Stonehouse Signs Proves You’re Never Too Old to Go Green

Stonehouse Signs has seen a lot of changes in energy use since their inception in 1863.  There was not much of a carbon footprint for most people living in the days before automobiles and airplanes.  The fifth generation family that successfully runs the company decided they would make a modern-day difference by self-generating a substantial amount of the energy used in their business and showing others that they can do the same.

Harnessing The Sun As A Viable Energy Alternative

Stonehouse Signs turned to Global NES to provide a modern solution to an age-old need for energy to run their business. Global proposed a 108 kilowatt photo-voltaic (PV) rooftop solar array for the Stonehouse Signs headquarters building and manufacturing facility in Arvada, Colorado.

The new system was commissioned on December 30, 2010 and will provide forty-five percent of the electric power for the facility. The project includes 432 made-in-the-USA solar panels, each producing 250 watts of electricity.

“We crammed about as many panels as we could onto the usable areas of our roof,” related company co-owner and Vice President of Operations, Jeff Stone, in describing the project. Stone expects the system to pay for itself in less than nine years. “By producing our own electricity, we are fixing the cost of a portion of our total energy use for the next twenty years,” he added. “With electricity rates rising, that makes good business sense.”

Being Green Makes A Difference- Today and Moving Into The Future

Stonehouse Signs is committed to realizing positive environmental impacts by reducing the overall pollution from public utility power plants, which rely heavily on burning coal and natural gas to produce electricity. The new system will save emissions of an estimated 299,000 pounds of Carbon Dioxide (CO₂), 450 pounds of Oxides of Nitrogen (NO_X) and 400 pounds of Sulfur Dioxide (SO₂) each year.

It is also important to note that because traditional coal burning power plants are typically only about 36 percent efficient, they produce an enormous amount of waste heat. This is typically dissipated by evaporating water, making power plants rather large water consumers.  In addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Stonehouse Signs’ renewable energy system will save 110,000 gallons of water each year by reducing the need for cooling water used by power plants.

Becky Stone-Roche, co-owner and HR Manager, had this to say: “Our philosophy, as an organization, is to approach environmental responsibility incrementally. There are so many green initiatives to consider; it can be overwhelming. I think it’s important to pick one or two that will benefit the business and the environment, and get them implemented right away. Our goal is to treat the environment a little better today than we did yesterday.  At least then we can start making a difference instead of waiting around for the perfect solution.”

A Little More About Stonehouse Signs

Jeff and Becky are the brother and sister team that make up the fifth generation of family to carry on the Stonehouse legacy. The company was founded in 1863, when William Stonehouse began producing hand-painted signs and gold leaf lettering for the merchants of Chicago. His son, James Wesley (J.W.) Stonehouse, traveled west to seek his fortune in the mining boom towns of Arizona and Colorado, eventually landing in Denver in about 1913 where he promoted a single national standard for the design of industrial safety signs.

J.W.’s “Danger” “Caution” and “Notice” headers were first adopted by general industry, then formalized by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and later adopted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). His sign designs are still in widespread use today.

In 1968, Stonehouse Signs moved from downtown Denver to its current suburban location in Arvada, Colorado. It is this forty-three year old facility that has received the modern solar energy upgrade. Stonehouse Signs’ 108 kilowatt PV solar energy system was fully operational on December 30, 2010. When William Stonehouse started the company, Abraham Lincoln was in office and the nation was embroiled in Civil War. Do you think he ever imagined that 148 years later his descendents would still be running the company and harnessing the sun for energy to run his business?