Standing up for sustainability

Alex Amarotico and Risa Buck inspect a heat recovery system that will re-route roof-vented hot air to pre-heat the facility’s water. Photos by Melissa Schweisguth | For the Tidings

Alex Amarotico, co-owner of Standing Stone Brewing Company, has long been interested in protecting the environment. With his term on the city council at an end, he has focused on implementing a wide-ranging sustainability plan at the restaurant-brewery. One of the company's first aspirations is to achieve "net zero energy" — generating as much energy on-site as its operations consume. Additional goals include minimizing waste and carbon emissions, using more local and organic foods, finding eco-friendly cleaners, educating employees and inspiring wider change.

This is a significant commitment, but Amarotico, his wife and co-owner Danielle are motivated to meet it. "The challenge of finding ways to operate more efficiently and sustainably is what drives us," says Alex. "We want to show that something this innovative can be done and make an impact." Increasing awareness of environmental problems, such as global warming, has added to the Amarotico's resolve.

Standing Stone recently hired Risa Buck as its Environmental Sustainability Coordinator to help move the program forward. Buck lives in Ashland's first off-the-grid home and is a member of the city's Conservation Commission. She is in her element in this work, applying her background and passion on a bigger scale. "Alex is creating a much needed model to show what is possible when you're willing to step out a little." says Buck.

Sustainable Beginnings

Alex Amarotico and Risa Buck stand on the roof of the Standing Stone Brewing Company. Solar panels will soon generate clean energy from the sun from the roof.

Founded in 1997, Standing Stone is located in an historic building that the Amarotico family preserved and restored. This choice to reuse and recycle a building established a solid foundation for sustainability. It was one of the first businesses to meet the requirements for Ashland's Green Business program and participate in Ashland Sanitary's commercial food waste composting. Annually, the restaurant-brewery composts about 3,300 gallons of kitchen waste. On average, 85 percent of the grains used for beer making are organic, and the spent grains are offered to a local farmer for livestock feed.

The menu includes local and organic greens, cheese, bison, chicken and other foods. Standing Stone also offers its used cooking oil to a local biodiesel company, uses 100 percent recycled office paper and purchases Green Tags to offset a portion of its energy use with clean solar and wind power. Through these steps, the company's environmental ethic has a positive impact that bubbles beyond its beer kettles and cinder block walls.

Amarotico began assessing energy conservation a few years ago, assisted by the City's Conservation Division. The business switched to more efficient lights, converted its hot water heater to an efficient "on demand" (tankless) model and installed an "Energy Management System" that automates lights, refrigeration and HVAC to optimize energy use. Utility rebates and tax credits helped offset much of the cost. Adding in the savings from energy conservation, these systems will pay for themselves in a few years. With conservation measures, the payoff is twice as nice — economic as well as ecological.

Going for green

Seeing the environmental and economic benefits of these initial measures, Amarotico commissioned a comprehensive audit of the facility's energy usage in 2005. This was designed to identify and measure every way to conserve energy and generate what was still needed on-site. Together, the conservation measures alone will cut total energy usage by 60%. In the fall of 2006, Standing Stone began implementing the conservation recommendations by replacing their dishwasher with a more efficient model that also uses less water and no chemical cleaners — a triple hitter for the environment.

Early in 2007, an engineering team began working on the highest impact measures, which will reduce natural gas usage by 40 percent. These include capturing the "waste heat" from refrigeration equipment and using this to preheat the facility's water, and eliminating the need for stand-by operation of the building's steam boiler.

In the coming months, a 4.4kW photovoltaic system will spring up on the roof. Amarotico, a former general contractor, will work on the installation himself, along with licensed contractors as needed. On-site generation may expand in the future through additional solar panels, oil reuse and methane captured from spent grain.

While assisting on these projects, Buck has been converting chemicals to eco-friendly ones, locating sources for compostable to-go containers, researching local options to compost them, seeking new local food suppliers and more. She is looking forward to increased employee and community education around the program. "When people are doing good things, the community needs to know, says Buck.

For the Amaroticos, these steps are just the beginning. "If one wants to do good; the more one learns, the more one can do," says Alex. Updated information and photos will be posted on the company's website: standingstonebrewing.com. Residents and business owners can learn how to take advantage of city, state and federal conservation assistance and incentives by contacting the City of Ashland Conservation Division at 488-5306.