Sustainable Business: Crumb Brothers

  Crumb Brothers Bakery is a warm, inviting, and sustainable business right here in Logan. When you walk in the doors, the first thing you notice is the beautiful natural lighting, the warm wood on the walls and of course…the aroma of freshly baked bread.

            I had the great opportunity to take a tour of the building with the bakery owner, Bill Oblock. He graciously showed me around the building and pointed out the various sustainable aspects of the business. The owner stated that he looked to the LEED Sustainable Building Standards for inspiration and guidance in the design. 

The first thing that caught my eye was the beautiful wood the walls were made of. The bulk of the walls are made of repurposed wood and beams from the Great Salt Lake Trestle. The wood had been essentially “pickled” in the salty water and had a wonderful texture and grit to it. The doorways are made from sustainable fast-growing hardwood from Latin America.

In the backrooms, huge windows that cover many walls in the room light the work area. The natural lighting reflects off of “light shelves” that direct the light down onto the work areas. This is fairly common in Scandinavia where there is little daylight available. Thick wooden beams stretch over the workspace; Bill said that he was inspired by the San Francisco bay area “arts and craft” design.

On the outside of the building, there is a large solar wall, the energy generated by this wall helps to preheat the air that flows through the building. This helps save energy by 10% in the business. All around the building are beautiful “water-wise” plants, most of which are native to Utah. One of the most sustainable aspects of this building is the Geothermal heating system that they use for heating and cooling. Bill said that the system was one of the biggest investments in the construction of the building, but it is very close to paying itself off. 

Bill Oblock said that his decision to incorporate sustainable practices at Crumb Brothers was a two part decision. He said that business production drains energy and the more energy a business can create for itself the more money it will save. He also said that a large part of his reasoning came from his personal philosophy about responsibility and business. 

Crumb Brothers Bakery is a great example of a business that not only has great products, but is sustainable in the creation of those products. The Crumb Brothers mission statement states that the business will "strive to set the standard for Northern Utah in providing a quality product in the most environmentally and socially responsible manner as possible." With so many sustainable business practices in place, Crumb Brothers appears to have a bright, and tasty, future ahead.