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1745 South Milestone Drive B1 Salt Lake City, UT 84104 Phone: (801) 505-4050 or toll-free 877-505-4050
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| May 13, 2009 |
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Harness the Wind
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participate in Rocky Mountain Power's Blue Sky Program. Granite
Office has
committed to offset at least 50% of their energy consumption with
Blue Sky credits. Blue
Sky is a renewable energy
program offered for businesses and residential consumers to
offset their energy consumption with wind power. Customers can
purchase blocks of 100
kilowatt hours for $1.95 per month. The money generated from this
program is
guaranteed to go towards the purchase of renewable energy from newly
developed
facilities in the western
“This is one of the steps we are
taking to reduce our impact on the environment and offer
added value to our customers,” says Lee Mercer, Manager of
Granite Office.
Granite Office, a local office
supply and furniture dealer, is also a certified e2 business in
Green program
under the direction of the Division of Sustainability in the Mayor’s
office. To be certified a company must meet goals that are
economically and
environmentally sustainable each year. For Granite Office their goals
include
implementing an office recycling program, replacing all cleaners with
environmentally
friendly cleaners and educating employees on Environmentally
Preferred Purchasing
(EPP) practices. The benefits
should be 2 sided: decreased operational costs and reduced
environmental impact.
So is it difficult to become an
e2 business? “Getting certified isn’t scary at all. The
process is really a service that will help improve your operations
and reduce your carbon
footprint,” says Warren Lloyd of Lloyd Architects, an e2 business
for 4 years. As such,
their firm has enjoyed the additional benefit of free networking
events hosted by e2
members. Recent events were hosted by Squatters Pub Brewery and
Hotel Monaco. Good
food and good company, not a bad reward for going green.
e2 businesses can also help other companies reduce their
carbon footprint. “Our research
of delivery vehicles revealed that Natural Gas vehicles could
reduce emissions by a
significant amount and allow us to provide the services our customers
need,” says Granite
Office Owner
Garth Hood. This has worked out so well
that all of their delivery vehicles
run entirely on Natural Gas and they are able to offer free
same-day delivery. Research
shows Carbon Dioxide is reduced 22-25%; Carbon Monoxide 94-95%,
Nitrogen Oxide
70-96% and NonMethaneHydroCarbons 92-96% with Natural Gas as compared to
gasoline engines. Considering that smog (ground level ozone) is comprised
of Nitrogen
Oxide and Hydrocarbons these
vehicles have a major impact in reducing pollution on the
Wasatch Front. “Our delivery
vehicles are constantly moving and so are our competitor’s.
We can let our customers know
that they are directly improving the environment by
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