Kermit said it best when he said, “It’s not easy being green.” Regardless, Naperville, Ill.-based Brighton Wash and Detail Center has been at it since 2006.
The company started out small, installing compact fluorescent light bulbs in exterior and interior can lights. Then it moved on to bathroom vanity lights, updating old bulbs with energy-efficient ones. It was this quick, two-month minimal return on investment that was the catalyst for what was to come.
“We realized electricity was going up, and the easiest way for us to deal with that was to start with the lights,” says Jason Morin, general manager of Brighton Wash and Detail Center. “We had to start somewhere.”
It was 2006 when ownership of the car wash changed hands. Morin knew the company would have to slash operating budgets in order to make the improvements necessary to stay competitive. He saw a monthly $3,000 electricity bill as a problem.
“We were starting out fresh, and so we had to start out small,” he says. “We wouldn’t have survived the recession if we hadn’t.
“We had been paying $6,600 to Nicor [Gas] per month. I just thought: If this continues, we will be sunk and out of business.”
Initial adjustments in energy usage resulted in large reductions in cost. Eventually, Brighton was paying only $1,400 to $1,500 a month in electricity costs.
Motivated to realize additional savings, the company added insulation in the roof and walls, hoping to reduce HVAC run time. By this time it was 2010, and management had seen $1,000 in savings in the first gas bill alone.
At this point, the energy usage became a selling point. Customers began watching an energy monitoring system in the building lobby. Management also posted monthly gas bills for customers to see. In the spring and summer, some of those bills came in proclaiming “none due.”
It seemed a no-brainer at that point to update the remaining lighting. One of the biggest areas of energy usage was the tunnel car-wash lighting. The first priority was to retrofit the high-output metal halite fixtures.
The bulbs, which were rated at 175 watts, were using more energy to produce heat, instead of the light they required.
An LED option was determined to be the best option and required only minimal modification of the light base. The light uses only 60 watts and has a life span of 50,000 hours—meaning the lights would last for 12 years.
CONTINUED: Wind Power
On the Wind
Naperville, Ill., is a Chicago suburb known for its great schools, good restaurants and high home prices. So when owners presented the idea of powering Brighton’s car wash with wind power, it “met some resistance.”
It turns out the zoning board was reluctant to write the laws required for this type of technology, because no such laws existed. But the motion moved through the zoning committee, and Naperville’s first wind turbine went online in November 2011.
“It was for utility as well as marketing,” says Morin of the turbine’s visibility. Unfortunately, the turbine doesn’t generate enough power to bring the company’s electricity charges down to $0. The 33-foot-tall, lift-style turbine has covered much of the electricity expenditures but left a Smart Meter demand charge of $2,500 per month.
Morin is hoping that with the addition of 36 250-watt solar panels, which will be online in April 2015, the demand charge will be drastically reduced. He’s also hopeful that the company will achieve return on its $36,000 investment in 35 to 40 months.
In 2008, when local conglomerate Nicor Gas raised prices to $1.40 per therm, Brighton looked into a solar heating system, which preheats the water or air before it enters a heater or boiler system. The company chose an evacuated solar tube system from SunHeatSolar, Addison, Ill. This system uses the sun’s heat throughout the day to gradually heat water in a storage tank. The tube system is specially designed for when the sun doesn’t shine. Installed in 2010, the solar heating system paid for itself in 20 months and reduced gas bills from $35,000 per year to $7,000 per year.
Stroke of Puck
Another major way many car washes up their eco cred is by reclaiming or recycling water. With all the other sustainable improvements underway at Brighton, Morin also considered a water reclamation program.
“We looked at reclaim and recycle, and we actually decided it’s greener and more cost-effective for us to use fresh water,” he says. “We are currently at less than 20 gallons of water per car with fresh, and when we took over in 2006, we were between 70 and 80 gallons per car.”
The company was able to achieve this drastic reduction in gallons per vehicle by installing a puck system on the main water line. The installation of this little gadget resulted in an automatic water savings per month of 25% to 35%. Add that to nozzle and controls improvements, and Brighton drastically reduced water usage.
In the end, it’s about community influence and impact. Morin is thrilled when contractors building new LEED-certified homes in the area come in to get their trucks washed.
And while the numbers are compelling, it’s also about the customer experience.
“We have videos that run in a loop in our lobby,” he says. “It’s not just about washing cars; it’s about education as well.”
CONTINUED: Criteria, Benefits & Challenges (Infographic)
A Savings Account
WaterSavers, an official program from the International Carwash Association, was developed to help car-wash operators promote their commitments to environmentally friendly practices.
The Criteria
- All used water must drain to water treatment or a leech/septic field.
- All WaterSaver-eligible car washes must have a backflow-prevention device on the potable water supply.
- All spray nozzles must be inspected annually to ensure maximum efficiency.
- All water-saving devices must operate at original or upgraded specifications for maximum water conservation.
- If a spot-free reverse-osmosis concentrate system is used, it must also be reused in the wash process.
- The car wash must meet all local wastewater regulations.
- If you run a conveyorized or in-bay/rollover wash, you must use only up to 40 gallons of fresh water per average wash.
- If you run a self-service wash, you must maintain high-pressure wash nozzles and pump systems that use fewer than 3 gallons per minute.
How Does Reclaiming Water Work?
Separation: The first step is to separate dirt, oil and grease from the wash water. This usually happens in a series of three settling and separation tanks: oil and grease separating, general grit and grime settling, and the clean water tank.
Oxidation: Ozone can be generated by corona discharge or UV light, and is used to rid the reclaim water of bacteria or algae growth. It is created by exposing air to a current or UV light. It is then mixed with reclaim water. (Warning: Ozone is hazardous to the lungs and very reactive.)
Filtration: Flocculation will break down the resistance of very small, suspended solids, causing them to clump together, making them easier to pass through filters for water treatment.
Membrane Filtration of De-ionization: This phase prepares the water for the final rinse. Reverse osmosis is the most frequently used form. It provides 95% to 99% reduction of dissolved solids in water.
Water Reclamation:
The Benefits
“It’s in the operators’ best interest to use some of these water-saving technologies in the end, because it will save them money in the long run. The more they can do in the front end, the less they’ll spend down the road.”
Claire D. Moore
Chief operating officer, International Carwash Association
The Challenges
- The smell
- The color
- Suspended particles
Source: International Carwash Association
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