Energy

 

 

Refrigeration
• This year, Stratton has seen a refrigeration efficiency upgrade saving approximately 43,500 KWH.  By replacing internal fan motors with brushless fan motors in many of our walk-in coolers we were able to greatly increase the efficiency of our refrigeration.  Not only did we reduce the electrical needs of the equipment we reduced the heat production of the motors making the overall cooling more economical.

 

Lighting
• Through several different lighting upgrade projects Stratton has reduced electrical consumption by 35,000 kilowatt hours per year.
• Stratton has been working closely with Efficiency Vermont, retail staff, and staff electricians to reduce the electrical consumption in all Village retail stores.
• Switching out old and outdated fixtures and simply changing some energy hog light bulbs the retail stores at Stratton have saved the equivalent to ~25 Average American Households annual energy consumption.
• Color rendering is measured on a scale from 1 to 100 with 100 representing true color.  All the colors of our stores are bold and beautiful thanks to high efficiency Infrared Technology with a 100 Color Rendering Index rating.  Stratton has been able to find an efficient way to light these stores without sacrificing performance.
• In the spring of 2008 a major lighting retrofit took place at the Energy Center that houses a majority of the snowmaking controls.  Old energy hog metal halide lights where replace with high efficiency T5 High Output.  This upgrade saves over 200 watts per fixture!

Snowmaking
• Since 1992 all snowmaking guns that have been replaced have been top of the line most efficient technology. 

  • 426 HKD Tower duns have been replaced 
  • 40 High Efficiency land guns and 40 efficient tower guns that replaced outdated Royal Knights
  • 9 Airless fan guns were installed
    • These replacements are 350% more efficient than the guns that they replaced
• In 2008 a new Variable Frequency Drive will replace an older drive that pumps water to the hill to make snow.  Partnering with Efficiency Vermont, we have been metering the power use of the old drive to help determine what the actual savings are from this highly efficient drive.  The VFD gets its efficiency by having multiple speeds to operate.  Therefore it will only use the amount of energy necessary to get the necessary water to our snowmaking operation. 
• In 1997 Stratton installed two Centec Diesel generators.  These units exceeded the emission standards and when installed where considered to be state of the art.  Even today they far exceed the standards required by the State of Vermont, and did so 10 years before the requirements were in place. 


Renewable Energy Credits
• Stratton offsets 100% of its energy output and has partnered with Renewable Choice Vermont to provide a lift ticket incentive to individuals and families who purchase renewable energy credits.