“Being able to save money on our electric bill while being more energy efficient and environmentally friendly was very important to us,” said James “Bubba” Moffett, president of Crescent Crown. Crescent Crown’s new building includes 230,000 square feet of controlled-temperature warehouse, 40,000 square feet of refrigerated space and 63,000 square feet of office space. Moffett knew the company would be looking at some steep electric bills if it didn’t incorporate energy-efficiency measures into the building design. Armed with a vision, Moffett and Rich Marchant, vice president of operations for Crescent Crown, contacted their Salt River Project (SRP) account manager, Mary Palomino. Together, they began to identify which energy-efficient features to incorporate in the new facility.
Crescent Crown participated in both the SRP Standard Business Solutions and Custom Business Solutions programs, netting $138,855 in rebates. “We were able to tap into resources at SRP to validate our plans before we jumped in,” Moffett said. “We leaned on SRP as our energy partner, which gave us peace of mind.”
“It’s an honor to help all business customers — big and small — invest in the latest technologies to save energy and money,” Palomino said. “The new Crescent Crown facility shows that you don’t have to sacrifice architectural beauty for energy efficiency.”
Crescent Crown delivers more than 26 million cases annually in Arizona and Louisiana, and protecting the libations from sunlight and heat is vital to its operations.
To ensure zero heat-related damage to the packaged beer, Crescent Crown’s warehouses are temperature controlled. The company also has large refrigerated coolers, which are kept at 38 degrees for its draught products and some packaged beer. To ensure energy bills remain affordable, high-efficiency package heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) units and R-30 wall and roof insulation were implemented.
Most large facilities opt to use chillers rather than package HVAC units, but that wasn’t the best fit for Crescent Crown. Should a chiller fail, all of the products would be at risk. However, with package units, the nearby units can pick up the slack should one unit fail.
Moffett was keen on installing top-of-the-line lighting technologies, including T5 fluorescents, LEDs and occupancy sensors in the warehouse. The occupancy sensors turn off lights when there isn’t activity in a warehouse aisle for a specified time.
Crescent Crown Distributing also installed photovoltaic solar panels on its Mesa facility through the SRP Commercial Solar Incentive program. The panels produce 940,000 kilowatt-hours a year — enough electricity to power about 50 homes for one year.
Including energy-efficiency measures in the design and construction phase of Crescent Crown’s facility is paying off for the company. “Rather than segmenting our new warehouse, we were able to design the whole building under one envelope,” Marchant said.
The company will see a return on investment in 2.5 years, and all of the improvements have an intangible reward, because employees “feel like they work in a better environment.” Crescent Crown employees often brag about the new warehouse’s solar panels and energy efficiency.
“Pointing out these upgrades is also a big part of our facility tour,” Moffett said. “We look forward to seeing continued savings with our upgrades.”
SRP Business Solutions offers rebates for both new construction and retrofit energy-efficiency projects. Programs are operated on a first-come, first-served basis until all funding has been committed. Customers are eligible for as much as $300,000 in rebates per program year. To learn more, visit savewithsrpbiz.com or call (602) 236-3054.
