Industry:
Greenhouse Grower
The Client:
Located near Gull Lake, Alberta, Doef’s Greenhouses operates an 11-acre state-of-the-art facility that combines sustainable practices with advanced lighting and energy systems to produce fresh, local vegetables year-round, even during Alberta’s harsh winters.
Doef’s Greenhouses Achieves a Remarkable 30% Energy Cost Reduction
Doef’s Greenhouses are leaders in their industry when it comes to energy management. Their team works with 360 Energy to analyze their energy usage and costs, and find ways to keep improving.
The Challenges
Operating an 11-acre state-of-the-art greenhouse facility in Alberta’s volatile energy market, Doef’s Greenhouses faced significant challenges managing high energy costs, particularly during winter months. They needed to balance maintaining optimal growing conditions with energy efficiency, while navigating rapidly changing market prices that could significantly impact their operational costs.
The 360 Solution
- Program: Joined 360 Energy‘s Journey to Energy Excellence for Greenhouses program.
- Approach: Comprehensive review of energy invoices, on-site evaluations, and stakeholder consultations.
- Leveraged global best practices: Spoke to global leaders in the greenhouse space from industries, to universities, to suppliers and found out what greenhouses could do to reduce and control energy costs.
- Focus: Optimizing energy procurement in conjunction with reducing energy usage through a five-step management process.
- Team: Collaboration between owners, growers, crop consultants, service providers, and utilities.
The Results
- Immediate Impact: Achieved a 10-12% reduction in overall energy usage without any capital costs.
- Long-term Impact: Anticipated an additional 12-15% reduction in energy usage with some capital investment, totaling an overall 25-30% energy reduction.
- Competitive Edge: The energy savings provide a significant competitive advantage in the industry.
“Energy is a big cost of ours, alongside labour. Just like we rely on advice from our crop consultants, as the crop changes so the energy markets change, and we need to be aware of these changes and make informed decisions.”
