Governor Inslee Tours WaterDrop's Manufacturing Plant
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Governor Inslee poses with Small Planet Supply staff and baby warren.
On Friday, September 8, Governor Jay Inslee and his wife, First Lady Trudi Inslee, visited our WaterDrop manufacturing plant in Tumwater for a tour. The purpose of the tour was to demonstrate to the Governor the innovative water heating technology that is being produced almost in his backyard. It was also an opportunity to showcase the partners and agencies who have helped move the WaterDrop system from an idea into a reality.
Tony Koch presents Governor Inslee with an Ecoport (CTA-2045 port) as a memento from a successful BPA Funded project which inspired WAshington state’s DEPartmentOF COMMERCE to require ecoports on all residential water heaters, 120 gallons or less.
Tony Koch, with Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), provided the Governor a fuller picture of how domestic hot water (DHW) systems like WaterDrop are helping to meet our state’s clean energy goals. He noted that this product is addressing a BPA-identified hole in meeting energy efficiency goals: the availability of commercial and large multi-family DHW heating. He also spoke about how using pre-packaged systems decreases risk and the finger pointing that sometimes happens when multiple teams are involved in an on-site custom-built system.
Jon Heller with Ecotope shared how the WaterDrop system aligns with Ecotope’s goals. “Ecotope is a mission-driven, research and planning company dedicated to the transition of the building industry to clean energy and the three things that are needed to make that happen,” Heller said. “First, stop burning fossil fuels in buildings and use efficient heat pumps instead. Second, continued focus on energy efficiency in buildings so we can free up electrical power from the utilities to run those heat pumps and to run our transportation sector. The third thing is, as the grid transitions to solar and wind, when you use energy starts to matter as much as the amount you use. So instead of just having appliances that call for energy whenever you want, we need to integrate their operation with the grid.”
“Our work with Small Planet Supply and the WaterDrop exemplifies all three of those responses,” Heller continued. “It’s creating heat pump products that can replace fossil fuel products. It’s a super-efficient product, so it uses as little electricity as possible to make hot water. And, it’s possible to program the WaterDrop so it’s not running when everybody else wants power – it’s running in the middle of the day when there’s lots of solar or when the wind is blowing.” In addition, Jon shared Ecotope’s Ecosizer with the Governor. The Ecosizer is a free web-accessible tool to designers and manufacturers to optimize calculating how many heat pumps and how many gallons of storage are needed to supply any given building.
Small Planet Supply engineer Bryan Perkins explains the WaterDrop control box’s capabilities to Governor Inslee.
Then the Governor’s tour moved inside the plant to show him WaterDrop skids in production. Small Planet Supply engineers Tom Murgatroyd and Bryan Perkins explained the components in the interior of the WaterDrop as well as detailing how the control box will enable WaterDrop to be responsive to the needs of the grid.
Albert Rooks, CEO of Small Planet Supply and WaterDrop Systems shows Governor Inslee the heat pump water heaters on the outside of the WaterDrop skid
Albert Rooks and Joseph Gosar from Impact Washington shared with the Governor how Impact Washington supported Small Planet Supply to make a pivot from being solely a sales and distribution company to one that is also in manufacturing.
“A little over a year ago, Albert Rooks and I started talking and we realized quickly that his company was focused on distribution and now he’s moving into manufacturing and it’s a whole new world,” Joseph Gosar stated. “I told Albert ‘Hey, there’s programs out here that can really help you’ and I saw his face relax, and go ‘thank goodness, there’s people out here that know how to do these things.’ So, I started gathering a team, I started helping him apply for some of the grants and programs, the customized training program, and the job skills program.”
Jon Szalai, with Kocer Consulting, which was connected to Small Planet by Impact Washington, shared how his company helps with the nuts and bolts of manufacturing. “We’re boots on the ground, working with Albert and his team on a lot of different job skills training projects, customized for them. We work at a high level working with Sara (Jones) and Albert (Rooks) strategically as they grow.”
We were pleased to have other supporters at the event, including Heidi McCutcheon, Sean Moon, and Tiffany Scroggs with the Thurston Economic Development Council.
Albert explains the purpose of using Phase Change Material instead of water to provide energy for water heating.
Also attending were: Paul Francis - Executive Director of the State Board of Community and Technical Colleges, Joyce Loveday – President of Clover Park Technical College, and Don Sosnowski – Executive Director of Clover Park Technical College’s Corporate Education.
Washington’s First Lady, Trudi Inslee, asks Albert rooks a question about system efficiency.
The final stop on the Governor’s tour was our WaterDrop system that uses phase-change material (salt) instead of water to store energy for water heating. Albert Rooks introduced this breakthrough technology to Governor Inslee. You can hear Albert’s description in the video on the right.
The Governor’s visit wasn’t ALL dry science and no fun. It turns out that the Governor has a really good sense of humor and First Lady Trudi was an unexpected but truly delightful addition to the tour. She wasn’t afraid of asking her own questions during the tour. You can see the question she asked Albert Rooks during the tour and Albert’s (and Governor Inslee’s) response.
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