Operation Conservation

The spike in gasoline prices following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was a shrill wake-up call that Sampuran Khalsa, president of Nanak’s Landscaping, couldn’t ignore. With a 350-vehicle fleet, the commercial landscape maintenance company, based in Longwood, Fla., simply couldn’t afford to conduct business as usual. Gas prices were chomping away at the company’s bottom line, and Khalsa took a hard look at the business in search of ways to cut costs.

The first to go was his gas-guzzling Ford Explorer, which he traded in for a hybrid car, the Toyota Prius. Then Khalsa announced to a somewhat stunned management team that they would be expected to do the same. Today, regional and operational managers drive fuel-efficient Toyota Prius or Toyota Scion cars. Company-wide, fuel savings have been an estimated $175,000 per year.

The wholesale exchange of gas-guzzling trucks and SUVs for eco-friendly alternatives provided an “interesting cultural shift” within the company, admits Khalsa. “Our managers were shocked at first, but now they’re thrilled because they’ve gotten so much positive feedback from people in the community,” he says, adding that today customers increasingly expect and even demand these changes.

Energy conservation “is a good business practice. It lowers your costs,” Khalsa explains. At the same time, more customers are improving their own conservation efforts, so “they’re giving preferential treatment to companies that have sustainability efforts in place.”

Khalsa and his employees are constantly on the prowl for new ways to conserve energy and cut costs, and they’ve come up with some creative changes. For example, the company converted 12 Scions to irrigation service vehicles by removing the backseat and installing racks to hold irrigation equipment. The retrofitted Scions are “perfect for monthly irrigation checks and help reduce fuel consumption significantly,” says Khalsa.

Sometimes, energy efficiency happens by circumstance. While surfing the Internet one sleepless night, Khalsa came across a news item about a new Florida law that made money available to small businesses for solar installations. Khalsa checked it out and decided to invest in solar technology, which now powers Nanak’s Longwood headquarters. The state of Florida paid for half of the $160,000 system, and Khalsa secured tax breaks worth $75,000 from the federal government. The company’s out-of-pocket costs totaled $45,000, but with an 18 percent return on investment, the system should pay for itself within 5½ years.

Operational since January 2008, the solar panels have increased Nanak’s energy efficiency, slashed energy costs and cut greenhouse gases. Employees and customers can visit Nanak’s Web site daily (www.nanaks.com) to find out how much energy is being generated.

Other environmentally savvy strategies include:

• The company opened a branch near St. Augustine within 15 minutes of a significant portion of the company’s customers. The move cuts fuel consumption for crews servicing that region, who had been commuting from the Jacksonville office. The savings total $96,000 per year.
• The company has developed an eco-driving course for all drivers, with lessons on how to drive  in a more fuel-efficient fashion.
• Tires get checked every other day for proper inflation. To speed the task of filling so many tires  with air, employees created a small industrial
  wagon with an air compressor that moves from vehicle to vehicle.
• The company uses electric lawn mowers whenever noise control is an issue. While the technology isn’t adequate for wide-scale use, Khalsa is convinced that one day, electric-powered lawn equipment will play a huge role in landscape maintenance. “I think the landscape  crew of the future is going to have a battery rack instead of gas cans,” he says. I