The Longfellow Club in Wayland, Massachusetts recently installed a solar hot water heating system that will heat over 50% of the hot water in the swimming pool and the showers in the club—most of Longfellow’s hot water needs will now come from the sun!  This state-of-the-art system became operational on December 31 and will save the club over $10,000 annually in energy expenses and avoid burning 20,800 cubic yards of natural gas.  This will reduce the carbon footprint of Longfellow by 67,432 pounds of carbon dioxide per year—the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by 9.6 acres of forest.

Longfellow is well on its way to achieving its objective of being the “greenest health club in the USA.”  Since its purchase by Hammel and his partner Myke Farricker in 1980, The Longfellow Club has been an environmental leader in the community and the health club industry.  A key part of its mission statement is to be an earth-friendly business.  Another recent example of this environmental leadership is the installation of waterless urinals, which has eliminated 75% of all flushes in the men’s room and saves over 135,000 gallons of water per year.

Longfellow served as the beta site for SBN’s breakthrough program called the Sustainable Business Leader Program (SBLP).  This comprehensive program assessed Longfellow’s current environmental practices and resulted in a 50-step Sustainable Action Plan.  One of these action steps called for a solar hot water system.

Longfellow’s solar hot water system was installed by LittleFoot Energy, a locally owned, Somerville-based company founded in 2005 by Elia Kleiman and Gabriel Cantor.  Kleiman explains that the mission of LittleFoot is “to help building owners reduce dependency on fossil fuels while reducing their liability attributable to greenhouse gas emissions.  We specialize in heating, cooling, and electricity projects that are powered by renewable energy sources—applying thermal storage, geothermal, solar, performance monitoring and control in hybrid system designs that save energy and reduce carbon emissions.”

According to Hammel, “In the previous three years, Longfellow’s energy expenses have more than doubled and there seemed no end in sight to the budget-crushing energy costs.  Even with today’s lower energy bills, this investment in renewable energy will pay great financial and environmental dividends for many years to come.”

LittleFoot CEO, Kevin Poulsen, shared Hammel’s enthusiasm for the new renewable energy system.  “Longfellow’s solar water heating system is one of the largest in New England and the owners of both Longfellow and LittleFoot hope that other health clubs and businesses will take advantage of the multiple benefits of renewable energy systems like this one.”  Mr. Poulsen described four primary benefits of renewable energy systems: 1) Immediate energy cost savings; 2) Long term protection from fossil fuel price increases; 3) Helping reduce global warming by decreasing the club’s carbon emissions; 4) Positive public relations and community goodwill by demonstrating leadership in green business practices.  The cost of the solar panel system was $142,500 of which over $100,000 will be recovered in the first year from government and utility incentives as well as annual energy savings.  The total payback for the complete installation is projected to be less than five years, while return on invested capital (after incentives) is greater than 32%.

This new installation is highly visible because glazed flat plate solar thermal collectors cover most of the roof of the main building at Longfellow.  The Longfellow Clubs view this solar installation as another step in an ongoing process of becoming a good environmental citizen and supporting the growth and development of the green and local economy.

Longfellow and LittleFoot Energy are doing further research on additional methods to reduce energy costs including the possibilities of wind and geothermal energy.  LittleFoot was founded in 2005 with a dedicated focus on heating and cooling projects powered by renewable energy and offers an energy performance guarantee.  For more information, contact Andrew Becker at 877-658-3758 and visit their web site at LittleFootInc.com.