Management

A company’s history and unwritten rules are a part of its culture. Thus, for many

Years ,since jeff and kim Jordan started the company they adhered to a set of ideas that expanded every year .ethical behavior towards employees ,suppliers and the whole community. a legacy that emphasized the importance of the

Individual employee and the natural environment

At a recent staff meeting of owners and owner-employees, Jeff made a proposal to the group. What did they think of the idea of meeting the facility's entire electrical needs with wind power? He explained that the company would have to pay a premium for the power, and that the expense would come out of the company's profits, possibly affecting employee owner-wages.

"There was stone silence in the group as they thought about it," says Jeff. "But the silence didn't last long. Within a minute or so we had decided as a group to become the world's largest single user of wind power."

Lebesch is a long-time advocate for alternative sources of energy, and is well aware that energy efficiency is the first step to take, because the less energy our country requires overall, the more likely emerging energy sources like wind and solar can supply it. In the 1995 design of the current New Belgium Brewery facility, Jeff, Kim and colleagues insisted on a higher level of design expectations than is typical. "Design by default was not what we wanted," says Jeff. "If ideas such as natural daylighting with 'lightpipes' are included in the design phase, they are much less expensive than if they're later added on. And they can begin to save money right away."

Other efficiency measures that cut costs and save energy are compact fluorescent fixtures and bulbs, motion detectors that turn off lights when no one is in a room, much higher levels of insulation than conventional, and passive solar design. "Really, the solar design was overkill, because we discovered that the body heat from 80 employees contributes significantly to...