Greenville Business Magazine 2010 April issue : Page 48
››emerging companies BY KATRINA DANIEL Kevin Thivierge and Johnathan Elkins | PHOTOGRAPHS BY OLIVER YU FOTOGRAPHIE Integrity Energy Solutions, LLC The “Go Green” bandwagon is gathering steam as newer, younger, smarter companies vie for innovative ways to establish themselves in a booming market while searching for new methods to heat and cool our homes. Greenville’s newest green company, Integrity Energy Solutions, is a perfect example. Founded by Jonathan Elkins and partners, this new, young company came into being because a curious guy with a degree in education decided to explore the viability of radiant heat and insulation to solve an energy problem in his own home. By chance, Elkins stumbled upon a solution to the high costs of air conditioning during a South Carolina summer. That answer, he believes, is a reflective insulation product known as Radiant Barrier. Elkins says, “I bought my house in July of 2007. The upstairs in this house would easily reach 85 degrees during the 48 GREENVILLEBUSINESSMAG.COM | APRIL 2010 heat of the summer and the A/C unit couldn’t do anything about it. My two young children had a hard time sleeping in their rooms due to the excessive heat. We realized we would lose thousands of dollars if we tried to sell the house. (So) I searched for more options.” Online research brought Elkins to Radiant Barrier. “Conventional mass fiberglass insula- tion, which is in the majority of homes here in the Upstate, no matter how thick (it is), has no ability to block out or shield radiant heat energy which can account for as much as 93 percent of summer heat gain and 75 percent of winter heat loss. Those (mass fiberglass) products are only designed to slow down conduction of heat energy. Radiant barriers are materials installed to reduce summer heat gain and winter heat loss. They reduce building heating and cooling energy and usage.” “A radiant barrier,” continues Elkins, “reflects radiant heat back towards its source, reflecting as much as 97 percent. Radiant barriers are designed to block the effects of radiant heat gain in homes by reflecting heat back rather than absorbing it. This provides substantial energy savings in warm climates.” So Elkins, the guy who might have been a teacher, now sells and installs customized radiant barrier systems in new homes and offices. Elkins claims he had no fears about launching a new company during tough economic times, “It was a no-brainer. Economic times like these make people sit down and assess their budget and expenditures.Many do not realize how much money they are actually spending on energy costs. This was a great time to start because it is a time when people are looking to spend a little now in order to save in the long run.” www.integrityenergysolutions.com Jonathan Elkins 864-354-7244
>>emerging companies
Katrina Daniel
Integrity Energy Solutions, LLC
The “Go Green” bandwagon is gathering steam as newer, younger, smarter companies vie for innovative ways to establish themselves in a booming market while searching for new methods to heat and cool our homes.
Greenville’s newest green company, Integrity Energy Solutions, is a perfect example. Founded by Jonathan Elkins and partners, this new, young company came into being because a curious guy with a degree in education decided to explore the viability of radiant heat and insulation to solve an energy problem in his own home.
By chance, Elkins stumbled upon a solution to the high costs of air conditioning during a South Carolina summer. That answer, he believes, is a reflective insulation product known as Radiant Barrier.
Elkins says, “I bought my house in July of 2007. The upstairs in this house would easily reach 85 degrees during the heat of the summer and the A/C unit couldn’t do anything about it. My two young children had a hard time sleeping in their rooms due to the excessive heat. We realized we would lose thousands of dollars if we tried to sell the house. (So) I searched for more options.”
Online research brought Elkins to Radiant Barrier.
“Conventional mass fiberglass insulation, which is in the majority of homes here in the Upstate, no matter how thick (it is), has no ability to block out or shield radiant heat energy which can account for as much as 93 percent of summer heat gain and 75 percent of winter heat loss. Those (mass fiberglass) products are only designed to slow down conduction of heat energy. Radiant barriers are materials installed to reduce summer heat gain and winter heat loss. They reduce building heating and cooling energy and usage.”
“A radiant barrier,” continues Elkins, “reflects radiant heat back towards its source, reflecting as much as 97 percent. Radiant barriers are designed to block the effects of radiant heat gain in homes by reflecting heat back rather than absorbing it. This provides substantial energy savings in warm climates.” So Elkins, the guy who might have been a teacher, now sells and installs customized radiant barrier systems in new homes and offices.
Elkins claims he had no fears about launching a new company during tough economic times, “It was a no-brainer. Economic times like these make people sit down and assess their budget and expenditures. Many do not realize how much money they are actually spending on energy costs. This was a great time to start because it is a time when people are looking to spend a little now in order to save in the long run.”
www.integrityenergysolutions.com
Jonathan Elkins 864-354-7244
Dignity Pet Mortuary
We Americans are devoted to our pets – our dogs, cats, potbellied pigs, parrots, and ferrets. We show our devotion by spending about one billion dollars on them each year.
So it makes perfect sense then, that when a beloved companion animal dies, its owner would want to honor their time together with a service, a memorial of some kind. That’s exactly what Sandra Martin thought.
Sandra’s new business was born after a friend’s beloved pet died, ”I was inspired by a close friend who lost her dog. I was working as a funeral director at a local funeral home when she called. She was devastated with the passing of her dog and it was 60 lbs! She asked if I could cremate it at the funeral home crematory, to which I replied ‘no’ because of course it’s illegal to cremate animals where humans are cremated, but I knew where to go for a pet cremation.”
Martin collected the deceased pet, took it to an animal crematory, and then placed the dog’s ashes in an urn, “I delivered everything, including a death certificate to her the next day and she was so thankful she implored me to help others like her.”
Martin’s services grew to include more than just carrying a deceased pet to a crematorium, “I provide people with options other than just the usual direct cremation. For example, burial in a cemetery owned by the CCA, Concerned Citizens for Animals, a service beforehand at the funeral home with a minister and flowers, sign-in book and memorial cards.”
“I provide other services too,” she continues, “taxidermy, granite tombstones and caskets in different sizes. I have a casket maker that hand builds them with care and love, I have music and create DVD memorials, and order casket sprays from local florists. Pall bearers are on contract and accompany us in the hearse van to the cemetery, a dignified burial just like mankind but for pet kind.”
Martin goes above and beyond the gravesite, offering monthly therapy and counseling for grieving pet owners, “We have a minister that will pray with you, console you and read Bible verses pertaining to God’s love for His animals.”
“I also provide, at no charge, free funerals for our K-9 police officers because I have a great respect for them.”
Martin, a single mom with three kids, two dogs, and two cats, says she can relate to pet owners who have lost their best furry friends. “I am surprised that my business continues to grow. The reaction from people calling me is positive, encouraging and curious,” she says.
www.dignitypetmortuaryservice.com
Sandra Martin- 864-303-6606
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