The Brewers Association (BA) recently published the new Sustainability Benchmarking Update, which highlights the best uses of utilities and unique sustainability case studies in the craft brewing industry. This update focuses on four key performance indicators (KPIs), including electricity, water, natural gas and CO2 usage per barrel. Using BA’s sustainability benchmarking tools, along with data from this benchmarking update, brewers can benchmark their use of utilities against industry leaders, gain insights on best practices and increase their efficiency to improve their bottom line.
(READ: BA publishes guidance on using sustainability textbooks)
Hundreds of craft brewers have participated in the BA’s sustainability benchmarking efforts since 2014 and have found great value in tracking their utility utilization rates and costs associated with different aspects of production. Sustainability benchmarking tools provide a platform to track monthly utility bills, identify opportunities to save energy and money, and compare performance per barrel to brewers with production comparable annual. As more breweries use the tools, the data will be stronger and drive better sustainability across the industry.
The Sustainability Benchmarking Update divides the brewery’s utility usage into the following production volume categories: 0 – 1,000 bbls/yr, 1,000 – 10,000 bbls/yr, 10,000 – 100,000 bbls/yr and 100,000+ bbls/yr. year. The update also summarizes performance on a geographic basis, comparing breweries in the following regions: North Central, Northeast, West Mountain, Pacific, Pacific Northwest, and South. Although individual brewery data is not presented in this report, some of the top performers are identified to encourage collaboration on sustainability initiatives. Case studies are also included to highlight some progressive solutions to the challenges facing brewers across the country.
