Hardyston storage facility featrued in magazine

HARDYSTON — The August issue of Mini-Storage Messenger featured Highlands Self-Storage, from Hardyston, as their Going Green Case Study.
Highlands Self-Storage opened their first storage facility 10 years ago.
In 2015, Jonathan and Allison Brett decided to expand and build a state-of-the-art storage building powered by solar energy. They also incorporated an ultramodern, beautiful, climate-controlled wine storage in the building. To save money and the headaches of dealing with multiple contractors, the Bretts signed with Kautz Construction, a single-source solution contractor, who also has a solar division, KC Green Energy.
Their investment in going solar has saved them a lot of money and has reduced their carbon footprint. Due to their solar investment and New Jersey’s profitable SREC program, which is one of the best in the country, Highlands experienced a net gain of over $17,000 last year. It’s like having an additional $17,000/year storage tenant, says Jonathan. NJ presently ranks fifth in the nation for electric generation from solar panels.
Overall, Jonathan estimates they saved over $100,000 in the last three years, and they have passed along some of that savings to their customers by maintaining reasonable storage rates. Due to their savings and the success of their business, Highlands plans to expand again in 2019. The Bretts plan to build another state-of-the-art storage building powered by solar. According to Jonathan, “If you have a commercial building in the state of New Jersey, you are crazy if you don’t utilize solar.” Jonathan also wants to take advantage of the 30 percent Federal Investment Tax Credit which decreases substantially after 2019. Jonathan’s goal with their next building is to ensure customer satisfaction while operating their facility efficiently and environmentally friendly.
Visit Highlands Storage in Hardyston and check out their Live Solar Efficiency Panel which reports on their energy generation and the environmental benefits. Presently their solar panels have generated enough energy equivalent to saving 52,176 gallons of gas and saving 11,594 trees.