The oldest operating brew pub in the Northeast recently finished a green energy retrofit of their 19th century building. WNPR’s Nancy Cohen reports from Northampton, Massachusetts.

The 20-year-old Northampton brewery is based in a renovated 1830 carriage house, serving beer brewed just a few feet from the bar. Owner Janet Egelston says the business has been ecologically conscious for years, recycling not only trash, but the barley used to make the beer.

“It goes to a local farmer who feeds it to his pigs.”

Sean Jeffords of Beyond Green Construction points out the heat recovery ventilation system. Photo by Nancy Eve Cohen

“These are heat recovery ventilation systems. Where as the stale air is being exhausted out the fresh air is heat-exchanging with the old air which recaptures the energy that you’ve already put into the building.”

So the energy that’s used to heat or cool the air isn’t lost. Jeffords calls the project a deep energy retrofit. His team also raised the roof to install new foam insulation, made from soy products. And plastered the walls with clay and seashells. But Janet Egelston says what makes the renovation really green is the energy conservation.

“We have to take inefficient building stock to an efficient place by insulating it, not just by making renewables, not by buying solar panels and throwing them on your houses. That’s great too, but the first thing that needs to happen is insulation so you keep the energy that is made.”

Egelston says the renovation will not only help educate the public, but also make her restaurant and bar more comfortable. That and reduced energy bills could make the project even greener.