Urban Grid capitalizing on interest in solar energy

Blue Crump started Urban Grid Solar Inc. in 2010 after seeing a growing interest in solar energy.

"From an installation and equipment cost perspective, solar energy is less expensive now than it has been historically," he said. "Energy rates will increase. This allows for businesses to hedge against those rising costs."

The company is a Richmond-based renewable-energy development firm and a general and alternative energy systems contractor. It also provides solar financing and development, solar installations, energy monitoring and services in other renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar thermal hot water.

"As the business has evolved, the energy sector, especially solar, has outpaced anything we do," Crump said.

From 2010 to 2011, Urban Grid's revenue grew 200 percent. In 2012, the company will focus on developing energy projects in Richmond and Annapolis, Md., where it has a second sales office, Crump said.

"We'll also concentrate on the Northeast, where utility projects are the highest," Crump said. "There are a lot of energy incentives in Washington, D.C., and Maryland, which creates a lot more opportunity in Northern Virginia and the Beltway."

The company also is looking at opportunities in Connecticut and Pennsylvania.

"We want to expand," Crump said.

Besides expanding its core business, the company recently started Urban Grid Mechanical. The company in Ashland works with businesses to identify strategies to lower energy consumption.

"We manage and control the consumption of energy in a building," Crump said of the new business.

When Crump started Urban Grid, he brought in partners Frank DePew, Greg Haley and Ken Gorvey.

"Our backgrounds complemented one another," Crump said, noting that he had worked in the green building industry. "Frank's background is in finance, Ken's is in accounting and Greg's is in large-scale commercial building."

The company mainly works with engineers and architects.

"We give them the tools to incorporate renewables into their projects," Crump said.

Urban Grid has a residential division.

"We are still doing a lot of green and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)-certified building. We seek out projects that are a good fit for us," Crump said.

Urban Grid completed the first U.S. Green Building Council LEED gold-certified residential project in the Fan District in 2011. The Grove Avenue home has a green roof and a solar thermal and solar photovoltaic array of panels.

It also has a commercial division that works with medium-to-large businesses. The company works on federal and state projects.

Urban Grid has opportunities to work on state and federal government projects as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which allocated funds for energy-efficient and renewable-energy projects.

The company is working on two state projects: the 14th Street Parking Garage and the Virginia Distribution Center in Sandston.

The 14th Street project includes solar panels on the top of the garage that will provide shading for cars while generating electricity for the garage. "It is expected to offset 100 percent of the parking deck's energy consumption," Crump said.

Another project included installing a vertical-axis wind turbine at Virginia Commonwealth University. "It will be interesting to measure and monitor the winds that pass through Richmond and help offset their electric costs," Crump said.

Urban Grid also works on privately funded projects. It recently installed solar panels on the three hangars at Million Air, a Henrico County-based air charter service.

Million Air's owner, Mark Cooke, found it was easy to work with Urban Grid on the project.

"They kept us updated daily," he said. "They are extremely professional."

Scott Elliff, president of DuCard Vineyards in Madison County, worked with Urban Grid in 2010 to install solar panels that provide electricity to run the vineyard's wine-tasting operation.

"We use the sun to ripen the grapes and also to power our operations," Elliff said. "I found Urban Grid to be very competent and responsive to everything we were doing."