Feature | California Bountiful
WINERY continued from Page 7
sustainability practices from the ground up. When construction began in 2014, she said she had seen office buildings achieve LEED certification but not commercial wineries. The project often involved adapting familiar technologies in new ways to meet sustainability goals. “There was a lot of opportunity to come up with our own solutions with our designers and design team,” she said. Using a membrane bioreactor to recycle water is not a new idea, but Duncan hadn’t seen the technology used at a winery. After Silver Oak installed one at its Healdsburg winery, the facility began reusing wastewater that would have otherwise gone down the drain for tasks such as washing equipment and irrigation. “In that way, we kind of took a risk with trying to figure it out as we went to make sure that the water was going to be clean enough to reuse for all these different things in the winery,” Duncan said. By the time the Healdsburg winery was completed in 2017, Duncan had learned myriad approaches to making a building truly sustainable. Even choosing the materials for the building became an investigation. Duncan said she had to call manufacturers one by one, asking them to disclose the ingredients in their products or confirm that they contained none of the chemicals prohibited under Living Building Challenge certification standards. “It was extremely difficult,” she said. “There was no approved materials list like there is now,” meaning she had to build the information herself. Aside from addressing water use, the building provides nearly all its energy needs through the use of solar panels. Today, both Silver Oak locations have achieved LEED platinum certification, but their sustainability efforts continue to evolve with new technologies.
that sparked the idea. “That tour was really inspirational for him,” she recalled, adding that if they were to build a facility of the size they had in mind, “we really should be thinking about sustainability.” David Duncan wanted to make Silver Oak’s existing Napa Valley winery more sustainable. He also wanted to build a new winery in Healdsburg with sustainability in mind. One of his goals was to have both buildings earn LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design platinum certification, along with Living Building Challenge certification. Both recognize buildings designed and built to meet high standards for sustainability. In short, it would require a lot of work. All they needed was someone to lead the effort. “They were looking for someone to really own those certifications and see them through from the beginning of design through to construction,” Haley Duncan said. “I just thought it was the perfect opportunity to do something professionally, something that I’m passionate about, but also work with my family, so it’s kind of the best of both worlds.” But sustainability isn’t about just water use, said Allison Jordan, executive director of the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance. Though vineyards and wineries continue to adopt sustainability practices, expanding what sustainability looks like has been a core part of the alliance’s educational outreach, she added. “It’s sort of building the depth,” Jordan said, noting that her group tries to provide “a deeper understanding” of climate action, soil health, regenerative agriculture and the social aspects of sustainability. Duncan said working on Silver Oak’s Alexander Valley winery gave her a chance to incorporate
Hirigoyen, who oversees Silver Oak’s vineyards, said the company often works with researchers who are testing new approaches to sustainable farming. More recently, Norway-based Saga Robotics has been testing ultraviolet-C technology at Silver Oak’s ranches as a possible alternative to traditional crop spraying. “Where we excel is that we’re able to rigorously incorporate these tools, try them, see if they drive decisions, see if they have a measurable impact on quality, on efficiency, on sustainability,” he said. Duncan said her work is often guided by an unofficial Silver Oak tagline: “We have yet to make our best bottle.” She said that philosophy permeates through all the work she does, including advancing sustainability efforts. “We always want to be improving and learning more about how we could be better stewards of our land and a more responsible business overall,” Duncan said. “We’re never done improving.” Haley Duncan, above left, sustainability manager of Silver Oak Cellars, led efforts to make company’s Oakville and Healdsburg wineries green and energy-efficient. Both buildings have earned a LEED certification, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. At top is Silver Oak winemaker Dan Kemp at work at the Healdsburg winery.
Manola Secaira is a staff writer for Ag Alert. She can be reached at msecaira@cfbf.com.
8 California Bountiful | Fall 2026
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