In recent years I have had the opportunity to interview many interesting people: tourism experts, authors, philanthropists and enlightened entrepreneurs. For my series of articles on the beach near Toronto, was looking specifically for entrepreneurs that come with a socially and environmentally innovative business ideas interview.
Michael Prue, the member of Provincial Parliament for Beaches / East York, pointed me in the direction ofAlex Winch, owner of Beach Laundry Solar. You might think - a laundromat, how it can be an attractive business? Well, read on and you will see that this company and its owners are definitely outside the norm.
This cold morning Thursday, I met Alex at his premises on Queen Street East and got an introduction to this unusual business. When Alex bought the laundry, in 2002, was outdated and shabby, so Alex to work and replaced almost half of the washers and dryers with newHigh-performance machines. It also provided the city with a complete overhaul and lighted cosmetic considerably.
But where it gets really interesting behind the scenes, where the entire operational process of the laundry has been redesigned. Alex always wanted to do this business in a modern, environmentally friendly businesses. In October 2002 he ordered eight solar panels, which will be commissioned in December 2002. Alex had planned all the time for the use of solar energyneeded to heat the water in its laundry.
Alex explained that the eight solar panels on the roof of the building of approximately 250 square feet and the measure of a company called Solcan, in London, Ontario have been installed. The thermal plate, a layer of copper with four-inch black palette of copper, three / eighth "which runs an inch copper pipes with antifreeze through it contains. Antifreeze is made of food grade propylene glycol, and the transfers' thermal energy from the roofthrough the entire system to a heat exchanger in the basement. Even if it were a loss in line antifreeze, do not contaminate ground water.
Antifreeze has a freezing point of -25 degrees Celsius, at which point the gel glycol, shut down the solar hot water as the glycol simply stops moving inside the tubes. In this case, a system backup natural gas boiler starts up and begins heating the water.
In the interest of making his businessenvironmentally friendly, Alex has also replaced the lighting and installed new high efficiency fluorescent tubes with an aluminum reflector. The reflector essentially doubles the light output of real tubes. In combination with high-efficiency lighting ballasts this measure alone has brought to light an energy saving of 72%. Alex added that this energy, protection measures are important because of the lights in his shop for 18 hoursa day, 7 days a week.
One of the first things that Alex has been explained to me the air handler door, warm, moist air moves in the laundry room, you pass through the coils and dehumidify the air. The condensate is captured and transmitted through a system of drainage pipes in a basement. The condensate will not be used in gauze underwear out of concern for contamination of the water again.
To illustrate the operation of the solar water heater of his company, Alex hasme in the basement where he showed me a series of water tanks, lines and sophisticated instrumentation, the actual shifting of energy efficiency and natural gas provided by this solar system.
In the basement there are two different heating systems: the solar system, which uses a heat exchanger and a tank of 200 gallons of hot water, and a backup heating system that uses natural gas, a natural gas boiler with a separate A 100-literHot water tank. The store replaces two separate 100-gallon tanks of 200 liters, which were used previously. The new natural gas boiler can provide 100 gallons of water in 7 minutes, the heat, and these new smaller and more efficient "just-in-time" water heating, and heats water only when needed . The advantage of this system is that it saves a lot of small amount of hot water, which reduces energy losses from the water tank.
The building isBrick chimney was struck at roof level and now serves as a conduit for the pipes to keep the glycol that circulates up to the solar panels on the roof. Plates of heated glycol then travels back down to the basement is heated by a heat exchanger and hot water for laundry. A second heat exchanger heats the water that circulates through the radiators and provides heating for the building. An air conditioning system to combine the three different airManagers in the construction of water temperature for washing of 120 degrees Fahrenheit (about 55 degrees Celsius), which just enough to dissolve detergents, so that no additional heat loss.
All processes of heating and cooling are controlled by thermostats, and a sophisticated measurement system calculates the amount of gas is saved with the use of solar energy. This measurement system is connected to a website on the Internet (www.bslvideo.com), which offers the live energyMonitoring for those who are curious.
The site also offers a "underwear cam" that the customer is the beach to see how busy Laundry Solar laundry allowed. Alex needs to improve a low-resolution camera on customer service, so customers can easily check from home, when a good time would be installed for the laundry. A second high-resolution camera, the images are not available to the public, has been installed for safety reasons since the laundry is not taken regularly.Some of the customers were originally concerned about the invasion of the cameras' of their privacy, but when Alex explained that the low resolution camera images were not sufficiently clear to identify them (or their dirty laundry), these concerns have been mitigated.
Apparently, Alex has great access to technology, and when he tried to explain the intricate details of its solar system, to me - a novice at such things as heat exchangers and volumetric flow meters - Iasked him if he was an engineer. He explained that in 1985 he graduated from engineering physics at Queens University. Four years later he added the designation of Chartered Financial Analyst to his resume and his own company to sell shares of Canadian research on hedge funds in the United States. In 1990 he started his first hedge fund, which was followed in 1993 with the opening of an office at 667 Park Avenue in New York City. On the basis of his success, he retired in 1995, an event that is referred to as "Freedom31 ".
After that time has become a major shareholder in a casino company, offered as Head of Investor Relations and was appointed Chairman of the Board. Alex was not happy with the way things were done in this society and asked that several changes be made. If management is not to their concerns, which he left in 2002 and launched a proxy fight to answer hostile threat, in other words, has threatened to take over the company. Alex had spoken to all shareholders, and were ready to votefor change. Alex has requested that the President resign or he would "throw him out."
Management initially ignored the threat, and three days after he resigned the whole management and the Board and gave him the name as the contact for the company. Alex explained that in a public company can not do, not the officials just come out of their responsibilities. His lawyers advised him not to do anything. A few days later was followed by further discussion with management and Alexexplained that the prosecution has not gone hostile newspapers. Instead, management wanted to make the changes he had asked, or they would cause intentional damage.
Casino business management responded with a statement of resignation and the suspension of the implementation of the changes that Alex had asked. In recent years the share price multiplied by seven, the company is profitable and Alex Winch is one of the largest shareholders.
ThenAlex was generally disenchanted with public capital markets, and decided to create their own small business. Centrally located and just five minutes, he immediately looked at the laundromat, when it was put up for sale and determined that the project will be an opportunity for an engineering interesting, maybe. And that's how the story began.
Alex activities interesting model for the laundry, wash and fold service, the two indigenous women from Monday to Friday between 1 and supply7:00 clock. The "fluff and fold" offers customers the convenience of simply picking up the laundry done and get off completely later on. Alex does not charge the two ladies for their business out of his laundry, but his company is benefiting from better capacity utilization and load-displacement from the busy evening and weekend hours for the less popular of the day, creating a situation win-win for his work, wash and fold service and the customer. Alex Winch alwayssearch for solutions that offer maximum benefit for all.
But I do not know Alex's electricity from renewable energy sources and innovative business models, with the stop Solar Beach Laundry: Alex combines his only job-site power generation and monitoring, and turned it into an international project commercial success. Alex founded by installing Mondial Energy, a company with a worldwide capacity of solar water heaters, withmonitoring systems required, solar thermal energy generated at the customer site and generates the cost of solar thermal energy, regardless of location.
The advantage for customers is that they are expensive initial costs of capital to invest for their solar water heating systems to get up and running. In contrast, owns and operates the hardware to generate Mondial Energy, and is responsible for equipment maintenance. Customers arethen pay a fixed monthly charge, depending on how much energy the unit produces.
For customers the ability to lock in energy costs is an important factor in a context of fluctuating energy prices and growing. Also, the price of solar energy delivered is less than the cost of a comparable amount of natural gas, making this an increasingly attractive alternative to traditional gas water heater. Last but not least, the production of energy is completely green,release of greenhouse gases.
Today, Alex is involved in several large-scale sustainable energy retrofit projects in Toronto in November 2006 commissioned Mondial Energy is a renewable thermal energy to produce hot water must be operated with 172-suite residence elderly , a local non-profit organization with the 'names Neighbourhood Homes link. Mondial installs solar panels, flat panel antennas 60, which is expected to reduce annual carbon dioxide emissions of 40.3 tons and billNeighbourhood Link-monthly at affordable prices.
Solar energy is energy generated by Mondial and the Woodgreen Community Housing in hot Inc., 170 unit public housing site on Queen Street East in Toronto. The panels are 108 solar masses of gas estimated to move 32,000 cubic meters, that in 53 per tonne of greenhouse gas reductions year.
Alex explains that his system at present is the most commercial or multi-unit buildings adequate.The cost for single-family households still do not work so well, especially since Canada has little incentive to move away from conventional energy sources. Consequently, it focuses on medium and large projects. Several large commercial projects are under negotiation, including a large hotel in Atlanta and a casino-hotel in Reno Mondial Energy is also an offer for a large-scale project on solar water heaters in Hawaii. Contacts in the United States werevery receptive to his unique way of local production of thermal energy. In a way, Alex says he has come full circle: He went from being involved with large companies to have to do a small business owner and now is back with great companies.
For his innovative work, sustainable energy Alex has received many awards, including the Bremen Partnership Award (the "Bremer Environmental Prize" - The Bremen environmental price) received for the supply of high value for the customer, the widespread use in the community ,sustainable use of water and solar energy and for the provision of value added in terms of "social dimension".
Alex is so committed to a sustainable energy supply, said that his company Mondial Energy is a partner in the preparation of the annual premium of tourism on climate change. Two awards of $ 10,000, sponsored by Mondial approved in November 2007:
o A World Energy Responsible Tourism Award in a comprehensive
o A mission in Africa, with particular attention to the leaders Energy AwardAfrica
The jury for the award include personalities from global organizations such as Maurice Strong, the Earth Summit in Rio, Jose Maria Figueres (former President of Costa Rica), and representatives of the National Geographic Society and the UNWTO (World Tourism Organization ). With this award, Alex's commitment to raising the profile of the search for solutions to climate change has entered the field of tourism.
Alex demonstrates its commitment to sustainable developmentLiving standards in the selection of some of his personal belongings: He showed me his Citizen Eco-Drive Watch, a stylish looking watch, whose face, a photovoltaic cell that the clock is running, eliminating the need for batteries. Alex said the clock for 270 days without exposure to light and the slogans of the civil rights often refer to this clock as "unstoppable" at work.
Unstoppable is a pseudonym, which could equally well be applied to the wind for Alex - Alex did not stop until his mission toits role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions will be achieved.
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