Rockton Farm & Fleet Sets Grand Opening For April 26-28

By Matt Liparota
Beloit Daily News
March 20, 2012

Get ready, Rockton — Blain’s Farm & Fleet’s grand opening is just a little more than a month away.

The company will open its 35th store at 4567 E. Rockton Road next month and host a grand opening celebration April 26-28, according to a news release.

The 122,000-square-foot store will have a soft opening in advance of the official grand opening celebration, but no specific details have been released to date, said Renee Tarnutzer, Blain’s Farm & Fleet spokesperson.

“The community has been fantastic to work with,” Tarnutzer said. “We’re excited to be there and can’t wait to open up.”

The new location, near the intersection of Rockton Road and Quail Trail, will focus on reducing its carbon footprint, according to the news release. For example, oil generated from oil changes will be turned into an alternative fuel source via a Clean Burn waste system, and all outdoor signage is LED instead of neon.

“It’s a great addition to our commercial area on Rockton Road,” said Rockton Village President Dale Adams. “It will bring more jobs and more businesses to that area.”

Construction on the Rockton location began about nine months ago.

Founded in 1955, Blain’s Farm & Fleet has stores in Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin.

For more information visit www.runuptorockton.com
Full story available from Beloit Daily News online here.

Curt’s Service in Oak Park, Michigan adds Clean Burn waste oil heating system as part of green expansion.

Full story available from Fox WJBK-TV Detroit here.

New State-Of-The-Art Davidson’s Ford Dealership Features Green Design And Focus On Customer Service

By Holly Boname
MyABC50
February 15, 2012

Inventory is on its way in and crews are busy getting all the finishing touches perfect for the opening of the new Davidson’s Ford dealership.

The new state of the art facility, located on Outer Washington Street, will open on Thursday, February 16th with a focus on customer service, while maintaining the quality of automobile care and maintenance.

“Everything we do at Davidson Ford will involve customer-focused innovations such as an indoor service drive where a customer can drive right into the service department out of the weather to drop off a vehicle for service or repairs, and an indoor delivery area to allow customers to pick up new vehicles in comfort, no matter what the weather,” said Dwight Davidson, owner of Davidson’s Automotive Group.

Construction on the facility began this fall. An emphasis on a green design was incorporated into the entire building, with features that include:

- Solar paneling to decrease the annual electricity consumption by up to 30%
- Lighting throughout the building is controlled by motion sensors and will only activate when someone is present in the room.
- Low-E exterior glass will increase energy-efficiency.
- Clean Burn furnace that efficiently burns waste oil and petroleum products to provide heat for the building. This process will reduce fossil fuel usage by recycling waste petroleum products.

A new Davidson GM facility is also under construction next door to the new Ford dealership with plans to open by late spring.

Full story with video available at MyABC50 online here.

The City Of Westlake Public Service has been named the Fleet Equipment and CITGO Petroleum Corp. Top Green Shop Award Winner for 2011. The award is based on the shop’s initiatives to build and maintain an environmentally sound facility. One such initiative was the installation of a Clean Burn waste oil heating system.

A feature article appears in Fleet Equipment magazine by Carol Birkland.

Paul Quinn, director of public service, says, “All floor drains go to an underground oil/water separator, which is cleaned annually by a licensed contractor. In addition, all employees are trained annually for storm water best management practices related to the facilities, construction sites and other state and local regulations as required.”

He goes on to say, “Waste oil is currently being sold and picked up by a licensed contractor, however, last year we purchased a Clean Burn waste oil heater that we will use to heat the shop. In addition, as part of a city recycling initiative, Westlake residents are able to drop-off their used oil, which the fleet shop can collect and burn.” In addition, oil filter crushers are used and the oil is recycled. All oils and lubes are dispensed from bulk containers through hose and reel stations in the shop and two spill control kits are on hand in the shop and lube room.

The full story is available from Fleet Equipment online here.

Midway Truck Service has depended on Clean Burn waste oil furnaces for the last 25 years to deliver free heat to their 17,000 square foot service department; easily saving the company hundreds of thousands of dollars in heating bills along the way.

“We’ve been relying on Clean Burn furnaces as our primary heating source for decades,” says Jim Hess, General Manager. “The units comfortably maintain the temperature and have saved us a lot of money on our heating bills over the years.”

In addition to reducing energy costs, Hess has also seen the benefits of recycling waste oil on site, rather than having it hauled away. “Waste oil by itself is a liability for our company,” says Hess. “Clean Burn allows us to safely and legally dispose of our waste oil while providing a reliable heat source.”

Midway Truck Service purchased their first Clean Burn unit in the late 1980s and added a second one in 1996 after they expanded their facility. Both furnaces are still in operation today.

“Both our Clean Burn units have proven efficient and dependable,” says Hess. “Our old fuel oil furnaces have been virtually inactive all these years now.”

Midway Truck Service typically recycles as many as 6,000 gallons of waste oil each year in their Clean Burn waste oil furnaces, and counts on the units being up and running throughout the cold season.

“We’ve always had good support from Clean Burn’s dealer network,” says Hess. “Even though the furnaces require very little attention, local support has always been important to us. I would heartily recommend a Clean Burn furnace to anyone in the market for a waste oil solution.”

For more information on Midway Truck Service visit www.midwaytruckservice.com.

There are over 80,000 Clean Burn functional furnaces and boilers located throughout the world that burn millions of gallons of waste oil each year on-site, at the point of generation. This volume of waste oil would otherwise be transported on highway systems and pose a considerable risk to spills and/or contamination to the environment.

Clean Burn is an ENERGYSTAR partner. The company holds numerous industry certifications and works with the U.S. government, the Environmental Protection Agency and various associations to help coordinate the establishment of standards and regulations related to heat recovery and recycling efforts involving used motor oils. For more information on Clean Burn, visit www.cleanburn.com or call 1-800-331-0183.

Dirty Job Is Cleaner For The Environment

By Ryan Hanrahan
NBC Connecticut
April 20, 2011

Changing car oil is a dirty job that most people have done at a dealership or service center instead of doing it themselves.

Those businesses are required to recycle used oil and most places pay another company to haul it off to a processor, but not Key Hyundai.

The dealerships in Milford and Manchester keep the oil at the shop and reuse much of it for heating.

In the course of a year, each shop handles about 8,000 gallons of used oil.

“There are companies that will come and pick up the oil, but there are tons of disadvantages to doing that,” Jill Merriam, owner of Key Hyundai, said.

The disadvantages include the risk of the company transporting the oil spilling some. When that happens, the dealership is held liable for spill and the amount of diesel the truck hauling the oil uses.

Key Hyundai uses a special furnace to burn used motor oil to filter out sediment. The furnace is expensive, but it has more than paid for itself and is saving the dealership thousands of dollars each month for heating during the winter.

Full story available from NBC Connecticut online here.
Visit Key Hyundai online here.

Barr Truck Group saved $25,000 on heating bills this past winter by converting the used motor oil collected at their two Maryland service facilities into free heat. More than 39,000 square feet of shop space spread between Salisbury and Delmar locations is heated with Clean Burn waste oil furnaces.

“We operate 37 service bays across our two locations and generate thousands of gallons of waste oil,” says Dave Barrett, Machine Shop Manager. “Having a system that recycles that oil while saving us money is a huge advantage to our business.”

As part of the dealer network for the Navistar, Freightliner, Carrier Transicold, and Isuzu brands, Barr Truck has access to tap a nationwide recommendation pool. When research on a new heating system began, the case for Clean Burn was clear. “Once we decided to use our waste oil for heat, we really started to do our homework on the best system,” explains Barrett. “Clean Burn was recommended across the board by the other truck dealers we talked to.”

The conversion from fuel oil heat was made at their Salisbury location in 2008 with the installation of three CB-5000 units. The Delmar location converted from propane heat with a CB-5000 installed in 2008 and a CB-3500 installed in 2009.

The furnaces were installed and are now serviced by Eco Heating Systems, the Authorized Distributor for Clean Burn products in Maryland and Southern Delaware. “They’re a great group to work with,” Barrett says of the relationship with Eco Heating Systems. “The service and support we get from having a local distributor like that is really what sets Clean Burn apart.”

Barr Truck Group recycled more than 8,000 gallons of waste oil in their Clean Burn furnaces last winter alone.

“We know we can count on our Clean Burns,” says Barrett. “The reliability and available support from our distributor allows us to focus on running our business and not worrying about our furnaces.”

For more information on Barr Truck Group visit www.barrtruck.com. For additional details on waste oil heating products available in Maryland and Southern Delaware, visit www.ecowasteoilheaters.com.

There are over 80,000 Clean Burn functional furnaces and boilers located throughout the world that burn millions of gallons of waste oil each year on-site, at the point of generation. This volume of waste oil would otherwise be transported on highway systems and pose a considerable risk to spills and/or contamination to the environment.

Clean Burn is an ENERGY STAR® partner. The company holds numerous industry certifications and works with the U.S. government, the Environmental Protection Agency and various associations to help coordinate the establishment of standards and regulations related to heat recovery and recycling efforts involving used motor oils. For more information on Clean Burn, visit www.cleanburn.com or call 1-800-331-0183.

Hampton Jitney; Running Green

By Emily J. Weitz
The Sag Harbor Express
March 12, 2011

Going green has become the trendiest thing since the mullet rocked the 80s, but there are some institutions that have been thinking about the environment since long before it was the thing to do. Hampton Jitney, which was founded in 1974 by Jim Davidson, has always been committed to conservation. Back then the Jitney was a shuttle van that operated locally.

“They would put bikes on front of Jitneys and go town to town,” says Carly Shephard, head of marketing at Hampton Jitney.

Davidson quickly saw the need for service between the East End and Manhattan and expanded the line by the late 70s.

“We’re like a big car pool for East Enders,” says Shephard. “Our original owner and our current owners (another local family – the Lynches) have always believed in this philosophy.”

That philosophy has expanded from car pooling to many other, more innovative ways of caring for the environment. There are the basic things to which the company strictly adheres, like recycling the 130 tons of newspapers read onboard by passengers annually. There’s the easy access to recycling bins in every Jitney facility, and the recycling of every water bottle passed out on board. But in addition to all this, which with the green movement have become the bare minimum for a progressive company, the Jitney has become inventive.

Recycling cans and bottles is one thing, but what about recycling oil?

“We recycle our used oil [from the motor coaches] to heat our facility here in Southampton,” says Shephard.

Through Clean Burn, a clean energy company, the Hampton Jitney has employed the use of a hot air burner that combines motor oil and transmission fluid with compressed air to create fuel for heat.

“One hundred percent of the shop heat comes from the waste oil,” Shephard says.

Along with the fuel that a fleet of motor coaches burns through, there’s also the water. Those shiny green buses don’t stay sparkling by themselves. They’re washed in the Jitney’s own indoor washing facility every night.

“The water goes to a special drain and is recycled and reused to wash more coaches,” Shephard explains.

Recycled water is used for the wash, and fresh water for the rinse. This process conserves an estimated 20,000 gallons of water every year.

The coaches themselves are much more environmentally friendly than in the past.

“All of our newer coaches,” explains Shephard, referring to any Jitney from 2008 or later, “have engines that produce 55 percent less nitrogen oxide and 90 pecent less particulate matter like soot and ash than other motor coaches produced by the same manufacturer, Prevost Coaches.”

Their emissions are cut because of a new exhaust after-treatment system in place of a traditional muffler. The system is made up of a Diesel Oxidation Catalyst and a Diesel Particulate Filter that captures and burns off soot.

“Approximately 60 coaches produce the same amount of soot that 1 manufactured in the 1970s did,” Shephard says.

All Jitneys run on a biodiesel blend, which is comprised of renewable sources such as soy and a fat-based stock. They automatically shut off after a certain period of idling, which is particularly important at stops in the city when they might be idling for 15 minutes.

The Hampton Jitney’s efforts have not gone unnoticed. The company became part of a test pilot program launched through the University of Vermont in 2007.

They were “exploring lower impact travel,” says Shephard. “They went through and made sure we were a green company, that we used clean energy technology… They classified us as Green Coach Certified.”

This Green Coach Certification Process was set up to empower consumers to choose an environmentally conscious solution when possible.

From a company that started with the intention of being “one big car pool,” the Jitney has grown into one of the primary ways that people get to and from the city. But the original intent of conservation is still at the core.

“It’s important,” Shephard says, “because we have a large community on the East End commuting, and we’re trying to take cars off the road. Our original owner and our current owners have always believed in this philosophy.”

Full story available from The Sag Harbor Express online here.

Clean Burn is the world’s leading waste oil heater producer with reliable waste oil furnace and boiler models that generate free heat by recycling used oil on site.

New Waste Oil Furnace Helps To Heat Westfield Water And Sewer Plant

By S. Alexander Gerould
The Westfield Republican
February 25, 2011

Employees at the Village of Westfield’s wastewater treatment facility will be staying much warmer this winter thanks to the addition of a new waste oil burner which was recently installed.

According to Village of Westfield Mayor Dave Carr, the new heater, which cost around $6,000, saves electricity by burning excess oil which may come from machines, cars and other sources. He said the heater, which is located in the barn which houses several important machines, puts out enough heat to warm two full-size houses.

“It’s amazing,” Carr said. “You go in there, and it’s warm.”

Steve Sandle, temporary contract chief operator of the village’s water pollution facility, said anywhere from 8-to-10,000 gallons of waste oil is produced.

“In the past, they would have that disposed of,” Sandle said, while standing in the barn which houses the new heater. “We can burn the waste oil on site … and capture enough heat to heat this building.”

Sandle and Carr said the village’s other departments can bring their waste oil to the water treatment plant so it can be used as heating material. They also said they have discussed opening a site where do-it-yourself mechanics can change their own oil in their vehicles and dispose of it at the plant.

Sandle said the village hopes to have captured the cost for the heater in five years or less.

“It’s a win-win situation for everybody,” he said.

The new heater is just one way the village is trying to improve its wastewater facility, according to Carr and Sandle. New LED lights, installed by the village’s electric department, will be put up at the facility. Sandle said the installation of the new lights will result in a 57 percent reduction in electricity consumption and the lights are expected to last 30 years.

“It was a wonderful investment,” Sandle said of the new lights.

The LED lights will help the plant’s employees, Sandle said, who often had to respond to emergencies at night and only had a flash light to provide needed lighting.

“The time was right to change out and bring in new technology,” Sandle said.

Sandle said the village is also looking at additional “green projects” designed to help the environment and save money. One such idea, he said, would be a composting site which would be open to the public.

“The whole idea is going green,” Sandle said.

Carr said he is trying to move the village forward technologically, and the new heater and LED lights, along with the installation of new electric and water meters, would benefit the village.

‘What my goal has been is to bring this village into the 21st Century,” Carr said.

Full story and photos available from The Westfield Republican online here.

Clean Burn is the world’s leading waste oil heater producer with reliable waste oil furnace and boiler models that generate free heat by recycling used oil on site.

County Calling For All Used Oil

By Tracy Overstreet
The Grand Island Independent
February 19, 2011

Hall County taxpayers can save tax money and get rid of used oil all at the same time.

The Hall County Highway Department is using used oil to fuel heaters in county maintenance sheds in Wood River, north of Grand Island and at the Grand Island main shop at 2900 W. Second

“It’s a better way of getting rid of oil for the environment,” said Hall County Roads Director Casey Sherlock. “Instead of people dumping it in a creek or in a landfill, it’s burned efficiently. It’s not a pollutant.”

Sherlock first proposed a used oil program for the county in 2006, but county supervisors rejected the idea based on the cost of buying the heaters.

Sherlock waited and then started converting the county’s heating systems to used oil burners in 2007, when systems went bad or needed replacement.

So far, the county has converted a maintenance shed in Wood River, a maintenance shed just north of Grand Island and the maintenance shop at the department’s main office at 2900 W. Second in Grand Island.

The maintenance shed north of Grand Island previously ran on propane, which cost about $2,000 a year to operate, county records showed.

The main shop in Grand Island took about $15,000 a year to run on natural gas heaters.

Since November it has been heated for free.

Hall County paid about $10,000 for a “Clean Burn” brand heater and installation at the main shop. The new heater will essentially pay for itself in the first year.

“After this year, it will be all savings,” Sherlock said.

The only thing he’s worried about is running short of oil, so he has kept the old gas heaters as backup. The Clean Burn heater uses about 2.5 gallons an hour.

What would help, Sherlock said, is if any and all Hall County taxpayers would donate their used oil.

“We can take transmission oil, hydraulic oil, engine oil — any kind of oil,” he said.

The heater can even burn bad diesel fuel.

County workers will be on hand during normal working hours to accept used oil from the public at the main shop on west Second Street. Crews work from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday during standard time in the winter months. During daylight saving time mid-March through November, they work from 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

County crews will even pick up large amounts of used oil from a farm out in the country. Sherlock said the county has a trailer and tank that can pump out farm tanks of used oil.

“It’s worth it for the free heat,” Sherlock said.

The county has about 30 pieces of heavy equipment that contribute oil to the heaters. Sheriff’s Department cars and equipment for the Parks Department also contribute to the oil stockpile that Sherlock said the county can add to year-round.

He expects savings using the used oil to increase from the $20,000 now in effect as the county converts three more maintenance sheds — ones in Cairo, Wood River and Doniphan — over to used oil heaters.

Full story and images available from The Independent online here.

Clean Burn is the world’s leading waste oil heater producer with reliable waste oil furnace and boiler models that generate free heat by recycling used oil on site.