Michael Cohen and Chris D’Addario didn’t think twice when it came time to invest in energy-efficient technologies for their warehouse building.
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Reducing emissions Just Ducky with business owners
Economics majors Michael Cohen and Chris D’Addario didn’t need a spreadsheet to determine whether they should take steps to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from their business. When the co-owners of Just Ducky Tours purchased a building on the North Shore to store and maintain their World War II-era amphibious vehicles, they invested in a series of energy-efficient technologies. They installed R38 fiber glass insulation in the ceiling as well as high-efficiency halide lights and radiant overhead heat. In addition, they replaced the building’s single-pane windows with insulated-glass units and installed a time-controlled thermostat to manage two gas-fired furnaces. In all, Cohen and D’Addario invested approximately $20,000 in energy-saving fixtures, receiving a $7,500 rebate from Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers for their efforts. The result: electric bills for the 8,000-square structure average about $250 a month. The gas bills average about $425. “Our utilities could easily be two or three times higher,” Cohen says. “Did we spend a lot of time looking at the math before we made the upgrades? Not really,” D’Addario says. “We just knew it had to be done.”
