Continuing On Our Green Path & Planning Our Green Future

Just 9 years ago the giant brick boiler stack that dominates the Biddeford/Saco skyline was the dirty host of millions of tons of carbon exhaust. When the mill was purchased for re development, our first action was to turn the boiler off. In its place we built small high efficiency natural gas fired boiler plants throughout the campus. This was the first initiative to make the campus greener.

Now in comes an Efficiency Maine lighting conservation program with the charter of creating incentive for large and small commercial businesses to convert their existing lighting into new LED lighting systems. With the help of an aggressive cash rebate, the Pepperell Mill Campus replaced over 1000 light fixtures and or bulb configurations. A conservative estimate says that our energy consumption used for lighting will be reduced by 35%. This is a win / win scenario for all: good for the environment and good for our bottom line. This is our second green initiative, and it is already paying off.

There are two more energy conservation initiatives planned: one is a large solar panel array to be placed on several of the 8 acres of flat roofs here on campus. The final step is a planned natural gas fired turbine system to create heat, as well as to generate our own electricity (called “co-generation”). Stay tuned!