What's New? Free Heat, A Building, Much More

When we started construction on our new shop/offices this past fall - we thought building a building be a quick, knock-it-out kind of project - three months max.... Six months later and we've finally finished. Most people told us we were crazy to build such a nice building, but after 8 years of working either outside or in trailers, we've had enough. As our Central Nervous System, Nate, says - he just wanted to work somewhere that doesn't shake every time the door closes - and we are proud to deliver on that.

The part we are most excited about is the heating and cooling system. Four years ago, when we moved to Dallesport, we knew that someday we'd build a structure; and we knew that space heating is the single largest consumer of energy in commercial buildings (approx 25%).  So, we put 5,000 ft of radiant Pex tubing in our Phase I aeration pad as a future heat sink. We were glad to see that heat sink still worked when we tied it to 3,000 ft of radiant Pex tubing in the foundation and upper floor of our new building. We can now heat (and cool) our 2,900 sf building for free (we'll it takes about 40W of power)! The plus side is taking heat from the aeration pad actually helps us cool the piles too - so we are getting gains on both ends. 

Some other green features we are excited about in the building are: natural daylighting in all rooms (we typically only use lights at night), extended eaves for summer cooling, extensive use of recycled materials (concrete, desks, and more). Check out the photos below or better yet, check it out next time you need soil. 

Other new things at Dirt Hugger:

1. New retailers in Portland to better serve our growing customer base. Boring Bark and Mt. Scott now carry our OMRI Listed Organic Compost. 
2. New soil mixer - for better potting and soil mixes. We are the only group in the Gorge with this capability. 
3. New Truck and Pup for delivering compost and soil products. 
4. New loaders (new to us).
5. More paving and concrete - for easier and cleaner operations. 
6. My neighbor's new lawn using Dirt Hugger 50/50 Mix. 

As always thanks to our amazing soil and feedstock customers. Our continued growth and reinvestment wouldn't happen without you!

Also a big shout out to all the contractors and vendors that helped with our new building: Mission Construction, WCI, Bryant Pipe & Supply, Tum A Lum Lumber, ACE Hood River, A&E Heating and Air, Stinzi Drywall, Jason Eatwell Tile, Grade Worx, Hood River Sand & Gravel, Granite, Jack's Overhead Door, Community Bank, Platt Electric,  Larsell Construction, Wallace Plumbing, and Pacific Building Systems and some of the crew that helped: Rick, Devon, Pete, Joby, Johnny, Tony, Terry, Jason,  Nate, Jerry, and Bob.