Guinness Goes Green

It’s always nice to see businesses taking steps to go green. Diageo, the company that manufactures the world famous Guinness beer, has recently opened a new brewhouse, which has been awarded the LEED Platinum certification. Brewhouse No. 4 as it is called, is located at St. James’s Gate in Ireland and it was also awarded the BREEAM Outstanding certification in 2014.

The most notable sustainable features of Brewhouse No.4 are an energy recovery system, which works to reduce the need for steam heating, and a hybrid refrigeration system which runs at 32 ºF instead of 25 ºF (0 ºC instead of -4 ºC) as was the case with the previous one. They also optimized the structure’s orientation, took advantage of solar shading and used high-performance insulation. The lighting is automatic and highly-efficient.

The electrical energy for the building is provided by a combined heat and power plant (CHP). They also installed a low-energy heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) system, while the air conditioning is now restricted to certain parts of the building only.

Only low-flow water fixtures were used throughout the building, while a rainwater catchment system will yield an estimated 6,400 cu ft (180 cu m) of rainwater a year. They also added facilities for cyclists and low-fuel/fuel-efficient vehicles, and have a carpooling scheme, which are all aimed at encouraging green commuting.

Through all this, Brewhouse No. 4 is now a carbon neutral building, while it has also achieved zero waste to landfill status for both the construction process as well as ongoing operation. According to the builders, 33 percent less thermal energy and 14 percent less water are now used to brew the beer, compared to the previous facility.

Brewhouse No. 4 is the first major brewery in the world to have received the highest LEED rating, while its BREEAM score was the highest of any industrial building anywhere in the world in 2014. The brewhouse started operating in September 2014.

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Palm Beach Mansion Awarded LEED Platinum Certification

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