines. A lot of hot water to sanitize tanks, barrels, and bottling lines. Napa Green baselines and tracks the energy use of all of our members. Energy efficiency is one of the quickest ways to cut the bottom line.

We’ve seen a winery that makes 25,000 cases of wine spending $2/case on electricity, and another winery of exactly the same size spending $6/case. That’s a difference of $100,000 a year in electricity costs to make the same amount of wine!

Here are some examples of energy efficiency opportunities in vineyards & wineries:

  • Go electric – tractors that is. 
  • Night-time air for natural cooling in the cellar
  • Upgrade to LED lighting
  • Install motion sensors to automatically control lighting
  • Use skylights and other daylighting
  • Install VFDs on motors and compressors to phase operation based on deman
  • Reduce hot water temperature to 120-140 when higher temps are not needed for cleaning
  • Consistent monitoring & maintenance of equipment
  • Keeping thermostats locked at efficient settings (68 in winter, 76-78 in summer)
  • Improve water efficiency – it takes significant energy to heat, treat and transport water

sustainability spotlight

"Our shift in mindset to stewardship and sustainability started in the 1980s, when my grandfather realized the toxicity of a vineyard spray and decided to go organic. In 2007, we were one of the first wineries to install a solar array. Here we are 15 years later and the sun still provides 70% of our electricity. But as Napa Green reminds us, we don’t want to “solarize inefficiencies.” We’re always trying to maximize energy efficiency so we reduce those monthly utility bills. All of our lighting is now LED, we use night-air to cool the cellar, and all of our motors have VFDs, which phase operation based on demand. We’ve reduced deliveries by generating our own nitrogen onsite and nixing bottled water. We have seven electric vehicle chargers, with four family and three employee EVs. If you’re a company with a long-term view it makes sense to keep doing more."
Brandon deLeuze, Winemaker, ZD Wines

Resources

sustainability stories

sponsors

Napa Green is grateful to our industry and community partners, who support energy efficiency and renewable energy. To become a champion of Napa Green please reach out to Napa Green.