Relevant

Old Town Bike Shop, Colorado Springs, CO

Aaron Stachel, a PPSBN Volunteer, interviews the owner/operator of Old Town Bike Shop—John Crandall.

Old Town Bike Shop is in the business of sales and service of bicycles and accessories, custom fitting all bicycle types.  Established in Old Colorado City in 1976, they moved to current location at 426 S. Tejon, in 1997.

Planet

The 1973 Oil Embargo focused John’s attention on how the U.S. and world were depleting a scarce and valuable resource through inefficient use.  His engineering background, combined with a desire to start a small business and a love of endurance sports, led him into the bicycle industry.

From the beginning, John implemented sustainable practices.  He replaced T12 bulbs with T8, which provide almost the same light output at a fraction of the energy use.

When John purchased the building on Tejon, it was a shell with no interior walls or plumbing.  He started to add sustainable improvements.  John used a radiant heating system which effectively heats the people in a large space.   When he refurbished the roof in 2004, he added four inches of insulation which increased the R-Factor from 5 to 26.  John has recycled cardboard from the start, using

 Always Recycling. For the past five years, he has recycled paper, plastics, batteries, etc., often needing to ship waste to companies who provide that service. John plans to install low flow toilets, which were not reliable at the time of the building renovation.

For the past 8 or 9 years, John has paid a premium to CS Utilities for wind power credits for 75% of his power needs.  Recently, he added a photovoltaic panel that creates 30-35% of his electricity needs.  Now 100% of the power he uses is from renewable sources.

People

When customers buy a new bike, Old Town Bike Shop will take their old bike and donate it to Peter Springer Froese who repairs the bike and provides it to needy personnel for transportation and recreation.  Any employee that takes the initiative to bring the old aluminum frames to metal recycling is allowed to keep the money.  He takes the tubes and chains to businesses that use them to make accessories and artwork.

The decision to use photovoltaics made a statement, inspiring the community and other businesses to talk about   sustainable energy and encouraging progress.  John asks employees for ideas, especially the younger generation which is very interested in sustainability. 

Anyone is welcome to stop by and discuss their ideas.

Profit

Recycling is a net zero cost.  Photovoltaics cost $59k to install (up from $40k because he could not use the roof) but reduces electricity costs by $800 per year.

Benefits

Old Town Bike Shop was named best environmentally friendly business, an honor that John equates to free advertising.  News 5/30 did a piece on his shop.  People from the community come by to talk to him and he believes his actions attract like-minded, high-quality employees.  It also creates employee pride and satisfaction.

Future plans:  Support progressive energy policies. 

Advice:  Look at the long term.  Using energy audits and consultants can identify best cost-benefits.

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