Ronak Patel

SUS-501
Dr. Troy
Individual Project
April 29, 2013
New Belgium Brewing Company Inc.
The New Belgium Brewing Company is a Colorado based brewery which is 100% owned
by the 456 employee. Beer as their main product they have made a commitment towards
sustainability in brewing & business began on Day One of New Belgiums history when
environmental stewardship made it in the first draft of the companys Core Values and
Beliefs.(newbelgium.com) since the beginning of their business, the company has established
values for producing world-class beer in an environmentally friendly process. The company itself
brews about 764,424 barrels of delicious beer in according to their 2012 data that is equivalent to
about 23,697,144 gallons of environmentally friendly beer.
As the company itself is growing so does there sustainable views with in the production
and business of the brewery. They have stated that since there base year in 2008 they calculated
that total energy intensity was .56 MJ per 12 o.z they plan to reduce the energy intensity by their
projected goal for 2018 is to reduce the .56 MJ per 12 O.z of beer to .44 MJ per 12 O.z beer
which is 21% decrease in total energy intensity. They plan on achieving their energy goal by
making there decision that based on their energy pyramid. They believe that The most
sustainable watt is the watt never produced, and conservation is usually the most pleasing option
financially. (newbelgium.com)

The base of this pyramid is the energy conservation grid, they believe that through
investing in efficient equipment , installing heat exchanger and basically having energy
conservation mind set in there over all design reduce their energy need even during their peak
demand hours. The next block on the pyramid is the on-site power generation which focuses on
three subset plans. The first is the smart grid which power grid that not only provides energy but
also information. Which allows them to organize and efficiently manage where energy can be
reduced or even transfer where needed. The second plan is the closing the loop where waste
water generated from brewing the processes produces methane and a byproduct of water
treatment is used to generate power back into the brewery. This is achieved by the on-site
processes water treatment plant. The third plan is solar energy where on the roof of one of their
building is solar panels where they believe it will produce about 264,00 kWh each year where
they have calculated that it will contribute to about 3% to the Total energy need for the company.
The next block in the pyramid is the purchasing green power where they have reduced their
carbon foot print by using wind generated energy and also abiding by the renewable energy
credit system where they pay a closer attention to the distribution of energy within the company.
Not only do they strive to achieve energy conservation but they also efficiently
manage their water usage. According to the company they have calculated that I took about 4.38
glasses of water to produce 1 glass of beer .they have set a goal to reduce water usage to 3.5
glasses of water to produce 1 glass of beer. Although they use a dry-hoping process which uses
more water due to the more movement of beer and the cleaning of tanks but through innovation
and design for their future they plan on achieving their water intensity goal by 2015.
With any production of product will produce waste but according to The New Belgium
Brewing Company There is no waste in nature! In nature, one creatures waste is anothers

food and with this mind set they have achieved reducing waste they were able to divert, recuse
or even eliminate waste through out there whole business. In 2011 they were able to divert
94.38% of their waste from the land fill which by their calculation was about 74,439,310 pounds
of waste. They have achieved such high waste diversion by primarily centering their efforts on
collecting waste data and establishing realistic goals. They have improved there recycling efforts
by their closing the loop program.
Finally they have established goals to reduce their greenhouse gas emission intensity,
through there data they have set a realistic goal for reducing the 25 % of the CO2 produced per
hectoliter of beer sold by 2015. They have broken this down to 3 scopes. The first is direct
emission emissions directly o caused by the source which this included the stationary fossil fuel
combustion which incorporates the production plant itself to mobile combustion of fossil fuel
which is caused by the movement of the product from one location to another. The second scope
is is the indirect emissions which are generated by the electricity consumed by the company.
Finally the third scope is the incorporation of the partial indirect emission which are the sources
that emit greenhouse gasses that neither is not controlled by the company such buying there
sections for a brewing company such as glass, retailect.
The New Belgium Brewing Company is a company that strives to both follow and lead in this
global movement that is creating a values-driven world that preserves our ability to flourish as
human beings. (newbelgium.com) I chose this my research topic on this company not do to the
deliciousness of their product there where over all view point of their business. Through all my
research they are always looking for better and newer ways to better there sustainable brewing
business. We share our principal successes and challenges on this journey in an effort to help
other organizations following this path, but also to maintain transparency an imperative

element in true sustainability. (newbelgium.com) I really l agree with this principle due to the
fact that this company is not all about business and money but they are about bettering the future
with sharing their views towards a greener world.