Energy Efficiency

This project was driven by a need to improve the reliability of cooling at Premier Mushrooms Inc., to reduce operating costs, and to reduce the farm's environmental footprint.

The project encountered numerous challenges, first of which was sizing the system correctly. We worked closely with PG&E's Agricultural Engineering team and sized the system to meet both current and future load. At the time of construction, Premier was simultaneously building out its production capacity, adding an additional 16 growing rooms. This required careful planning and accurate load forecasting to ensure optimal performance and energy savings.

Mushrooms are very cooling intensive, and a lack of adequate cooling has immediate and negative impacts on product quality. Cooling is an operational necessity and getting it designed and sized properly was of the utmost importance. Up until the new primary chiller was commissioned, the farm had been relying on an older chiller, and although it got the job done, had been struggling to meet load during hot summer days. This led to a large drop in performance, which placed extra strain on the mushrooms and maintenance staff alike. Without supplemental cooling, the former situation could have translated into both a loss of product and costly damage to the overburdened chiller. Addressing this challenge was an operational necessity but yielded significant cost savings and environmental benefits in the process.

This project achieved a three year simple payback. Premier was able to utilize PG&E's on bill financing program, while also participating in their energy efficiency rebate program, receiving over $300,000.

Premier Mushrooms was able to reduce its operating costs by $150,000 per year while reducing its annual energy consumption by 1,500,000 kWh's. In addition to these direct economic benefits, the farm gained more reliable cooling, which reduced product loss and freed up maintenance personnel to work on other projects. Premier also achieved a sizable reduction in its environmental footprint and reduced the farms carbon footprint by upwards of 500 tons annually.