Enviro-Stewards' Shared Savings based project for Global Vintners Inc. wins national sustainability award

Global Vintners retained Enviro-Stewards to identify measures to increase margin and reduce footprints in return for a portion of net savings if and when they occur. This project was selected as one of the top sustainability projects in Canada by Clean50 based on the project’s inspiring results and innovative approach.

Inspiring Results

Environmental

The assessment identified annual opportunities to save:

• 15,000 m³ of water (49%), which is enough water to fill 6 Olympic size swimming pools
• 150,000 kWh of electricity (20%), which is enough electricity to power 14 homes
• 3,000 m³ of natural gas (2%), which is enough natural gas to heat a home
• 265,000 L of grape juice, which is enough to fill 590 barrels (or 350,000 bottles) of wine

Economic

Measures implemented to date are saving $300,000/yr with a Return on Investment of 1,000% (payback of 1.2 months).  Try to think of another investment that could yield this return year after year.

Social

The measures avoid the need to use the equivalent of 38 soccer fields of vineyard (27 hectares) to make the same quantity of finished product.  This substantially reduces transportation and agricultural footprints associated with GVI’s supply chain.  The profit margin restored to Global Vintners also provides substantial job protection within a mature industry with strong price competition.

Innovative Approach

Global Vintners (GVI) is a subsidiary of Andrew Peller, which is the largest Canadian owned winery in Canada.  They retained Enviro-Stewards, an engineering firm and certified B corporation, to identify practical measures to increase margin, protect employment, and reduce environmental footprints in return for a portion of net savings if and when they occur.

The assessment was completed with a 100% guarantee that practical savings identified would be equal or greater than the upfront retainer provided by GVI.  The scope included 3 years of post- implementation monitoring to ensure that sustainability gains are tracked and retained.  And GVI’s project manager was given final say as to the magnitude of the savings realized and hence the quantity of net savings to be shared.