Updated Oct. 10, 2012, to correct funding and participants

VICTORIA - Twelve British Columbia small businesses will receive funding totalling $244,415 to make their creative energy-saving solutions a reality, announced Rich Coleman, Minister of Energy, Mines and Natural Gas.

All of the projects demonstrate innovative energy-efficiency opportunities and/or energy savings of at least 20 per cent, like the Tanglefoot Training Centre in Kimberley. It will harness energy from cardio equipment to help power the facility.

The LiveSmart BC Small Business Champion applications were evaluated on project feasibility, energy and cost savings, innovation and their benefit and value to other companies and the community.

To help encourage energy-efficiency upgrades in the business community, these small business champions will share their project ideas with their local community and businesses, so others can learn from their experience and leadership. These champions will also be featured on the LiveSmart BC website for the benefit of other small businesses throughout British Columbia.

Quotes:

Rich Coleman, Minister of Energy, Mines and Natural Gas -

"Small businesses bring jobs, products and services to communities throughout the province. Through LiveSmartBC, our government is helping them save money on their monthly energy bills."

"These business champions are implementing innovative energy savings solutions like the Sunset Pines Greenhouse in Prince George. The greenhouse, in partnership with Out of Ashes BioEnergy Inc. is installing an innovative furnace system that is the first of its kind in B.C. It produces renewable heat energy and sequesters carbon, while making a natural soil enhancement by-product that can be used in the greenhouse."

Terry Lake, Minister of Environment -

"B.C.'s green economy continues to grow through the innovation of these LiveSmart small-business champions. The creative solutions developed by these companies will lead the way to cleaner, greener partnerships in communities around the province."

Naomi Yamamoto, Minister of State for Small Business -

"One of our government's top priorities is making it easier for business to do business, and what better way than to help them incorporate new ways to save money on their energy bills. What's also great about this program is that they can take what they've learned and teach others about how to apply it to their businesses."

Quick Facts:

• The LiveSmart BC Champion Program is a component of the LiveSmart BC: Small Business Program launched in January 2011.

• This $17-million program assists business owners in saving money by reducing their energy consumption with free energy-efficiency advice, equipment and incentives. The funding for this program ends on March 31, 2013.

• Small business can receive a free assessment from Business Energy Advisors through business associations and chambers of commerce throughout the province.

• The LiveSmart BC Champion program is awarding up to $25,000 to the successful LiveSmart Small Business Champions.

• To date, LiveSmart BC has helped over 9,000 small businesses to save energy and money.

Learn More:

For more information, visit: http://www.livesmartbc.ca/incentives/small-business/index.html

A backgrounder follows.

Contact:

Sandra Steilo
Media Relations
Ministry of Energy, Mines and Natural Gas|
250 952-0617

BACKGROUNDER

LiveSmart Small Business Champions

* House of Rose Winery, Kelowna - $25,000. Wineries use a lot of energy for their ongoing operations. House of Rose Winery will upgrade their heating with an air source heat pump and efficient fans, install a solar hot water system, improve the building insulation, build a separate area for fermentation (to provide a two-tiered temperature control in the winter: 15 degrees in the fermentation room; 10 degrees elsewhere), install solar tubes over the working areas to add natural light and reduce the light energy requirement, and upgrade lighting from older fluorescents.

* Kootenay Tonewood, Fruitvale - $6,914. Kootenay Tonewood will install a biomass boiler system that will allow the facility to use the waste wood produced on-site to heat the building and to dry the wood produced in the facility for musical instruments. This will be the first system of this kind purchased and installed in North America. The wood is currently being dried by electricity. It will also reduce or eliminate the wood waste taken offsite for disposal.

* North South Travel, Vancouver - $15,179. The business is located in an old building built in the 1920s and will replace the single-pane windows, casements and sills of the upper-story windows. They will also replace their light bulbs with energy-efficient options, install motion sensors in less frequently used areas of the building to control the lighting, and rent or purchase only energy star equipment.

* Orofino Vineyards, Cawston - $16,766. The vineyards will install a system of solar photovoltaic panels and a solar thermal water heating system that will reduce the energy consumption of their new straw-bale tasting room building by up to 100 per cent, to make the building run on completely on renewable energy resources. The system would produce electricity to heat hot water.

* Polar Refrigeration, Prince George - $25,000. Polar Refrigeration will replace their heating and cooling system with new energy-efficient models. These units will then be tied into a solar panel system and any excess energy will be purchased back by BC Hydro through their Net Metering program. A unique feature of this solar system will be performance-monitoring website and controls, which will allow Polar Refrigeration to keep track of building energy usage and see environmental benefits in real time.

* Rancho Caterers, Abbotsford - $25,000. Rancho Caterers will upgrade their insulation, replace their single-paned windows, upgrade lighting and install motion sensors. They will also install a high-efficiency dishwasher, pre-rinse spray valves and a water-efficient toilet.

* The Seed Network, Nelson - $25,000. The company will become a leader in sustainability and alternative energy sources when they install the first commercial solar grid tied energy system in Nelson. It will document the process through a video and blog, educating not only our local communities, but other small businesses worldwide.

* Sunset Pines Greenhouse, Prince George - $25,000. Sunset Pines Greenhouse aims to reduce the massive energy consumption currently required to heat the greenhouse with propane by using a revolutionary biochar furnace system that will reduce propane use by up to 50 per cent. This system uses a high temperature thermal decomposition process to divert waste biomass, produce renewable heat energy and sequester carbon while producing a valuable natural soil-enhancement product that can be used in the greenhouse. This project would be the first of its kind in B.C.

* Tanglefoot Training Centre, Kimberley - $20,756. This fitness facility will install new energy-harnessing cardio exercise equipment, along with wireless monitoring and display technology. The system includes elliptical trainers, upright and recumbent bikes that harness energy from the user and feed it back to the facility through an inverter, which can tie into a maximum of 10 machines. There are also treadmills that use 30 per cent less power than traditional commercial treadmill.

* The Trading Post Feed and Tack, Cassidy - $25,000. The Trading Post will make building envelope improvements such as air leakage reduction, insulation improvements to the attic and exterior of the building, daylighting (skytubes to replace light fixtures), upgrading existing lighting and installing solar air heating units. It will also install low flush toilets and occupancy sensors in bathrooms, replace exterior doors and insulate hot-water pipes.

* The Wallflower Diner, Vancouver - $19,876. The diner will recover wasted heat from two refrigeration systems. They will modify existing equipment to better suit the energy demand of food-service environments where heating and cooling are needed simultaneously and in close proximity.

* The Wilder Snail Grocery, Vancouver - $14,922. The grocery will install a pedalling counter that will allow customers to provide the energy they consume with their laptops while working in a cafe. It consists of a series of custom designed stools, which have bicycle-pedal-powered generators built in and connected to electrical outlets, where customers may charge their laptops and other electronic devices. Additional power produced could potentially power other systems, such as lighting, or simply be fed back into the grid.

Contact:

Sandra Steilo
Media Relations
Ministry of Energy, Mines and Natural Gas
250 952-0617