It’s been about a year since Stuff Hotel installed a solar panel system at their San Antonio, Texas facility and we got word today that soon, its carbon footprint will be even smaller.
Three of its other storage facilities in Denton, Pleasanton and Corpus Christi, Texas, are getting solar panels. Plus, the San Antonio facility is nearly doubling panels.
“We recently rebranded all these facilities to Stuff Hotel,” says Chris Price, CEO of Price Asset Management. “We want to emphasize that one of our goals is to be a good corporate citizen and we think cutting carbon emissions is a great demonstrator.”
Before credits and rebates from CPS Energy, Price estimates that the project will cost approximately $300,000 but he thinks it will pay for itself in two to four years. If all goes as planned, Price is hoping the solar panels will cut utility costs by 40 to 50 percent.
If you’re thinking of installing a similar system at your facility, Price says to go for it!
“Self storage facilities are the perfect place for solar panels because there are so many roofs,” Price says. “You’ll get a federal credit, but check with your local utility companies to find out what incentives they offer.”
Local incentives ebb and flow though. When Price installed the solar system at the San Antonio facility last year, it didn’t make financial sense to install panels at the other locations. He encourages owners and managers to keep checking in on your local market.
Price worked with the experts at Self Reliant Solar to determine whether or not going solar was a good business decision. He said they took care of everything from finding out what incentives were offered in all of Stuff Hotel’s markets to showing how long it would take to pay for itself.
Right now, it’s not financially viable to put solar panels on all the facilities Price Asset Management owns, but Price says he will keep checking on the status of his other markets.
Stuff Hotel facilities are going green in other ways, too. Locations have recycling bins for staff and tenants to use, all communication with customers is done via email and everything in their offices are ENERGY STAR qualified. Plus, according to Stuff Hotel’s website, LED is in the future.
“We are in the process of converting the lighting at our facilities to LED and will update you as each location completes the transition. The new lighting will use 60-70 percent less energy!”
With Earth Day right around the corner, give some extra thought to what your storage facility can contribute toward reducing the size of the self storage industry’s carbon footprint.