Tiny Diner, the soon-to-open seventh eatery from her Bryant Lake Bowl Restaurant Group, will sport a 22-kilowatt solar array that doubles as a patio roof.
“Our reflectors are translucent, so you can see the sky above them,” Bartmann said. “They reflect the hot light into the solar panel and let the cool air come through. We designed it that way, specifically. We have gutters underneath so people can sit under there in the rain.”
Though the Tiny Diner building is minuscule, Bartmann believes the solar array may be one of the largest visible in the metro. The array measures almost 60 feet by 60 feet and weighs nearly 30,000 pounds.
“It’s creating a lot of excitement. It’s a really cool, big, shiny object,” she said. “It’s also one of the very first and largest dedicated-structure solar arrays.”
Most solar installations are on the ground or on top of a roof, but Tiny Diner’s is built on a custom steel framework. In December, a crane was used to place the largest single photovoltaic array ever lifted in one piece in Minnesota, possibly in all of North America, said Tom Reinke, director of Sundial Solar Consultants, who installed the system.
Bartmann believes that the building’s visibility is a powerful endorsement of solar power, but she also sees the tangible benefits of going solar.
“It does ‘spin our meter backwards,’ ” she said. “The energy it produces comes off our bill. Restaurants use a lot of energy, and energy efficiency is one of the most significant steps a restaurant can take. To engage in energy production and efficient technology helps my bottom line.”
Tiny Diner’s system produces enough energy to power from four to six average residential homes.
Bartmann also is working to convince others of the business case for alternative-energy sources.
“Regardless of whether you believe in climate change or are a friend of the environment, if you own a business, it is costing you money to not engage in energy and water efficiency and produce less waste. When you do those things, you discover other things in your business that are of an operational benefit.”
Bartmann’s use of energy-efficient technologies carries across all her restaurants. The Red Stag Supperclub opened in 2007 with a LEED-CI Silver Certification, the first in Minnesota. Pat’s Tap has a 10-kilowatt solar array on its roof, and Bartmann anticipates a LEED Retail Platinum certification.
“We have more work to do with energy efficiency, and there’s always new technology,” Bartmann said.
Bryant Lake Bowl Restaurant Group
Owner: Kim Bartmann
Headquarters: Minneapolis (above Barbette)
Revenue:$12.5 million
Employees: More than 300
Year founded: First restaurant opened in 1991
Web: TinyDiner.com
Source: http://www.bizjournals.com
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