Our Sustainable Efforts Save Customers Money in Many Ways

In addition to helping many clients save money with water savings, we have also helped some save other utility expenses. Last month, we wrote about how we helped Waterhouse HOA evaluate their system, changed their pump control to a variable speed drive controls and saved them $4,700/year with a 2 year ROI on the control change out.

This month, we are proud to share that we have helped another client, Dawson Creek Corporate Park with the same pump control technology. Dawson Creek Corporate Park irrigates off water from the on-site lakes. Well pumps keep the ponds full and irrigation pumps pull water from the lakes to feed the irrigation system. Their new system, after $8,766 Energy Trust rebate, cost $12,707. The annual energy savings will be $2,525, giving the project a 5 year ROI. In addition to the savings, the reliability of the pumping system will be much better. 

http://energytrust.org/industrial-and-ag/incentives/agriculture/irrigation-equipment/irrigation-pump-vfd

Summer Flowers Providing Eye Popping Appeal

Wow! The summer color is on fire. We spend a great deal of time planning and preparing for each of our color rotations and take great pride in our creativity and consistency. We believe this summer is no exception. Our flowers started stronger, filled in quicker, and are more spectacular than any others that we have seen around town.

We do want to give credit to our partners as an integral part of our success. Amy Vanderzanden of Sunset Farm and Nursery has assisted in our design and grown our flowers for over 10 years. We believe she is the finest grower in the area. We also rely on Dan Dearing of Simplot Partners in helping us plan/adjust our fertility and plant health care. Every season we discover a new wrinkle with a disease, weed or fertility issue and Dan helps us resolve it in the most environmentally sensitive method.

http://www.pacscape.com/services/seasonal-color.php

2013 Landscape Budget Planning Underway

Accurate budget planning is key to the success of any business. We understand this very well as we have always provided budgetary information to customers in the fall to assist them with their budgeting process. Knowing that most facility budgets have shrunk due to the economy, we want to help prioritize our clients spending on landscaping. We have worked with many clients to ensure that their landscape investment is protected and their curb appeal is maintained.

We are preparing your budget proposals now and would like to meet with as many customers as possible during the next few months to ensure we understand your specific needs. Please contact us and let us know when you are available as we want to work around your schedule and provide you with the best budget information possible. We are part of your team and will help you in any way we can.

YTD Irrigation Need 52% Greater Than 2011

Every year is different. Some years start dry and end wet while others are exactly the opposite. The very warm and dry month of May started the irrigation season much earlier than the last year. Our mostly dry July added up to a greater irrigation need despite the lack of significant high temperatures. This data is from the weather stations that feed our weather based irrigation.

It is too early to tell, but despite this early difference, most years work out to be similar when you compare the entire season. Time will tell how the second half of the season works out. Unfortunately, you will likely see higher irrigation bills for the first half of the summer irrigaiton season, so be prepared when your bill arrives.

http://www.brucesussman.com/portland-weather/summer-2012-vs-summer-2011-which-ones-cooler/

Widely Varying Daily Irrigation Need Managed Well By Weather Based Irrigation Control

As shown in the table above, the daily irrigation need varies widely from day to day and even can be widely different from one year to the next. This is the basis for the magic of Weather Based Irrigation Control. Weather Based Irrigation Control calculates the water lost on a daily basis and then only waters when the site needs it based on this scientific calculation. With the widely varying irrigation need, it is impossible to accurately calculate or "guess" what will be needed during the following week as a manually programmed conroller does. When you guess, you usually guess consistently higher than needed.

In our experience, weather based irrigation is saving 20-40% from historical water usage. As water is expensive, this can add up to significant dollars. In most cases, we are finding a 2 year or less ROI. We strongly believe that all properties should have some form of weather based irrigation. If you don't have it already, we will be proposing it again as a part of our 2013 budget proposal.

http://www.pacscape.com/sustainable/weather-based-irrigation.php