Oct./Nov. 2013 • Volume 31 • Number 5
Colorado Nursery & Greenhouse Association • Serving Colorado, New Mexico, & Wyoming
Climate Challenges for the Green Industry
10 Proactive Industry Can Limit Climate Change Impacts 17 Greenhouse
Energy Audits: Relevance and Value
13 Alternative Fuels
Drive Cost Savings
22 Circle Fresh Farms: Organic Farms Grow in Greenhouses
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DWF Growers Supply 4800 Dahlia Street, Denver, CO 80216 Phone: 303-399-3235 Fax: 303-376-3125 Toll-free: 1-800-829-8280 LooseLeaf October/November 2013
Our Mission Professionals growing for a better tomorrow... your growing resource. Cover Photo Courtesy of Heritage Seedlings, Inc., Salem, Oregon
In This Issue 3 Contents, Board & Editorial Information 4 Calendar, New Members, Member News & Advertisers 5 Classified Ads
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Alternative Fuels Drive Cost Savings
6 Message from the Board: Climate Challenges, Challenging Climate
17 Energy Management:
7 Climate Change 101 — A Science Lesson by an International Atmospheric Expert
Greenhouse Energy Audits
18 CSU Update: 2013 Superior Annuals 20 Safety Corner: Successful Return-to-Work Programs
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Proactive Industry Can Limit Climate Change Impacts
Board Of Directors Dan Gerace, CGG, President Welby Gardens Company, Inc. 303.288.3398 dangerace@hardyboyplant.com Bill Kluth, Vice President Tagawa Greenhouse Enterprises, LLC 303.659.1260 x205 bkluth@tagawas.com Jesse Eastman, CCNP, Secretary/Treasurer Fort Collins Nursery 970.482.1984 j.eastman@fortcollinsnursery.com
Stan Brown, CCNP Alameda Wholesale Nursery, Inc. 303.761.6131 stan@alamedawholesale.com Steve Carlson, CCNP Carlton Plants 303.530.7510 scarlson@carltonplants.com Sarada Krishnan, Ph.D. Denver Botanic Gardens 720.865.3679 krishnas@botanicgardens.org
22 Member Profile: Organic Farms Growing in Greenhouses
Monica Phelan, CCNP Phelan Gardens 719.574.8058 monicaphelan@phelan gardens.com
Dan Wise, CCNP Fort Collins Wholesale Nursery 970.484.1289 dan@ftcollinswholesale nursery.com
editorial
Colorado Nursery & Greenhouse Association
Sharon R. Harris Executive Director Colorado Nursery & Greenhouse Association 303.758.6672 sharris@coloradonga.org
Printer Colorado Community Media 9137 S. Ridgeline Blvd., Ste. 210 Highlands Ranch, CO 80129 coloradocommunitymedia.com www.colorado nga.org
Jim Klett, Ph.D. CSU Dept. of Horticulture & Landscape Architecture 970.491.7179 jim.klett@colostate.edu
Terry Shaw, CCNP Harding Nursery, Inc. 719.596.5712 hardingoffice@aol.com
Publisher 959 S. Kipling Pkwy., Ste. 200 Lakewood, Colo. 80226 303.758.6672 or 888.758.6672 Fax: 303.758.6805 info@coloradonga.org coloradonga.org
Ex-Officio Members
The LooseLeaf feature writer and editor is Tanya Ishikawa of Buffalo Trails Multimedia Communications buffalotrailsmultimedia.com
Sharon R. Harris, Executive Director CNGA 303.758.6672 or 888.758.6672 sharris@coloradonga.org
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Dan Gerace
Tanya Ishikawa
Dr. Jim Klett
Amy Statkevicus
Cary Weiner
advertising info Contact: Michelle Munoz, CNGA 303.758.6672 mmunoz@coloradonga.org
Visit coloradonga.org for classified advertisements, plant publications, upcoming events, a member directory, and much more!
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2013
calendar
Pinnacol Safety Resources Web-Based Resources Training
Wednesday, Oct. 16, 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Pinnacol Offices, Denver, Colo. (or attend via webinar) This free presentation, open to all CNGA members, will review all free and low-cost safety resources found on the Pinnacol Assurance website. For participants in the CNGA Safety Group Program, this training will review the Safety Group approved training resources as well.
Certified Pesticide Applicators Exam Prep Seminars All classes: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. • CNGA Office, Lakewood, Colo. Tuesday, Oct. 15, General Seminar Part 1 Thursday, Oct. 17, General Seminar Part 2 Tuesday, Oct. 22, Turf Seminar Thursday, Oct. 24, Ornamental Seminar Tuesday, Oct. 29, Industrial Right of Way Seminar
Owners & Managers Meeting
Friday, Nov. 1, 3 to 6 p.m. with dinner at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2, 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Vail Marriot, Vail, Colo. Make plans now to attend this annual event designed for decision makers to share experiences, ideas and practical information both in the meeting and social offerings. All sizes of companies will benefit from the roundtable discussions, peer exchange and featured speaker. Room rates: Standard $104 or Deluxe $124, including complimentary valet parking. Call 877.622.3140 for hotel reservations. 10% discount on menu items in hotel’s on-site restaurants. Thank you to our sponsors: Pinnacol Assurance; Plant Select; Richard, Seeley & Schaefer; Tagawa Greenhouses; and Wells Fargo Insurance Services.
Colorado Certified Nursery Professional (CCNP) Seminars Tuesdays, Denver, Colo. locations TBD Nov. 5, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Perennials Seminar Nov. 12, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Tree Seminar Nov. 19, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Shrubs Seminar Dec. 3, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Landscape Design Seminar Jan. 7, 2014, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Exam (option 1) Feb. 11, 2014, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Exam at ProGreen (option 2)
OSHA Record-Keeping Training
Thursday, Nov. 14, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Pinnacol Offices, Denver, Colo. (or attend via webinar) Learn what you need to know to keep your OSHA 300 report, 300A summary and 301 injury and illness incident report in order and in compliance with OSHA guidelines. This is a free, “Safety Group Approved” training open to all CNGA members.
new members Clyde Spero Denver, Colo. 80207 303.981.6570 ePlantSource 10955 Westmoor Dr. Westminster, Colo. 80021 Suzanne McKee, director of marketing 855.674.8440 eplantsource.com Happy Life Gardens 2000 37th St. Evans, Colo. 80620 Eddie & Melissa Maxwell, owners 970.330.9530 happylifegardens.com
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Harrell’s, LLC 21001 Rachel Myers Lane Fairhope, Ala. 36532 Scott Martiniere, sales manager 251.379.7225 harrells.com Libby Hamiton Las Cruces, N.M. 88012 575.639.1085 Woodward, Bell and Associates, LLP 11460 Valle Verde Dr. Colorado Springs, Colo. 80926 David Woodward, partner 719.694.4329
Managing Safety Through Good Hiring Practices Training
Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Pinnacol Offices, Denver, Colo. (or attend via webinar) Employees on the job for less than 12 months account for more than 30 percent of total claim costs and number of claims reported to Pinnacol Assurance. This class will provide information to help you safely introduce new employees into your workplace, assess existing employees’ abilities to perform their jobs safely and know what to do if they can’t. This is a free ”Safety Group Approved” training open to all CNGA members.
ProGreen EXPO 2014
Tuesday to Friday, Feb. 11 to 14, 2014 Colorado Convention Center, Denver, Colo. New for 2014 is the Learning Lounge! It’s the place to capture additional education sessions on today’s need-to-know topics, as well as cutting-edge product demos. Don’t forget to plan time between meeting with exhibitors and attending educational sessions, to stop by the Learning Lounge Wednesday through Friday inside the exhibit hall.
CNGA Industry Celebration
Thursday evening, Feb. 13, 2014 Embassy Suites Denver-Downtown Convention Center, Denver, Colo. We’re mixing things up for 2014! This year our program will be showcased during our happy hour event with heavy hors d’oeuvres and drinks (of course!). The Industry Celebration is a great time to catch up with peers and friends, network, forecast for your business for 2013, support the association, and honor people in the industry.
member news 5 CNGA Members Earn CCNP Certifications Beverly Henke, Brendan Anderson, Ashley Ikemeier and Bobby Townsend from Fort Collins Nursery and Ross Shrigler from Fort Collins Wholesale Nursery passed the Colorado Certified Nursery Professional exam in August. Employees with CCNP certification are leaders in customer service with strong knowledge about plant production and care as well as landscape design.
advertisers American Clay Works & Supply Co. . . . . . . . . . . 21 Baxter Wholesale Nursery, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Britton Nursery, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Circle D Farm Sales, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Clayton Tree Farm LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 DWF Growers Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Fort Collins Wholesale Nursery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Harding Nursery, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Hash Tree Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Jayker Wholesale Nursery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 McKay Nursery Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Office Depot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Richards, Seeley & Schaefer, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
LooseLeaf October/November 2013
classified ADS Job Wanted Exploring job opportunities in the Horticulture Industry. Record of driving increased sales, market share and profits for businesses in the original green industry. B.S. in Horticulture; Landscape Architecture/ Agriculture Economics. Residing in the Denver metro area. Please see my Profile and endorsements on LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/steveflickinger For resume, please contact Steve Flickinger at steveflick@ comcast.net or C: 303-881-1214 or O: 720-981-7919.
Help Wanted Irrigation Technician The Hudson Gardens & Event Center, 6115 S. Santa Fe Dr., Littleton, Colo. 80120 Submit a cover letter, resume and contact information for three references to maintenance@hudsongardens.org. Applications accepted until position filled. Please no visits or phone calls. Complete description at: http://hudsongardens.org/content/ employmentopportunities.php
Tree Farm Assistant Manager Maintenance Crew Leader Steve Koon Landscape & Design, 2301 W. Oxford Ave., Englewood Colo. 80110. Fax resume to 303.781.4525 or apply in person for either position. Residential landscape company offering top pay and benefits.
For Sale Greenhouse – For Sale by Owner Turnkey greenhouse facility in sunny Las Cruces, N.M. Please contact Lynn Payne at ld@paynes.com or 505.988.9626 for information. 56,000 Sq. Ft. Gutter Connect greenhouses; 11,000 Sq. Ft.Warehouse; 2.92 Acres of land; 3 wells with16 acre feet water rights/10,000-gallon storage tank, also connected to city water. CNGA offers free posts of online classified ads to members, including items for sale or lease and job openings. For more information on the posting above and to see other current postings, visit coloradonga.org, click the Resources tab and click on Classifieds.
Register for calendar events with CNGA unless otherwise noted.
Tel: 303.758.6672 or 888.758.6672 • Fax: 303.758.6805 E-mail: info@coloradonga.org CNGA is the host of calendar events unless otherwise noted. For more information, registration forms, and directions to programs, go to coloradonga.org and click on the Events tab to view the Calendar.
QUALITY WHOLESALE PERENNIALS
We are a wholesale grower of excellent quality Colorado-Grown herbaceous perennials & ornamental grasses. After experiencing the beauty of our plants and the convenience and personal touch of our service, we hope you will consider Britton Nursery your first Wholesale Nursery choice for all your flowering perennials and ornamental grasses.
Britton Nursery, Inc.
7075 Wyoming Lane Colorado Springs, CO 80923 Office: 719.495.3676 Fax: 719.495.3749 . info@BrittonFlowers.com www.BrittonFlowers.com
Cold-hardy specimen trees. Shade, flowering and evergreen.
Baxter
WholeSale NurSery
888-777-8199 Emmett, Idaho | baxternursery.com Proud Member
www.colorado nga.org
Licensed Propagator
Licensed Grower
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MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD
By Dan Gerace CNGA Board President
“Being more efficient in your energy use can be very beneficial for your company.”
Climate Challenges... Challenging Climate The climate of change….changing climate… impacts of mother nature on our industry…our impacts on mother nature. Will we voluntarily change our consumption of fossil fuels, or will we be forced to by circumstance or regulation? How will climate change effect your operation on a daily basis? Do you think there will be big changes over the next decade? Will there be an overall philosophical change in our industry? Will carbon trading play a role in your business, sooner rather than later? Can you reduce your consumption? Are biomass boilers the answer? These are just a few of the questions that our distinguished interviewees discuss in this issue of the Looseleaf. As a scientist, I find climate change fascinating, and we are just starting to see the effects. Weather plays an enormous role in the day-to-day business. How fast the plants are growing, using water and selling are all influenced by variations in the weather. During the last 15 years of my career, each year seems to have gotten more and more different from the year before, and predicting “seasonal” weather is getting a lot more difficult. How do you give customers and co-workers advice or recommendations based on a typical season when every year is atypical? Can we influence climate change? Can you reduce your consumption? Being more efficient in your energy use can be very beneficial for your company. Our energy auditor started with what he calls the “low hanging fruit” in our operation. We added insulation on hot water transport lines and on the north walls in all our greenhouses. We fixed holes in coverings and walls and made sure vents close tightly. We now seal off unnecessary fans and vents in the wintertime, and double check all heating and cooling set points on environmental computers and older thermostats. These inexpensive fixes made a noticeable difference in our energy use that was reflected in our utility bills. The next level will be more expensive, but could still give us a two- to five-year payback. We will change any single-layer greenhouse covering to a double-layer polyethylene or
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polycarbonate; get all growing space on an environmental computer that can anticipate heating and cooling requirements to minimize energy usage; and install energy curtains in our year-round, higher temperature ranges. Energy curtains are discussed further in the greenhouse energy audit article in this issue of the Looseleaf, along with excellent resources to help you conduct your own energy audit and what to look for when hiring an auditor. Energy costs, particularly heating costs, can be a game changer. For the last five years, prices for natural gas and propane have been relatively low. However, in 2005 and 2007, prices were rapidly fluctuating, and without much warning, the rates would double or even triple. Typically, producers set their prices based on the direct cost of their inputs. In 2007, those fluctuations ate up about half of the profits for the entire year. However, we were not just sitting on our hands; we had the energy audit done and implemented all the easy fixes immediately. We have plans to install energy curtains when the economics make sense. During the spike in natural gas prices, we also looked into alternatives such as biomass boilers that use many different fuel sources (almost anything that burns). Our thoughts turned to all the beetle kill trees in the high country. Our first question was: are the boilers and scrubbers good enough to keep the air clean, or are we causing more pollution? There are a lot of dead trees, but is that wood readily available and cheap enough? What is the cost of changing over? Before we could effectively answer any of these questions, prices for natural gas began to fall. This brings us back to economic drivers – we can change our habits when it makes sense economically. If it is not economically sustainable, those investments can be too big of a risk. Normally, switching to a new system requires large capital investments. When you are able to invest in capital improvements, you should go with projects that give you your best return on investment.
LooseLeaf October/November 2013
Climate Change 101 —
A
Science Lesson by an International Atmospheric Expert “When we burn one gallon of gas, it produces three times as much
”
carbon dioxide as its weight.
– NOAA Scientist Russ Schnell
Photo Courtesy of National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration
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Change that was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for humanitarian work and world organizing. Schnell believes the physics of climate change are clear cut from a scientific perspective.
Measuring 10 Miles of Atmosphere
Dr. Russ Schnell
Scientist Russ Schnell has worked at the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for more than two decades. With a background in chemistry, biology and climatology, he began his career as an agricultural climatologist, developing and maintaining a precipitation and hail collection network over 10,000 square miles of Canadian farmland. Spending many years as a director at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, he transferred later to Boulder to oversee operations in Alaska, Samoa, Antarctica and other global monitoring stations. He has been on the front lines of atmospheric data collection by the U.S. government through several Presidential administrations, Democrat and Republican. Since 2005, Schnell has been the deputy director of the Global Monitoring Division at the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory. For his climatology work, he was presented the a Distinguished Career Award and the United States Department of Commerce Silver Medal. He was also a member of the international Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Photo Courtesy of National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration
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Schnell’s explanation of the evidence behind climate change starts with a review of grade-school science lessons. To understand the dynamics of carbon dioxide concentrations, it’s critical to consider that the Earth’s atmosphere is a relatively thin layer of gasses that surrounds the Earth. The Earth’s atmosphere is about 300 miles thick, though it has no defined edge because it just gets thinner and thinner until it merges with outer space. Most of the atmosphere, about 80 percent, is within 10 miles of the surface of the Earth. It is as thin as a strand of hair, compared to the Earth if it were a 2-foot diameter plastic beach ball, Schnell described. “When you fly in an airplane at 35,000 feet, 95 percent of all the world’s air is beneath you. There are many places in the world where you can drive up a mountain and be above half the world’s air mass. There is very little of it, and we know almost every molecule,” he commented. Schnell’s confidence about knowing the molecular composition of the atmosphere comes from the intense air sampling activities, conducted for decades by NOAA. Laboratory personnel, contractors and volunteers from around the world make ongoing discrete measurements of the gasses in the atmosphere from land and sea surface sites and aircraft, and continuous measurements from baseline observatories and tall towers. The samples are analyzed in Boulder for CO2 and up to 50 different gasses. “We monitor anything that could affect climate in one way or another. Some instruments are carried by balloons up to 100,000 feet, right at the edge of space. We collect everyday. We have tens of thousands of bottles
with air samples come in a year, from all over the world,” he explained. “We don’t do any projection of climate change. We just do the measurements of the changing composition of the atmosphere and give them to other people.” “We calibrate very carefully so we know what we did 40 years ago is as good as today and tomorrow,” he added. “We keep these tanks and 10 years from now we measure them and make sure they’re still good. This just goes on continuously so that everybody is working on the same scale. For instance, Germany among other countries puts out a carbon dioxide concentration number and then we can trace it back and we keep all of this open for everybody so they can look at the numbers. And this data is available sometimes within a half an hour on the Internet. As long as we know that it’s fairly good, we’ll put it out as preliminary numbers. Then we check it and check it again against standards, which may take us a year, but usually there’s not any change at all.”
Increasing Feathers in the Down Comforter By taking the “pulse” of the world’s atmosphere, climate scientists observe changes in its gaseous composition. While it is composed mainly of nitrogen at 78.08 percent and oxygen at 20.95 percent, other gases exist at less than 1 percent each, including argon, carbon dioxide, neon, helium, methane, krypton, and hydrogen. All these gasses mix consistently in the atmosphere, rather than being stratified, which causes the composition to be nearly uniform up to about 50 miles from the Earth’s surface, according to Texas A&M University’s Department of Oceanography. Graphs showing the CO2 amounts in the atmosphere measured between the 1950s and 2013 show a pattern going up, representing increasing levels of carbon dioxide. The levels dip and rise over annual cycles with the changes in seasons, but the overall trend is higher levels. It’s not absolutely constant due to economic and weather factors, Schnell said. Increased CO2 levels just like other changes in atmospheric composition affect air quality, weather and climate. Atmospheric composition is central to Earth system dynamics, since the atmosphere integrates surface emissions globally on time scales from weeks to LooseLeaf October/November 2013
years and involves several environmental issues, according to the NASA website. Schnell likens the additional CO2 in the atmosphere to extra feathers in a down comforter. Just as more feathers in a comforter trap heat better and make the bed warmer, the increased concentration of carbon dioxide is changing the physics of the atmosphere and trapping the sun’s energy in the air and oceans. The trapped solar energy is leading to higher temperatures. NOAA also tracks how much sunlight energy is coming into the Earth’s atmosphere and how much is staying. Between 1990 and 2010, the solar energy held by CO2 and other greenhouse gasses increased by 30 percent, according to NOAA research.
Humans Stressing the System “Most people don’t argue anymore that the CO2 in the atmosphere is increasing. They argue where it’s coming from. They say it’s leaking from volcanoes. But volcanoes do not do that significantly” said Schnell. This can be determined by analyzing the composition of CO2 from burning coal, oil and gas, which is very different than the CO2 from volcanoes, which has a signature to it. NOAA’s data shows that the type of carbon released from fossil fuel consumption is rising, but not the type from volcano eruptions. The annual cycle of dips and rises in the carbon dioxide levels is swinging wider each year, he explained, because the plants with the warming temperatures are taking more CO2 out in the spring and putting more back in the fall. Also, humans are burning more fuel so the overall measurements are going higher and higher. NOAA’s records include atmospheric measurements since 1956, and other historical measurements such as ice core research reaching back hundreds of years. The data shows atmospheric CO2 levels as relatively stable until the industrial revolution, when they suddenly began rising at accelerated rates and never falling back to consistently lower rates. “Mankind has taken all that coal, gas and oil that’s been underground and we’re putting it back into the air about a million times faster than nature ever did before. Temperatures from greenhouse gas heating are going to catch up. It just takes a little bit of time,” Schnell added. “When we burn www.colorado nga.org
one gallon of gas, it produces three times as much carbon dioxide as its weight. Each gallon produces 25 pounds of CO2. One tank of gas produces a quarter ton of CO2 so concentrations are going up.” Fossil fuel is being burned at rapidly increasing rates, due to modern demand for electricity, air conditioning, refrigeration and the transport of foods, goods and people. Studies show a strong correlation between increased CO2 and human energy consumption through the growth trends of the world’s gross domestic product. NOAA’s data shows the highest CO2 concentration levels and annual cycles of atmospheric change in the northern hemisphere, where the majority of fossil-fuel-burning activity as well as the majority of the world’s vegetation is. On an annual basis, the air in the north is completely different than the air breathed in the southern hemisphere, said Schnell, adding that whatever happens here will end up down there in just a few years. In recent years, methane gas has been starting to show up more in the measurements at higher, solar-energytrapping levels, which coincides with increased drilling and use of methane. Sulfur hexafluoride or SF6 is another incredibly strong greenhouse gas, used in transformers and electrical industries, but its concentration is very low. If China, India and other countries succeed in electrifying more of their nations, SF6 will become more concentrated in the atmosphere relative to CO2 in a few centuries or so, he said.
they put in regulations, and because the atmosphere is so thin it responded within six months – boom, just like that, because there is very little air,” Schnell recalled. Today, the ozone hole forms each September when the remaining ozonedestroying gasses are at their highest concentrations. “We have people at a station at the South Pole that watch it every year, but the chemicals that are making it are coming down so eventually the hole will just stop forming,” he said. Today still, the South Pole and now the North Pole are the points where scientists report the most significant planetary changes. For the moment, most the sun’s energy is going into melting the world’s ice caps, because they are huge capacitors or sinks that take energy slowly out of the air, as Schnell explained, “If you put ice in a cup, the it will stay there for a long time because it takes 80 calories per gram to turn ice into water. We don’t feel it in the temperature because the energy is going into the ice and oceans, where the warm water is slowly sinking in many areas. But eventually that heated water will come back up and when it does, it will release all that heat into the atmosphere.”
History Repeating on a New Scale
Already over the last century, Earth’s average temperature rose about 1.1°F, according to NASA. In the last two decades, the rate of the world’s warming accelerated. When the additional heat from the oceans is released, temperatures will warm up a few more degrees. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that Earth’s average surface temperature could rise between 3.6°F and 10.8°F by the end of the 21st century.
The current situation has uncanny similarities to the discovery of the cause of the ozone hole over the South Pole in the mid-1980s. NOAA was already measuring the gasses in the atmosphere at that time, including a program that developed and continues to use carefully calibrated instruments to check for chemical reactions in the ozone. Increasing concentrations of four manmade chemicals, methochloraform, carbon tetrachloride and tricholorflorometahne 11 and 12, were recorded.
“You only have to change things a half degree and it changes things unbelievably. People don’t realize with climate change that you and I won’t hardly feel temperature change. But the plants will feel it, the ocean will feel it, animals will feel it, because they are tuned to a fraction of a degree. It’s hard to believe that by changing things a couple degrees on the edge of a desert, you change the vegetation, the insects, the animals – you change everything,” the scientist said.
As a result, the Montreal Protocal was adopted by countries around the world in 1991, banning the new production of the four chemical compounds. “As soon as the world figured this problem out,
Resources:
Further information and NOAA research data related to climate change is available on the CNGA website at http://www.coloradonga.org/ education-links.php.
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Proactive Industry Can Limit Climate Change Impacts “We have a role in alleviating some environmental pressures and reducing our carbon footprint. Instead of marketing ourselves as ornamental, which can be interpreted by some as frivolous, we need to look at our products from an ecosystem services or benefits perspective.” – Joe Bischoff, ANLA Government Relations Director
Photos Courtesy of Heritage Seedlings Inc., Salem, Oregon
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With increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere being blamed for climate changes, most impacts to the climatedependent green industry are yet to be seen. The emerging questions are just how much and how soon will temperature and weather extremes affect the operations and economics of growing and selling plants. New government restrictions and incentives as well as changing consumer preferences may be the first obvious impacts. If proactive, the industry could take advantage of its role in providing CO2 reducing products. Joe Bischoff, the director of government relations at the American Nursery & Landscape Association, commented it’s hard right now for many in the industry to focus on what changes are due to climate changes. “Climate change is an important issue and something we need to be thinking about. We saw more of an emphasis on these issues six years ago, but with the economic downturn and labor concerns, businesses have had to focus on survival,” Bischoff said. “Maybe we’re at a point where we can see the other side of the bottleneck and again think about how our industry can play a bigger role in dealing with climate change.” Much of the horticultural-related research and action related to climate change is happening at the academic level so far. Still, he added, it’s important for business owners to be thinking ahead about market opportunities as well as economic and regulatory trends related to water consumption, plant imports, carbon emissions and fuel selection. For most growers, potential global warming is more of a concern than carbon dioxide levels in the air, admitted Mark Krautmann, a co-owner of Heritage Seedlings, Inc. His family-run business in Salem, Oregon is a wholesale propagator of unusual deciduous woodies, perennials, native plants and seeds for environmental restoration. He sees more attention still focused on production and sales, control automation and getting plants LooseLeaf October/November 2013
Heritage Seedlings avoids the expense and fuel of transporting new containers from its German supplier by steam-sterilizing and re-using container flats.
displayed in prime condition, rather than certain marginal increases in CO2 levels. “We’ll know eventually,” the grower said, referring to a Winston Churchill quote: “You can always count on Americans to do the right thing – after they’ve tried everything else.” “Public awareness is changing faster than awareness within the industry,” Krautmann explained. “Sometimes we like to think our industry leads the public, but quite honestly we’re a lot like shepherds always looking over our shoulders to make sure the sheep are following.” He sees the industry as more focussed on figuring out the puzzle of what new and exciting plants are out, which ones will attract the most customers’ dollars and how to compete against a huge variety of outdoor lifestyle products. When the industry is ready to discuss global warming and environmental impacts, Krautmann said, the conversation needs to be founded on facts and science, not politics or hidden agendas. “We need to get down to reason and hard measurable data, not lightning impulses. As an industry, we want to do the right thing. After all, we make our living with plants everyday. We don’t have any interest in wrecking our environment. We are engaged in enhancing both the natural and built environment,” he said. “At the same time, there’s a lot of motivation to do nothing because doing something costs money. Government does have a useful role there in setting standards, because industries are not usually going to agree. That’s why it is essential the regulations are determined with transparency and based on sound science,” he added. Bischoff agreed, adding that the evidence needs to be looked at more broadly to determine the most sensible approach for the industry and the environment. “When it comes to regulatory changes, issues should be discussed and vetted making sure it works to meet the needs of regulators and industry. It can’t be all or nothing. We can’t let perfect be the enemy of good,” the ANLA government relations director said. President Obama was still not seeking a carbon tax, to tax companies or fuel with the most carbon dioxide emissions, as of his June 2013 climate change plan announcement, though the topic keeps being raised in the U.S. Across the world, carbon taxes have been implemented on every continent, with Europe being the most progressive on such a tax. Bischoff noted the real potential for carbon tax credits for the green industry. While urban centers contribute tremendously to climate change through temperature increases, nurseries and other carbon-sequestering land uses suck carbon dioxide back out of the air and lower temperatures. “We have a role in trying to alleviate some of those environmental pressures and reduce our carbon footprint,” he said. “As an industry, instead of marketing ourselves as ornamental, which can be interpreted by some as frivolous, we need to look at our products from an ecosystem services or benefits perspective. www.colorado nga.org
Trends in Climate Change Impacts Temperature ✦ minimal temperature increase (1°F to 2°F), multiplied in urban environments ✦ changing hardiness zones with more warm weather plants thriving in traditionally colder zones and plants flowering earlier ✦ greater overall plant variety in formerly colder zones due to the addition of the warmer zone plants but very little dropping of traditional plant varieties ✦ growing deserts ✦ greater crop damage due to more inconsistent hot and cold extremes such as frosts and heat stress
Weather ✦ greater crop damage due to extreme weather events like hail and lightning storms ✦ greater risks, especially for tree and shrub growers that require three- to four-year production cycles, due to more frequent periods of very high heat and very high cold influenced by the additional atmospheric energy, resulting in worse hurricanes, tornadoes and rainstorms ✦ increased market demand for plants to restore areas, natural and manmade, damaged by disasters
Water ✦ water shortages due to increased and longer droughts, as well as increased demand from other industries such as the gas industry’s hydraulic fracturing wells ✦ increased water needs due to higher temperatures and increased evapotranspiration ✦ increased rainfall
Invasive Plants, Insects & Animals ✦ increase in invasive plant species due to warmer climate plants being introduced to new areas ✦ increased weeds due to increased carbon dioxide levels ✦ increased crop damage from increases in destructive animals due to changing habitats and migration patterns to follow flowering plants and other preferred food ✦ decreased crop health due to decreases in beneficial animals such as pollinators due to extinction from loss of habitat and changing migration patterns ✦ increased crop damage from insect species surviving longer and in more areas due to hotter temperatures and increased rainfall ✦ increased health risks to outdoor laborers due to increase in disease-carrying insects such as malaria-carrying mosquitos
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Student volunteers restore prairie habitat at the Heritage Seedlings farm.
We need to encourage and attract more of our brightest and best students by enthusiastically communicating that these plants are not only pretty but they make our urban environments better. To get our young people to get involved, we need to communicate our value. We’re the original green.”
Case Study Proves Positive Net Impact of Plant Production “Knowing the carbon footprint of production and distribution components of field-grown trees will help nursery managers understand their system and evaluation potential modifications to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and costs,” reports Charles R. Hall, the Ellison Chair in International Horticulture at Texas A&M University in the Horticultural Research Institute’s September 2013 issue of the Journal of Environmental Horticulture. Co-authored by Dewayne L. Ingram of the University of Kentucky Department of Horticulture, the study is titled “Carbon Footprint and Related Production Costs of System Components of a Field-Grown Cercis canadensis L.‘Forest Pansy’ Using Life Cycle Assessment.” It explains how data about the positive impact of tree production on atmospheric GHG can be used to communicate to the consuming public the value of trees in their landscape, along with producers’ efforts to minimize emissions during production. The study concludes that life cycle assessment can be a valuable means to identify the production steps with the highest environmental impacts during the whole production chain, and help growers improve their operational efficiency. “A more efficient use of environmentally sensitive inputs can reduce both the production costs for the nursery as well as the environmental risks or impacts,” conclude the authors, adding that information from these types of assessments “will help managers better understand their production system and practices and help them better articulate an improved value proposition for their products in the green industry marketplace.” The full article is available by subscribing to the Journal of Environmental Horticulture at: http://www.hriresearch.org/ index.cfm?page=Content&categoryID=174
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To demonstrate a nursery’s net impact on atmospheric carbon dioxide, Krautmann said new labeling could be created to show the carbon footprint of each plant. This type of beneficial marketing could help the industry and its products compete against other industries and products. He anticipates consumer interest and awareness would drive this labeling change, not government regulations. Heritage Seedlings’ mission includes demonstrating stewardship for nature and educating the public about its environmental preservation activities. A rapidly growing percentage of its sales are from native seeds, harvested from wild populations. The company also restored hundreds of acres of its nursery property to native habitat. The staff guides schools, customers and other community members on field trips on its property to “keep everyone in the conversation about responsible stewardship of resources.” The grower looked at the carbon footprint of its operations that include an automated five-acre, retractable-roof greenhouse range, 15 acres of winter protecting cold frames, 140 acres of rotating field-grown liner production, and 500,000 cubic feet of cold storage. As a result, it invested nearly half a million dollars in solar photo voltaic panels for heating water and powering lights in its greenhouses. “That would not have been possible without Obama’s tax credits. The fact that the government subsidizes solar energy production jump-started a whole industry and created economies of scale that made it accessible,” said Krautmann. “The industry is getting into green technology as the numbers really start making sense. I do see the green industry rapidly going to less use of fossil fuels and decreasing energy consumption by using variable speed pumps, drip irrigation that uses a lot less water and electricity, and electric vehicles,” he commented. Heritage completed an energy audit, which resulted in a big reduction in energy use. Soil is steamed and containers are sterilized for reuse, cutting down on new purchases and truck deliveries. The company is even consolidating its own transportation to save on fuel use. He suggested, “Each business can implement changes that will have an impact at different orders of magnitude. Even momand-pop operations in the suburbs can look into what they can do. The consequences of any energy use should be considered, because there’s an enormous set of interactive factors.” Resources:
A comprehensive resource list with contact information and website addresses for organizations and research data related to climate change impacts is available on the CNGA website at: www.coloradonga.org/ education-links.php.
LooseLeaf October/November 2013
Alternative Fuels Drive Cost Savings
Photos Courtesy of (top) Hurst Manufacturing Company, (left) Willoway Nurseries, (center) Spruce Valley Organics, and (right) Grower Direct Farms.
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“There’s a bit of a learning curve in producing and testing biodiesel to ensure it’s pure and not going to harm your engine.” – Spruce Valley Organics Owner Ken Murray When Ken Murray of Spruce Valley Organics pulls up to a greenhouse, nursery or other customer to deliver mulch, compost and other landscaping supplies, everyone jokes that the smell makes them hungry. It’s not Murray’s products that have his customers salivating, it’s the processed vegetable oil baking in his engine that reminds them of fresh donuts and Chinese food. His three-quarter ton trucks that pull trailers of product, as well as six pieces of heavy equipment, all run on biodiesel. “Initially I was looking at what I was spending a year on fuel, and it was killing me. So I wanted something that would save me money,” the business owner said. “Then once I got going, I found the trucks running up to 60 percent cleaner, and the trucks last longer. Finding a way I can affect my environmental impact and save some money was a win-win.”
DIY Biodiesel Processing Reaps Rewards & Risks Spruce Valley’s three delivery trucks alone rack up about 50,000 miles a year driving 10 to 12 hours a day from his property in Sedalia, Colo. to clients along the Front Range. His extensive time on the road makes it convenient for him to pick up the biofuel along his routes. He gathers containers of used vegetable oil from a network of friends in the restaurant industry and contacts he found on Craigslist. “It took some footwork to get sources lined up. Once I did, I’ve had a pretty steady source of waste oil. Some people even drop it off for me,” Murray explained. “A small guy like me can get pretty much as much oil as I need to burn or process. I stay with smaller restaurants where I have contacts.” Competition is beginning to edge used oil prices up, but the impact is felt more by people new to purchasing it and larger operations that need large quantities. “The beauty of it is with the ebb and flow in availability and price, you still have the option of using regular diesel,” said Murray, who uses a greater mix of regular diesel during the winter when it is hard to process the oil or whenever he is just too busy to process it. Because any older diesel truck engine can run biodiesel the same as diesel from fossil fuels, any blend of the two fuel sources can be used. Diesel engines in trucks newer than 2007, when manufacturers began installing particle filters, can not use biodiesel without some kind of conversion. The truck’s computers also have a difficult time recognizing the biofuel. “Five years ago, some restaurants were paying 20 cents a gallon to haul off their used oil,” he said. “Now, a new person just getting into biodiesel would probably have to pay the restaurant 50 to 75 cents a gallon because of the increased demand.”
His cost for biodiesel including processing is “anywhere from $1 to 1.30 a gallon.” He might have been able to increase his savings with tax credits or grants for energy efficiency, but he hasn’t done the research yet for fear of extensive application paperwork and concern that his low volume would not qualify or bring in only minimal gains. Using biodiesel can end up costing a lot of money when the used oil is not processed properly. “It’s really a pretty simple process, but there’s a little bit of a learning curve in producing and testing it to make sure it is pure and not going to harm your engine,” he cautioned. He estimates processing takes him about five hours a week during seasons when he is using the most biodiesel. Specific proportions of vegetable oil, alcohol and drain cleaner need to be mixed, then heated up and allowed to set for a couple days. “I know of some guys who got in a hurry, didn’t research it, and produced fuel that would harm internal engine components – injection pumps, injectors and worst-case scenario, the entire engine itself. You need to use testing procedures to know that you are making a product equivalent to diesel, because if not, you will spend a lot of money on repairs,” he concluded. “There’s so many websites, books and videos on what to do; it’s not that hard to learn. I have driven 500,000 to 600,000 miles on biodiesel without any component failures.”
Biomass Boilers Heat Greenhouses Efficiently Biomass is another alternative fuel that can result in savings on fuel costs. According to representatives from two companies, one that retrofit the biomass boiler system and another that built the system into a new facility, using biomass fuels would be effective for companies of all sizes, if there is careful planning for fuel acquisition, storage and handling equipment. “We’re super happy that we built our system. It’s one of the best moves we’ve made,” said Tim Cullinan of Willoway Nurseries in Avon, Ohio. “We were looking for hot water heating, and said ‘Let’s look at what we can do to make it work for the company and for the environment.’ We decided a great way to do it would be biomass, which is just basically anything that’s not fossil fuel.” The manager of operations at the wholesale grower, Cullinan admitted that the savings for using wood as fuel aren’t as great now as they once were, due to decreased gas and oil prices. Still, current wood costs are at least 10 percent less than for gas, instead of 75 percent less like they were in 2006 when the biomass boiler was installed. Grower Direct Farms Inc. in Somers, Conn. also uses wood for fuel in the biomass boiler installed in 2008. The company
“Keeping labor costs low in the boiler operation is key to efficiency and savings.” – Willoway Nurseries Operations Manager Tim Cullinan 14
LooseLeaf October/November 2013
expects the system to pay for itself within the coming year. “There’s no contest about which is more economical for us,” said General Manager Sam Smith.” “At the time we made the decision to install the boiler, fuel oil was higher than $4 per gallon which made the savings to us near $1.2 million annually. Even with the fluctuations in oil prices in recent years, our annual savings is substantial and more than enough to justify the investment.”
New Installs & Retrofits, Large & Small Grower Direct originally heated 18 acres with hot water from its biomass boiler, which was installed in existing greenhouses. The wholesale grower is now expanding the piping to reach eight additional acres in new greenhouses. The system is expected to heat a capacity of up to 375,000 gallons of water. “It obviously works at a wide variety of scales. Metrolina Greenhouses is using the same system that we are and they have 150 acres under cover. Another grower with it has 100 acres under cover,” Smith commented. “I know of at least one Connecticut grower that heats a facility of about eight to 10 acres. I’d be surprised if it was not possible for somebody even as small as three acres.” Grower Direct bought the boiler from Vynke, a Belgian manufacturer, due to its reputation for quality and experience. The boiler and fuel handling system was installed by Thermo Energy, a Canadian company and one of the few Vynke distributors in North America. The grower had the advantage of having a well-designed hot water heating system already in place. “We had existing space in the boiler house to build the new boiler so we put the new equipment adjacent to the old equipment, which made tying in to pipes fairly straight forward. Because we had a good system to begin with and were able to build adjacent to it, plugging the wood system in was not a problem for us,” Smith explained. To help fund the installation, the company applied for and received a $500,000 grant and an $850,000 loan guarantee from the USDA’s Renewable Energy for America Program. The general manager noted that the application process was exceedingly detailed and time intensive, requiring a full-time commitment for several months from Smith’s wife and resulting in documentation that filled a four-inch, three-ring binder. “The way we made it through is we leaned on everybody that was going to be touched by project from the bank to the fuel supplier and equipment vendor,” he said. Cullinan said that Willoway did not seek any grants for its project because the company was building the biomass boiler for six acres of new greenhouses that were fast-tracked for completion to be ready for the upcoming growing season. Though it couldn’t be slowed down by the grant paperwork and process, the grower was able to obtain loan guarantees from the USDA. The Ohio grower bought the boiler from Georgia-based
Hurst Manufacturing Company, which also installed the system and stayed engaged through the start-up phase. Because the new construction included two new gas-fed back-up boilers, a thermal water storage tank and a fuel storage room in addition to the biomass boiler and piping, the total cost was $1.4 million, said Cullinan. Still, he estimated the cost was offset so much by the fuel savings that the payback period was three years. “We looked at retrofitting a couple older greenhouse ranges, but there was significant costs to start up with this technology. We would need a bigger range to spread the costs across, but I know there are ways of doing small boilers for smaller operations because I have seen them outside small greenhouses,” the operations manager said.
Sufficient Storage & Supply Critical When considering which biomass to burn, Willoway considered corn but decided against it when price increases made it too expensive. The company went with wood chips from a variety of sources from trees killed by emerald ash bore to reject wood from paper mills. The wood chips come from four different suppliers within a three-hour radius of the greenhouses, which keeps freight costs down and ensures consistent supply. The staff continues to analyze other sources, such as switchgrass grown by a New Jersey supplier, but hasn’t found a more economical, easier or cleaner fuel source yet. Grower Direct is in an area of the East Coast, where it is difficult to get natural gas for its boilers, especially at a reasonable price. Before biomass, the company used number 2 fuel oil, which was still difficult to afford. Though it still uses 50,000 gallons of oil in its backup boilers, four times that amount of wood chips is used in its biomass boilers. Rocky Mountain Wood, a land clearing company in Massachusetts, supplies green wood chips from tree tops that are too small in diameter or too bowed to be useful in furniture or other products. Because it wasn’t cost effective for the grower to hire labor for cutting the wood down to regular shapes and sizes, the supplier bought a specialized chipper to produce custom chips for the biomass boiler. “Larger operations would resize those chips. We needed wood chips delivered to our door ready to burn,” Smith said. “We invested ourselves in a single relationship with our supplier and took the time to get that whole system smoothed out.” The wood company processes and builds a pile of wood chips for Grower Direct in the spring when it is less expensive for them to operate the equipment. A season’s worth of wood is delivered by the supplier, located about 20 minutes from the grower, by September 1 and stockpiled. “We have it on site and ready to burn, so we don’t have to worry about storms or other unexpected events preventing us from getting our fuel,” the general manager explained. “For someone starting down this path, the place you should start is the fuel and work back from there. The tendency is to focus on the boiler, but not pay attention to the fuel delivery system.”
“The tendency is to focus on the boiler, but not pay attention to the fuel delivery system.” – Grower Direct Farms General Manager Sam Smith www.colorado nga.org
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Upfront Delivery System Investments Key If poor quality biomass fuel is used or an unreliable loading system is installed, the amount of breakdowns, unclogging chutes and downtime will eat up the savings with labor and repair costs. In the Connecticut grower’s case, the investment in setting it up properly means a longterm labor savings, because instead of hiring a dedicated boiler house supervisor, many of its maintenance employees can take care of the system. “The number one piece of advice, whenever I give a tour to interested greenhouse owners, I always tell them their money would be well spent on the fuel handling equipment. I’ve known folks who installed similar boilers but not a good fuel handling system, and they had to rip the system out and do it over. I just can’t overstate how much abuse that equipment is going to be subject to when moving raw wood over chain conveyers and raw floors hour after hour throughout year.” Because the boiler was retrofitted into the greenhouse operation, the wood storage could not be accommodated in the most efficient location. The boilers were built at the center of the greenhouse with no extra space for storage, so the wood has to be transported across the property as it is needed for burning. “Some people have installed their boiler plants further away from the greenhouses and pipe the hot water underground to keep it warm, just so they have room to store and unload fuel next to the boiler,” said Smith. “That becomes one of your chief challenges, the handling and delivery of fuel to the system. It’s quite bulky per BTU as compared to oil and gas.” Willoway’s Cullinan agreed that keeping labor costs low in the boiler operation is key to efficiency and savings. Because its boiler is a hot water boiler, not steam, Ohio law does not require a licensed boiler operator on site 24 hours a day. The company does have a licensed operator on staff but the daily operation and maintenance is performed by a member of Willoway’s Physical Plant Department, who was cross trained by Hurst Boilers.
level, furnace temperature and a host of variables. In addition, Willoway reduces particulate matter through the use of a cyclone separator, which removes larger particulates from the emissions. “By varying the amount of air into the boiler, by varying wood and using clean wood, we can have emissions that are white, and our emissions are positively under our threshold,” he added. At Grower Direct, emissions were reduced with the upfront investment of 10 percent of the project costs for the addition of an electro static precipitator, a second filtering system which cleans exhaust gasses a second time before they are released into the air. “The end result is most of what’s put into the atmosphere is water, and no visible smoke,” Smith said. “This second-stage process of cleaning gasses is costly but necessary for meeting Connecticut environmental standards. Understanding state rules is significant.” He is thankful that the economics of the overall transition to biomass fuel made sense. Otherwise, the environmental benefits would not have been sufficient to make the change. “We loved the idea of getting into a renewable resource,” he concluded. “We are not introducing new CO2 to the atmosphere that otherwise would have laid dormant in the ground, which is obviously a lot better for the environment.” Resources:
A comprehensive resource list with contact information and website addresses for organizations providing funding, research, education and other opportunities for biodiesel, biomass and other biofuel users is available on the CNGA website at http://www.coloradonga.org/ education-links.php.
The wholesaler maintains the boiler system on the same schedule as other equipment, with the only increased labor required for a small adjustment that takes about an hour per day. The wood needs to be loaded on the fuel floor twice per day, which takes a half hour to 45 minutes each time. This equates to about twice the time needed for daily maintenance of a gas or oil boiler.
Meeting Emission Standards Required Emissions are a concern with any boiler no matter the fuel source, and biomass boilers require government inspections and permits to ensure minimal air pollution. Cullinan explained the multistep process as culminating with a stack demonstration test involving an outside testing firm and a representative from the EPA on site to monitor the testing. During this test, the boiler is run at full throttle for various periods to test gasses at the smoke stack. From these tests, it can be determined what the expected emissions rates will be. These are compared with allowable rates agreed to prior to installation and if the actual is lower than the expected rates, the boiler passes the “Stack Test” and a Permit to Operate is awarded. The emissions can be affected by various settings within the operating system of the boiler and the fuel source. Tuning the boiler is achieved through fuel type, delivery, draft, oxygen
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LooseLeaf October/November 2013
Greenhouse Energy Audits – Relevance and Value An energy audit is a systematic review of a consumer’s energy use intended to uncover inefficiencies and cost-effective improvements. Recommendations are made to consumers in the form of detailed audit reports, and consumers can then decide to prioritize and implement the recommendations that make the most sense for their situations. Home energy audits have become popular enough to have sprouted numerous successful small businesses throughout Colorado, and they can be of use to both the energy-savvy and the more typical homeowner. Formal greenhouse energy audits are not as common, but data is starting to show the potential value of applying audits to this sector. A recent survey respondent for an agricultural energy market study, for example, indicated expenses of $1.3 million for natural gas and $600,000 for electricity, and even small greenhouses can reduce energy costs with low or no-cost actions. What a greenhouse energy audit reveals can vary widely. Below is a sample recommendation from an audit in Colorado, which can provide a glimpse of what to expect. In this case, the business used Virtual Grower software, which can be downloaded for free from the USDA: http://www.ars.usda.gov/services/software/ download.htm?softwareid=309. Using a computer model generated from Virtual Grower, a 39 percent heat savings was predicted for installing heat blankets to insulate the warmer floor level from the cooler roof level during the heating season. This includes various assumptions such as thermostat set points, the cost of propane and the type of blanket, but these assumptions are all spelled out for the recipient of the energy audit in the report (and are often based on a conversation with the auditee). In this case, the savings translated into $21,960 per year. An installed cost for the heat blanket of $77,150 was also provided in the audit report based on a quote from a contractor, for a simple payback period of three and a half years. Energy audits in greenhouses can be composed of both phone and field visits, with the field visit lasting four hours or more depending on the size and complexity of the operation. The company www.colorado nga.org
receiving the audit will typically supply at least one year’s worth of utility bills to the auditor for analysis, share any energy-related concerns and may or may not accompany the auditor throughout the field audit. The consumer should provide as much information as possible regarding energyrelated equipment and operational practices in order for the auditor to conduct the most informed analysis. Funds through the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service’s (NRCS) Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) can be used to offset much of the cost of an audit as long as it is conducted by one of NRCS’s pre-approved Technical Service Providers (TSPs). A list of TSPs is maintained on the NRCS website. In addition, producers can apply for funding to implement the audit recommendations either through EQIP or another USDA-run program called the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). More information on these funding opportunities is provided on the CSU Center for Agricultural Energy website at www.cae.colostate.edu. For growers who’d rather take a do-it-yourself approach, the NRCS Energy Self-Assessment website at http://www.ruralenergy.wisc.edu offers an online estimate of savings for installing more efficient heaters/boilers, thermal curtains and glazing. If this DIY online audit reveals the potential for savings, a modest investment in a formal energy audit might make sense. In any case, it is important to remember that short-term investments in energy conservation and efficiency can have longterm benefits for your business’s bottom line.
ENERGY MANAGEMENT
By Cary Weiner, Clean Energy Specialist, Colorado State University Extension
“If a free online energy audit reveals the potential for savings, a modest investment in a formal audit might make sense. ”
About the Contributor: Cary Weiner is Clean Energy Specialist for Colorado State University Extension, where he develops and delivers energy programs for agricultural producers, consumers, teachers, K-12 students and volunteers across the state. CSU Extension energy resources can be found online at www.ext.colostate.edu/energy and Cary can be reached via email at cary.weiner@colostate.edu.
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CSU UPDATE
2013 Superior
Annuals
The Annual Flower Trials at Colorado State University continue to grow and prosper yearly. The Trial Garden has become a major tourist attraction for the university and Fort Collins during the growing season. By Dr. James E. Klett Professor and Extension Landscape Horticulture Specialist Colorado State University
Some of the 2013 Top Performers from our late July evaluation day include:
2013 was the thirteeenth year we’ve planted at the Remington Street site near the University Center for the Arts. The garden is planted and maintained by the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture with guidance from a committee of growers, flower seed and plant companies and public garden horticulturists. Twenty plant and seed companies participated and funded the 2013 trials along with many in-kind donations of supplies. Industry and university personnel along with Master Gardeners served as trial judges. Approximately 1,070 different plant varieties were planted this year.
Calibrachoa ‘Superbells® Lemon Slice’ from Proven Winners: This variety again performed excellently as it did in 2012, with larger flowers with unique lemon-color flowers with a white slice in the flower. This variety performed excellently in the container trials and would be great in hanging baskets. Dahlia ‘XXL Durango’ from Dummen USA: This plant has larger yellow flowers on longer stems, which are held above the foliage. The growth habit was very uniform and flowers make excellent cut flowers. This plant brings a whole new class to garden dahlias with large, showy flowers held above the foliage. Geranium (zonal) ‘Boldy™Dark Red’ from Proven Winners: Very full plant growth was observed with numerous intense red flowers allowing little foliage to show. This plant proved to be best red geranium in the trials, creating an outstanding display throughout the season. Geranium (seed) ‘Pinto™ Premium White’ from Goldsmith Seed: This plant has very vibrant white flowers with great coverage throughout the season. A good even
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LooseLeaf October/November 2013
CSU UPDATE growth habit and good green foliage color make a great contrast. It would lighten up a dark spot in any garden setting.
Impatiens x hybrida hort – ‘SunPatiens®Compact Electric Orange’ from Sakata Seed America, Inc.: The flower color is quite unique, standing out among other Sun Patiens. The plant had outstanding orange flower color with flowers covering the entire plant. However, it was not real compact in growth habit in our trials as the name states.
Petunia (vegetative mounded) ‘Surprise YellowPPAF’ from Dummen: This definitely was the best yellow petunia in trials with major breeding improvements over many of the past yellow varieties. The flower color is a lighter yellow with most of the spent flowers hidden. It exhibited controlled growth and was overall an excellent performer. Verbena (upright) ‘Temari®Patio Blue’ from Suntory: This plant had a lot of flower power with larger blue flowers. A more upright growth habit makes it a great patio container plant. You can find a complete list of all 2013 Colorado State University Annual Flower Trial winners at www.flowertrials.colostate.edu.
Lantana ‘Lucky™ Sunrise Rose’ from Ball Floral Plant/ Burpee Home Gardens: This plant has vibrant multicolor flowers, creating a strong color impact. Flowers are numerous on very uniform plants and perform well with some little additional moisture. The overall plant has a strong color impact. Marigold ‘Christy Orange’ from Ameriseed: This plant had extreme flower power with orange, larger flowers on compact plants. The growth habit was very uniform and dwarfer. The orange flowers against dark green foliage created a great contrast. Evaluators commented “Wow” many times in their evaluations. Petunia (vegetative spreading) ‘Famous Firestorm 14’ from Selecta: This very spreading petunia has a very full growth habit with many flowers covering the entire plant. A great plant for containers or hanging baskets, it performed well late into the season.
www.colorado nga.org
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SAFETY CORNER
Welcome Back! Building a Successful Return-to-Work Program
Be proactive – waiting until an injury occurs and hastily throwing together a return-to-work program isn’t the way to go.
Accidents happen … that’s the reason you have workers’ compensation coverage. Having a strong safety program will keep on-the-job injuries to a minimum. But when injuries occur – and they will – it is important to have a return-to-work program in place. A return-towork program is a proactive process used by an employer to help employees who have suffered work-related injuries or illnesses return to their previous economic, social and vocational status. From the employers’ standpoint, a return-towork program can: • speed your injured workers’ medical recovery • reduce claims costs • hold down your workers’ compensation premiums Regardless of your organization’s size or industry, there are some basic steps to building your return-to-work program.
Step One – Create a written return-to-work policy The written return-to-work policy should be tailored to your organization and should consist of the following elements: • a clearly stated purpose for your policy • a designated modified duty coordinator • an outline of the designated coordinator’s responsibilities • identified designated medical providers
Pinnacol’s return-to-work resources include a sample return-to-work policy that you can use when creating one for your organization.
Step Two – Create modifiedduty task lists Before an injury occurs, you should create modified duty task lists for your employees. A task is a piece or portion of an existing job. This advance preparation will help you bring an injured worker back to work quickly. The following are a few things to consider before you create modified duty task lists. • Modified duty is transitional, meaning as your injured worker’s work restrictions change, so should the tasks he or she is performing. The tasks should match the work restrictions. • Remember: modified duty is intended to be a temporary position, not a longterm arrangement. It can be part time or full time, and may be at a reduced wage. • Think about the types of injuries and physical restrictions that your employees are most likely to face. Talk with your medical provider for guidance.
Step Three – Implement the modified-duty work offer process There are two ways to offer an injured worker modified-duty work: an “informal” process and a “formal” process.
2013 Owner’s and Manager’s Meeting — November 1–2, 2013 This annual CNGA meeting, most commonly described by most as a “must attend”, will once again deliver relevant and applicable information to industry businesses. The program is November 1 and 2 at the Vail Marriott Hotel. Stan Pohmer is the presenter on Saturday, November 2. He works closely and often with Dr. Charlie Hall, 2012 O&M presenter. Stan has been active in leadership roles with ANLA, OFA, and the Poinsettia Growers Advisory Board. He is currently the Vice-Chair of the Advisory Committee for the Ellison Chair of International Floriculture at Texas A&M University. Stan’s focus is perishable and seasonal industries working with the entire demand chain: breeders, growers, manufacturers, importers, wholesalers/distributors and retailers to increase
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consumer consumption and sell-through, increase operating efficiencies, and to strategize, position and market programs for maximum effectiveness and profit. The audience for this program is any decision-maker within the membership. A combination of education, peer exchange, take-away information that can be applied in your business and social time provides a unique benefit for all attendees regardless of company size. Program registration with CNGA is $80 and includes dinner on Friday, breakfast and lunch on Saturday and valet parking. Hotel registration is $104 per night and reservations are made directly with the hotel at 877-622-3140.
LooseLeaf October/November 2013
SAFETY CORNER To follow the informal process, simply verbally inform the injured worker of the terms of the modified-duty work, including the tasks, hours and rate of pay. If the injured worker accepts the offer, notify Pinnacol immediately so we won’t pay lost-wage benefits to the injured worker that will add to your claim costs. If the injured worker refuses the informal offer – or if other circumstances deem it necessary – the formal modified duty offer process requires specific steps, including: • writing a letter to the injured worker’s medical provider requesting approval of the modified duty work tasks • extending a formal modified duty offer letter to your injured worker You can learn more about all of the steps – as well as download letter templates – at the Return-to-Work Resources section of Pinnacol’s website. But again, don’t hesitate to call our return-to-work consultants for assistance.
Inform staff and be informed Once you’ve created your return-to-work program, let your supervisors and employees know about it and what to expect when an injury occurs.
Pinnacol Assurance has all the resources you need to create a successful return-to-work program – at no additional cost to you. These resources include:
Let your
• Return-to-work consultants – They will come to your workplace, review your operations and help you design a return-towork program that fits your organization.
supervisors
• Online resources – At Pinnacol.com, you’ll find step-by-step instructions, downloadable return-to-work forms, sample modified duty task lists and more. From our home page, click the “Resources” tab. On the Resources page, scroll down and click Return-to-Work Resources.
know about
We know our policyholders have a lot on their plates. But waiting until an injury occurs and hastily throwing together a return-to-work program isn’t the way to go. Let us help you so you’re prepared to get employees back to work quickly and safely – and to manage your claims effectively.
and employees your return-towork program and what to expect when an injury occurs.
For questions and help, call a Pinnacol return-to-work consultant at 303.361.4000 or 800.873.7242. Also, visit pinnacol.com/resources/microsites/return-to-work/.
HASH TREE COMPANY WHOLESALE CONIFER NURSERY
Growers of Quality Specimen Conifers Selected Seed Sources of Pine, Fir & Spruce
877--875--8733 1199 Bear Creek Road Princeton, ID 83857
Fax: 208--875--0731 E--Mail: Sales@hashtree.com Web: www.hashtree.com www.colorado nga.org
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MEMBER PROFILE
Organic Farms Growing in Greenhouses Interview with Circle Fresh Farms CEO Rich Naha
How did your business get started? Circle Fresh Farms 3216 Tejon St. Denver, Colo. 80211 www.CircleFreshFarms.com tel: 720-446-9355 fax: 303-568-7779 info@circlefreshfarms.com
The founders were looking for a solution to the fact that over the past few decades produce has lost a good portion of its nutrition. We found that kids don’t like to eat fruits and vegetables, because they don’t taste good, and there is limited nutrition. This problem arises when food travels too far to reach the consumer. To ensure shelf life, the produce is engineered to have less sugar and more salt. Then, it is picked before it ripens to ensure the maximum shelf life. There is also a growing need for consumers to know where their food comes from. When consumers find out that their apple juice comes
from China, and there is arsenic in it, they grow increasingly frustrated and confused.
Please tell us a little about the owners and the staff. John Nicholas is the founder and farmer who developed the organic growing methods. He continues to operate his farm in Pueblo, Colo. Richard Naha and Zach Frisch are serial entrepreneurs, who teamed up with John to help him expand the business. Beto Aceves is our master grower, who has a decade of experience growing in greenhouses. Ryan Kinnison is our director of operations, and Kyle Mason is our director of sales.
Circle Fresh Farms was awarded as one of the 50 Colorado Companies to Watch this year, a prestigious honor for second-stage businesses.
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What is your operational model? Circle Fresh operates like a coop, where the growers only focus on growing, and Circle Fresh takes care of the sales, marketing, and distribution. We also provide the growing knowledge and the development of the produce varieties that consumers like the best. The current roster of growers includes Elliott Gardens and GrowHaus in Denver, Green Pastures and Nicholas Farms in Pueblo, Trinity Farms in Brighton, and Yarrow Farms in Wheat Ridge.
Please describe your main products. We grow several varieties of tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers and peppers. Our products taste incredible, and have some of the highest BRIX counts you can find.
What do you value most about being a CNGA member? Strength in numbers. Standing alone, you are one voice, but united with others in the association, many great things can be accomplished for the good of the industry and the community in which we live. The most important benefit of membership is the involvement with government and regulatory arenas. Our representation by CNGA at the
www.colorado nga.org
local, state and national levels allows us to ask questions without drawing attention to our company, while educating lawmakers and the general public.
MEMBER PROFILE
What changes are you implementing to reduce climate change impacts? Because we are controlled environment agriculture, dealing with the constantly changing environment is very manageable with the proper design of a greenhouse. We hope that more renewable energy programs are implemented that will help the greenhouse industry benefit from these opportunities.
How do you increase your energy efficiency? We can grow four to five times the food per square foot as compared to field crops, with only one-tenth the water. This is the most important element, as many regions around the U.S. are experiencing a drought.
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Colorado Nursery & Greenhouse Association 959 S. Kipling Pky, #200 Lakewood, CO 80226
The Colorado Nursery and Greenhouse Association has partnered with Office Depot® to bring members a FREE National Discount Program. Program benefits include: Up to 80% off preferred products (see Best Value List) 15% off retail web pricing for 3,000 commonly used products 93,000 other items discounted below retail pricing Next-day delivery with FREE shipping on orders over $50 (excluding furniture)
Sign up today at cnga.ctcsavings.com.
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LooseLeaf October/November 2013