ENVIRONMENT | July 21, 2015

NET-0 Egg Barn Blog – Breaking Ground

Net-Zero Egg Barn, Blog Post #1 – Breaking Ground: July 21/2015

In 2014, Egg Farmers of Alberta laid the foundation for a progressive and ambitious project, to design and build a Net-0 egg barn. EFA partnered with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, secured funding from Growing Forward 2 to help make the project possible, completed a feasibility study, and selected an egg farmer to work with. In April of 2015, the foundation of the industry’s first Net-0 egg barn was poured at Brant Colony!

The goal of the project is for the facility to be balanced in terms of its energy inputs and outputs, in order to achieve Net-0. Over a given year, the facility will strive to produce enough power through renewable systems to offset power supplied to it by conventional fossil fuels.

The 410’ long x 80’ wide Net-0 facility will include both pullet and layer barns, which will house the hens in a free-run aviary system. The barn structure will also include a 60’ x 60’ office area and a 60’ x 30’ manure room.

A 15’ wide hallway will run the entire width of the building, between the pullet and layer barns, acting as a viewing room. The design will enable Brant Colony to host farm tours of the Net-0 facility, while maintaining the integrity of the on-farm food safety and animal care programs.

Brant Colony’s new Net-0 barn is scheduled to go into production in early 2016. The layer barn will house 13,000 brown birds, while the pullet barn will house 15,000 brown birds (or 17,000 white birds).

 

Blog Post #2 – Raise the Roof