A few months back, I was sitting around with a group of CEOs and company owners and one of them made the comment that his company had “chosen to not participate in an economic downturn”. Trite and cute…but I’m not sure how many companies will emerge from this period of time completely unscathed, such is the unprecedented nature of this mess. I’m pretty sure that his gourmet salami sales aren’t where he would like them right about now.

Regardless, there is an awful lot to be said about putting your head down and just “pushing through”. Given the alternative, it seems to be the only way to go, and like never before, the need to be optimistic and awake at the wheel is vital.

For our business, which has made its living from greenhouse construction, and renovation, it means spending a lot more time on the latter as the former is not really in vogue right now. For want of fresh capital in the credit markets and other very valid reasons, many growers have put their next building project on the back burner for now.

The way we see it, the positives that come from times like these are operations that run leaner and in a higher state of tune. Something about building all that new greenhouse space seems to take one’s eye off the ball operationally. This thought process is based on my firm belief that many growers really like to build greenhouses above everything else and the plants that are sold out of them are just a means to an end.

However, right now, many builders, ahem, I mean growers, are having to take this time to focus on existing facilities to squeeze the most profit out of what they already have. Walking around your older greenhouses with a clipboard may not be as glamorous as the process of staking out that brand new acre, but it sure needs doing.

This is a time that those precious few points of efficiency can fall right to the bottom line. And getting around to a point here, this is where we can help.

We’ve been really busy doing efficiency assessments for growers recently and it’s amazing to see how much “low hanging fruit” there is in a typical greenhouse operation. Trimming the sails may not be a simple thing though – having a qualified set of eyes to take that clipboard walk could make mighty good sense for you.

Got an email this morning from a grower we did that for last year. In our work, we modeled their greenhouses and found that a change in boiler appliances made good sense. We suggested one of our “near-condensing” boilers and it turns out that our suggestions are working to make their business more secure in this hazy time. Here’s what the email said: “Hi, My Oct. NW Natural bill says we used 13% less gas this year than last October, in spite of a bunch of freezing nights uncommon for this early in the year.  I’m certain that the new boiler is responsible for a good part of that.  And #8 is warm! Ellen”.

This kind of thing is going on all over the place, and it makes us very proud. It can happen for you too. So, keep your head up….this too shall pass, and while you’re thinking about it, drop us a line and let’s take that walk together.

All the best,

Jim

Sustainable, Green, Energy Saving, High Efficiency…all terms that grab our attention these days, as they should.  Greenhouse operators need to keep up on investments in efficiency as energy costs rise, just to keep those costs in line with revenues. But just like the last energy price run-up, and the ones before that, the efficiencies and resulting savings claims often invite further scrutiny, and they should. Most efficiency related investments still have compelling merit even with actual un-inflated efficiency claims.  It will pay to sift through those claims, carefully, you will save money either way.

So, if you invest in a greenhouse curtain system that “saves 40%”, and that new fangled heat mat that “uses 30% less energy”, and it is powered by a new “99.8% efficient” boiler, and the newest greenhouse covering that “cuts heat loss by 25%”, does that mean your greenhouse eventually will no longer need heat?  Or, maybe the gas company will send you a check every month…hey, I like that deal, get me two!

One of my favorites is the “99.8% efficient” boiler for heating. Does it really exist?  Well, sort of. A boiler that can operate at 99.8% efficiency really exists, it just doesn’t happen to be 99.8% efficient when used to heat your greenhouse. Then it is more like 89 to 94% efficient, depending on the type of heat delivery.  That’s still good, and may be worth the investment, just not as dazzling.  So, you gotta ask the question: “will it be that efficient in my facility, in this application and these temperatures?”

And, be cautious of claims about how bad your existing equipment may be. I recently heard from a grower that was told his boiler “lost 3-5% efficiency, every year”.  My oh my, that would be very bad!  Maybe in one year, if it isn’t maintained properly, but not every year.  But it sure made a new boiler sound better.

So, don’t be shy about asking those hard questions of the person working hard to compel you to invest in a more efficient product or system.  They are probably telling the truth, just make sure you get the facts that apply to your facility and your application.  Facts often are at least as good as fiction.

- Al Zylstra

There’s so much hype about fuel “alternatives” lately. Walking around Ohio, there were probably 10 booths selling all sorts of solutions to have an “alternative” to the gas man or the oil man. One booth even showed a machine that you could manufacture your own dense little fuel pellets from local bio-mass.

Kind of reminds me of the ’80s…without as many mullets.

What happened back then might be happening again though. Of all the growers that put in alternative ways to heat their greenhouses, most all of them abandoned them after “traditional” fuel prices fluttered back to earth. I think, maybe, that these growers realized that they needed to spend their time growing a quality plant or flower, and the pay for a default title like “alternative fuel manager” was not so rewarding.

Do you really feel like you want to add staff to push around giant stacks of wood chips?  Do you think building a facility to house “urban waste” makes sense? What if your local community decides that they don’t really like the fly-ash you are all of the sudden generating?  What about the space for that giant water tank you need to have? How about the maintenance for all this stuff?  What about the trucks that are going to be lining up on your driveway delivering all kinds of stuff to burn?

TrueLeaf Technologies is no stranger to any of this. We were there last time…and I guess it means I’m getting old because I remember that what some growers forgot about then was the importance of using the heat source they already had as efficiently as possible. This might mean that you could be better off changing the way you deliver and control your heat. It might mean using traditional fuel sources through a new “condensing” boiler.

I think the word “sustainable” needs to be used to describe solutions that can be sustained for a long economic and environmental life… not as a knee-jerk, green-washed investment of distraction in something out of your core business.  What I’m saying is that history is our greatest teacher, so give yourself a reality check before you decide you want to spend time driving around looking for old shipping pallets to burn. You might want to spend that time at Pack Trials next spring instead….

If, after all, you decide alternative fuel is for you, we are here to help so give us a ring. But be prepared because we might ask you a few tough questions first. We think that’s our job here.

Here’s to your future efficiency!

Jim

Our longest term employee passed away in March. Arnie Rodgers died a week after his 90^th birthday, but only weeks before that had still been coming to work, delivering the mail, helping out in manufacturing, and sometimes even driving the forklift to unload trucks as he had done since 1984. He worked here for almost 25 years…after his “retirement”.

In this little industry of ours there are many people like Arnie who work for years in the background to make things happen without much acknowledgement outside of their own company. Yet, Arnie’s contributions to TrueLeaf are a legacy that will make his memory last here. Do you have a “quiet contributor” that has served your company with character and loyalty for a long time? Someone like Arnie can set an example for everyone else and lift your organization to achieve more than you may believe.

Arnie instilled his values and self-reliant pride in everything he did. Maybe it was his experience in the great depression or his courage in WWII that made him the man he was. No matter what, he touched and influenced all the people here and made being a part of the team at TrueLeaf Technologies special.

Our industry is full of stories of succession and the challenges of running small and family businesses. This is but one, but it means a lot to me personally, because Arnie Rodgers was not just our longest-term employee, he was also my Dad.

Rest in Peace Pa,

Jim