St. Patrick’s Day might be over, but this kind of “green” beer is always in style.
Otto’s Pub & Brewery owner Charlie Schnable hopes to eventually purchase a second brewing site, one he’d like to make “green” by using solar energy, reclaiming waste products and reducing pollution.
With the help of some students in Penn State professor Andy Lau’s Sustainable Design class, Schnable’s already sustainable restaurant could reach new heights when it comes to “green” engineering. Otto’s currently incorporates solid waste from brewing into its menu products and purchases local products, among other endeavors.
“I wouldn’t say beer is a frontrunner for the most pollution in the U.S., but every little bit helps,” said senior Andrew Glover, a Sustainable Design student.
Engineering student John Devereaux sees one advantage to this “green” beer: “You feel good about yourself while you drink it,” he said.
Glover and four other students will come up with ideas for Schnable to use for a future brewing site, though a fully sustainable brewery, which could cost $70,000, is out of Otto’s price range.
“Brewing beer is such a traditional process,” said Devereaux. “The process hasn’t advanced that much, and a lot of breweries don’t want to change the way they do things.”
Schnable doesn’t mind change that helps the environment.
Otto’s brewing process uses 1,000 gallons of hot water each day that’s heated by natural gas and electricity.
Last week the students toured Otto’s and began exploring options to reduce energy use through solar water heaters and energy captured from re-used steam and wastewater.
“The whole idea of a sustainable world is the foundation of what we should be doing at Penn State,” said Lau. “People go into engineering to make the world a better place.”
Lau, who is teaching the Sustainable Design class for the fourth time, has other student teams researching sustainable projects in
Now that the federal stimulus bill is giving $300 million in rebates for energy-efficient appliances, it might be time to upgrade your refrigerator.
View more stories about going green and get tips on how to improve your impact on the environment at www.centredaily.com/green
campus dining halls, Penn State’s laundry services and the State College Area School District.
“A key aspect of sustainable design is interdisciplinary teams,” Lau said. “You don’t normally think of a restaurant as a place where there’s a lot of engineering, but in the not-too-distant future, we will be thinking about this stuff in everything we do.”
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