Curtis Lumber lights the way

By the start of the New Year, the building supply company will have an upgraded lighting and heating and cooling system while "going green" with a 66 kilowatt solar electric demand reduction array, which includes more than 430 solar rooftop panels, also called a photovoltaic (PV) system.

"Basically, the PV system is the third phase of an overall energy system upgrade of the store including Skylights, super efficient cooling and heating systems, and finally, a 66KW solar electric demand reduction array," said Curtis Lumber President Jay Curtis.

The project began when Paul Spillane, director of special operations at Curtis Lumber, was asked to look at the lighting and heating/cooling systems and realized they were outdated and inefficient.

"What we were looking for was a safe system that would be more efficient," Spillane said. "There was a fire potential with the older systems and we needed better quality lighting for our showrooms. We found that we could do that while reducing energy costs and our environmental signature." 

With the help of a confident and professional team of engineers and contractors and funding from New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), the crew at Curtis Lumber was able to build one of the area's first solar powered commercial buildings.

Along with the solar panels, contractors built 120 skylights that allows more than 75,000 watts of natural light into the showrooms, fluorescent lighting and computer-controlled dimmable lighting in all retail areas to make up for places that lack natural light.

"We saw a chance to fix a problem, reduce operating cost and vastly improve our professional appearance to customers," Spillane said. "Since we now sell lighting we had to become experts in the area and apply what we learned to our own operation."

Spillane described the solar panels as a "small power plant on the roof." The panels are angled to the south, the optimal angle to collect the most sunlight during the day, which averages 50,000 watts of energy. While the panels "charge" in the sunlight, the energy is distributed where it is needed without producing toxic gasses or otherwise hurting the environment. While the lighting project alone cost Curtis Lumber $1.5 million, it is expected that it will be paid back in about six years between tax incentives, NYSERDA and Lighting Research Center grants and savings in energy costs.

"Just like everything else, you have to formulate a plan and go forward with it," Spillane said. "We went into this with a goal and worked with what was available to achieve that goal."

The new lighting system is scheduled to be up and running in January. While Spillane said he wasn't sure if similar projects would be carried out in other parts of the chain, they are looking into making improvements to the Plattsburgh store.

The Curtis Lumber home base is on Route 67 in Ballston Spa. The chain has 18 locations in New York and Vermont. For more information, call 1-800-724-WOOD.