Lodi’s Green Building Workshop in the Media Spotlight
Wine Business.com and Wines & Vines featured the Green Building Workshop and Energy Efficiency Seminar that we hosted last Wednesday. It was a great event that drew in a large crowd from the wine industry, PG&E, California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance, California Association of Winegrape Growers, Wine Institute, and the Lodi-Woodbridge Winegrape Commission. See below for excerpts from the articles, including their pictures.
The Lange Twins, Brad (far left) and Randy (far right), receive a check from PG&E representatives (L-R) Patsy Dugger and Janice Berman for $968,137 in incentive payments for energy efficiency measures at Lange Twins Winery.
From Wine Business.com:
The largest portion of the LangeTwins rebate was $651,000 for the winery’s PV solar system with a 230 KW generation capacity. The newest PV array, above the crush pad area that provides shade for workers sorting grapes and loading presses during crush, is the first installation in California using bifacial PV panels that generate power from overhead sunlight, as well as from ambient and reflected light on the underside of the PV panel to increase efficiency and overall generation capacity. Darryl Conklin, president of Renewable Technologies Inc. of Sutter Creek, CA that installed the winery PV system, says these panels are a newer PV technology, available commercially since 2006 and used almost exclusively to date in architectural applications. LangeTwins is the first known agricultural application of bifacial PV.
A solar array of bifacial PV panels over the Lange Twins crush pad is the first California installation of this PV technology that can generate power from light both above and below the panel.
The Langes are very active in CSWA’s Sustainable Winegrowing Program and with the Lodi-Woodbridge Winegrape Commission’s (LWWC) sustainable viticulture program that includes the “Lodi Winegrower’s Workbook” and the “Lodi Rules!” certification program for sustainably farmed vineyards. As Brad explained, “Sustainability is a multi-generational venture and adventure, and we take our environmental responsibility very seriously.
(L-R) Brad Lange, PG&E Stockton account exec Phil Pennino, and Randy Lange discuss installed measures and how PG&E's Savings by Design program was used to design Lange Twins Winery for energy efficiency, during a facility tour.
From Wines & Vines:
When the Langes began planning the winery in 2005, they appealed San Joaquin County for permission to build a 40,000-ton facility within the next 20 years. At present, the winery is set up to accommodate half that, but the site designer’s initial plans included electrical and water piping, so groundwork has literally been laid for any future expansion.
Randy Lange said that cooperation from PG&E and environmental engineers helped him and his brother identify every way in which they could become “super efficient.” To put it in perspective, building decisions the Langes made created enough energy savings to power 41,300 homes for one year.
Related posts:
- Examiner.com: LangeTwins- family-run sustainable winery
- Twins Brad and Randy Inducted into the Ag Hall of Fame
Tags: bi-facial solar panels, California Association of Winegrape Growers, California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance, green energy, lodi woodbridge winegrape commission, PG&E, renewable energy, Wine Business.com, Wine Institute, Wines & Vines