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Success Story: Main Street Landing Company

Partner Information

Main Street Landing Company
67,764 Sq. Feet
5 Employees
Annual cash savings: $ 3,873.00
Annual kWh savings: 391
Payback period (approx.): 2.6 Years
Prevented 675 pounds of pollution

Service and Product Provider

Burlington Electric Department
585 Pine Street
Burlington, VT 05401-4891

Main Street Landing Company saves approximately $3,873.00 annually on energy bills!

The Green Mountains to the east, Adirondack Mountains to the west, and overlooking Lake Champlain, the City of Burlington, Vermont is blessed with beautiful, diverse landscape. Historically the city’s waterfront was a rich, dynamic center of commerce, industry and recreation. Regrettably, by the 1960’s only a decayed, industrial wasteland, populated by oil storage tanks, remained.

Through the mid 1980’s public interest in the waterfront grew, and requests for significant public space, with appropriate private development along the water’s edge, were heard. In the late 1980’s, the City of Burlington began a series of public interventions culminating in a community boathouse, a bike path and a waterfront park. By 1991 the time was ripe for considering private development which might support and help economically invigorate the public spaces.

Ultimately, the Main Street Landing Company provided an innovative team approach to the design and development of the waterfront. Melinda Moulton and Lisa Steele, the founders of Main Street Landing Company, enjoy the challenge of educating others about the importance of environmentally sound development that reflects the community’s image.

Steele and Moulton have been involved in environmental and socially conscious redevelopment since the early 1980’s. Together they created the innovative “team approach to design and development” philosophy, and produced in concept a 25-year incremental redevelopment project for the Burlington Waterfront. At present, Main Street Landing’s 67,764 square-feet waterfront redevelopment project is completed. The upgrades to their facility saves approximately $3,873 annually. With this rate of return, their initial investment will be returned in 2.6 years.

The Main Street Landing Company endeavors to support the local arts and culture, provide incubator space for start-up local businesses, nurture social responsibility, and make decisions based on ecological integrity, economic security, individual empowerment, and social well being. Thus, the use of energy efficient technologies were included in the original waterfront building plan. Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), metal halide lighting, and T-8 fluorescent lights with electronic ballasts were installed. Occupancy sensors and LED (light emitting diode) exit signs were also included.

Solar hot water is used throughout, and an Energy Management Systems (EMS) allows use to be monitored. Most everyone has experience with passive solar water heating. How many times have you turned on the hose in the yard and nearly burnt yourself with hot water? While you weren’t looking, the sun was quietly working to give you hot water, even if you didn’t want it. Well if it’s that easy, imagine what you can do if you’re actually trying to make hot water. Passive solar hot water systems are probably the oldest commercially available solar systems. At the turn of the century there were large numbers of solar water heating systems on roof tops, especially in Los Angeles and Florida. Very little has changed from the original concept. Put a water holding tank in a box, with glass on the side facing south and fill it with water. No moving parts, nothing to break down, free renewable energy and no pollution.

Often, the plumbing from a solar heater connects to an existing water heater, which stays inactive as long as the water coming in is above the temperature setting on the indoor water heater. When it falls below this temperature, the water heater will make up the difference. High-temperature solar water heaters can provide energy-efficient hot water and hot water heat for any small business, regardless of hot water use.

Additionally, the Main Street Waterfront facility was landscaped with energy efficiency in mind. A well-designed landscape can cut summer and winter energy costs dramatically, protect from winter wind and summer sun, reduce consumption of water, pesticides, and fuel for landscaping and lawn maintenance, and help reduce noise and air pollution.

According to Steele and Moulton, “investing in energy efficiency is easy. Enormous amounts of information and resources were available from Burlington Electric Department and ENERGY STAR for Small Business to insure that the redevelopment plan was done right the first time. Also, the investment in energy-efficient technology came back three fold: decreased energy costs, increased employee productivity, and the demonstration our community conscious reputation.”