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Solar power lighting way to top green honor
By Dennis Quick
Senior Staff Writer
The Half-Moon Outfitters distribution center in North Charleston is green in a gung-ho way. Lights flick on only when someone enters the space and flick off when someone leaves or when the space becomes filled with sunlight.
Desks, partitions and other furnishings are made from recyclable sunflower husks and regionally harvested woods. Paints and carpets are toxic-free. Rainwater is used to fill the facility’s toilets.
The goal is for the distribution center to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, Platinum certification, the highest honor the U.S. Green Building Council awards commercial and industrial buildings, said Half-Moon Outfitters owner Beezer Molten, whose Charleston-based retailer sells clothing and recreational gear to outdoor enthusiasts.
Only 25 buildings in the United States are LEED Platinum certified. None are in South Carolina and only one, the showroom of Atlanta-based carpet maker Interface, is in the Southeast, according to the council’s list.
Because Half-Moon Outfitters caters to those who enjoy the environment, it is only fitting that the retailer’s 9,600-square-foot distribution center be an environmentally friendly building, Molten said.
Erik Lensch, president of Rock Hill-based SC Solar Inc., agrees. Lensch’s company recently outfitted the distribution center with perhaps its most important sustainability component: a 4.2-kilowatt solar electric system composed of rooftop solar panels.
“Half-Moon Outfitters recognizes their target market cares about the environment. It’s not just a financial calculation; it’s something more,” Lensch said of the distribution center’s solar electric system.
Dollars and cents nevertheless add up to a big part of the sustainability picture. The $37,228 solar electric system, which reduces carbon dioxide emissions, will slice energy bills and pay for itself, Molten said.
Most solar panel systems are reducing electricity bills anywhere from 20% to 50% for businesses and as much as 75% for homes, Lensch said.
“Of course, as energy costs rise, one big advantage of solar is that once the system is installed, the power is essentially free and will not be subject to rising energy costs, thereby allowing a business to better plan for the future and possibly have a competitive advantage due to lower electric bills,” Lensch added.
The amount of electricity a solar system produces is directly related to the number of solar panels installed, Lensch noted.
Energy efficiency is key to achieving LEED Platinum status. To get that honor, the distribution center must score at least 52 points out of a possible 69; Molten is shooting for at least 54 points. Aside from energy resources, which account for 17 possible LEED points, the largest block of points in the different sustainability categories under review, LEED inspectors grade a building’s water efficiency, construction materials (the more regionally produced and recyclable materials, the better), indoor environmental quality, design innovation and the sustainability of the building’s site.
Regarding site sustainability, Molten installed a pair of 1,550-gallon tanks to collect rainwater from the building’s roof. The building’s drainage system filters sediments from the water before the water reaches the tanks. The rainwater is used not only to fill the building’s toilets but to irrigate a nearby garden.
The center opened in December, about nine months after Molten purchased the 61-year-old building on East Montague Avenue for roughly $800,000. Although he prefers not to disclose the total cost of the building’s green transformation, Molten said the expense is “25% to 30% more than the normal cost.”
Receiving LEED Platinum status could prove to be a business boost, attracting more outdoor lovers and the environmentally conscious, Molten said.
“We hope it draws more customers and appeals to people who care about such things,” he said.
SC Solar opened in 1999 and provides solar lighting, water heating, water pumping and other solar-related products and services. Its clients are mostly businesses in the Charlotte-Charleston corridor, Lensch said.
As the global warming issue heats up across the nation, interest in solar power is rising, especially since Congress has extended through 2008 solar tax credits for homeowners and businesses, Lensch said.
Under the extended Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006, initially set to expire Dec. 31, 2006, homeowners and businesses receive a 30% tax credit for purchasing solar technologies. Homeowners are eligible for up to $2,000 worth of tax credits, while there is no tax credit limit for businesses.
Solar energy usage in South Carolina most likely would increase if the state instituted net metering, which allows owners of solar power systems to apply against future electricity bills any excess electricity their systems produce during a billing period, Lensch said.
Only 36 states have statewide net metering programs, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, a trade group based in Washington, D.C.
Dennis Quick is senior staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail him at dquick@charlestonbusiness.com.
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