BACKGROUND
Four Seasons Natural Foods is an independently operated, family-owned health food store in the heart of Saratoga Springs, NY. Since 1988, Four Seasons has served the Saratoga community by providing healthy, natural grocery choices—organic and local produce, fresh cut cheeses, local meats, craft beer, environmentally safe household products, and more. Operating from a spacious 9,200 sq. ft. building located at 120 Henry Street, Four Seasons owner Rich Frank is committed to supporting local suppliers and to his mission to promote a sustainable, eco-friendly business.
A CREATIVE APPROACH
As is typical with warehouse style buildings, heating and cooling costs are high and hard to manage. It’s difficult to understand the underlying sources of wasted energy and increased utility costs, which are a significant piece of overhead expenses. JouleSmart Solutions, Inc.—an energy services company providing intelligent building solutions for the facility management market—approached Four Seasons with a real time energy management (RTEM) solution for becoming more energy efficient. Understanding that RTEM would provide insight and control over utility costs while contributing to his sustainability goals, Rich pursued the efficiency upgrades.
JouleSmart has expertise working with smaller businesses, creating and guaranteeing the same solutions to energy management previously only offered to larger commercial companies by using innovative technology upgrades at no cost to the customer. Their comprehensive solution combines Active Oversight™, software, equipment, and connectivity to turn a business into an intelligent building to reduce operating costs, maximize profit, increase asset value, improve employee productivity, and enhance customer experience.
The five-year contract period includes lighting retrofits, HVAC upgrades, smart thermostats, 24/7 maintenance coverage, and transparent reporting on the savings. Equipment maintenance with fault detection highlights issues and malfunctions that may require maintenance or replacement, which helps guide budget planning and avoids the cost and customer discomfort that comes with unit failure.
The affordable hardware and cloud-based software platform combines the data and applies analytics to provide valuable tools for managing and monitoring energy usage—customers describe the platform as having a facility manager at your fingertips..
“The program was unique in that the installation required no capital from me and was guaranteed and insured. The expertise brought by the program was over and above what I have seen from other lighting and HVAC vendors I work with. The vendor had been prequalified by NYSERDA, which made the program different from most energy efficiency approaches I’ve seen.”
BEYOND ENERGY SAVINGS
Partnering with JouleSmart Solutions means Rich no longer has to spend valuable time contacting energy suppliers or handle equipment issues. Four Seasons can focus on enhancing customers’ shopping experience and increase engagement while sharing their sustainability values. By participating in this program, Rich was able to establish an environmental precedent with a reduced carbon footprint as well as benefit Saratoga through local job creation. Sustainable Saratoga and JouleSmart plan to co-host an instore event with invites extended to community leaders, local businesses, and customers to showcase project success and lead other businesses by example.
THE NYSERDA REAL TIME ENERGY MANAGEMENT PROGRAM
Partnering with JouleSmart Solutions means Rich no longer has to spend valuable time contacting energy suppliers or handle equipment issues. Four Seasons can focus on enhancing customers’ shopping experience and increase engagement while sharing their sustainability values. By participating in this program, Rich was able to establish an environmental precedent with a reduced carbon footprint as well as benefit Saratoga through local job creation. Sustainable Saratoga and JouleSmart plan to co-host an instore event with invites extended to community leaders, local businesses, and customers to showcase project success and lead other businesses by example.