Open Shutter Gallery, a “shining example” for retail success and sustainability

DURANGO, Colo. – A gallery is purportedly the most energy consumptive of retail operations, but that hasn’t stopped Open Shutter from being a “shining example” for energy sustainability in Historic Downtown Durango.

Durango’s only contemporary fine art photography gallery, Open Shutter relocated from its original location on Second Ave. to 735 Main Ave. in Spring 2008. As part of the transformation of the historic brick building, owners Margy and Henry Dudley literally covered the roof with photovoltaic (PV) panels. The “light intensive” gallery thus makes almost no impact on the proverbial electricity grid.

“When we put all the lighting in for the gallery – and we do leave some of them on at night – I asked, ‘How can we off-set this?’” said Henry Dudley, who has long been a proponent of renewable energy and first became interested in solar power in the 1970s. “We had this perfect roof spot, so I thought, what a good way to off-set the ‘extra’ power we’re using to have a gallery.”

While energy efficient lighting (compact fluorescent bulbs, LEDs) is growing in popularity and application, it isn’t (yet) suited for galleries. Open Shutter utilizes CFLs in some overhead lighting, but the artwork itself is illuminated with halogen lights – 90, 50-watt bulbs.

“We’ve got 12.16 kilowatts on the roof,” said Dudley, referencing the 64-panel solar array. “On a good fall day, we’ll produce 70 to 80 kilowatt hours. There’s a link from the home page (www.openshuttergallery.com), you can go to and see how much power we’re producing at any one moment. It’s great because you can actually see how efficient they (the panels) are and how much power they produce.”

According to Solar Worx, the certified solar company that handled the installation for Open Shutter, the array will generate about 23,000 kilowatt hours during the course of the year. Since “firing up” the panels on April 24, 2008, the array has generated (at this writing) enough energy to power nearly 200 homes for one day, while avoiding nearly 12,000 lbs. of green house gas emissions.

The gallery is also set up for net-metering with La Plata Electric Association, which enables excess power to be supplied back to the electric cooperative, and though on some good days the meter does spin backwards, at this juncture the average is such that LPEA is not paying the gallery for power generation.

“The bottom line is we use more power than we thought,” said Dudley. “We’re going to produce most of our power, but not all of our power.”

For the electricity they do consume, they pay the premium to LPEA to purchase “Green Power,” or electricity generated from a renewable resource. And, as specified by energy efficiency experts, the Dudleys have followed the correct protocols – doing what they could structurally with the building to reduce their energy consumption, in spite of the need for artificial lighting.

“We’re using natural light with these glass blocks,” said Henry, of the blocks that allow for the framing and packaging room in the back to be entirely lit with ambient light during the day. “It’s amazing how much light there is.”

“The glass brick was one of the contractor’s ideas,” said Margy, referencing David Mainhart of Progressive Builders. “That wall (on the north side of the gallery) was falling apart, and he said we had to take the wall down, so why don’t we put in some light. So we went crazy with the glass bricks. I never used to like them, but they’re effective.”

Indeed, Margy Dudley’s design eye – combining the historic with contemporary – proved exceedingly effective with the gallery. The space was literally gutted, the walls taken back to the original red brick and the ceilings removed to expose the ducts and piping – adding an industrial look often seen in the lofts of New York or San Francisco. The details that once had been a part of the building’s original tenant, a savings and loan (such as the vault) were cleaned up, restored and incorporated into the design. Plus the old roof was insulated with energy-saving R-38 insulation.

And because a piece of building a sustainable economy is shopping local, Margy did just that when furnishing the gallery, purchasing, for example, rugs from Lime Berry, contemporary furnishings from Popoli and the lighting from Light Art.

“You don’t want to see a Main street that’s boarded up because local businesses couldn’t make it,” said Margy.

“I wasn’t sure what to do with the front,” she continued. “If we had changed it, we’d have to bring it back to the Victorian look, which we didn’t want to do. But we could replace the glass.”

“We installed UV and thermal panes, where it was just straight glass before, and it wasn’t safety glass,” said Henry, adding that they also installed a variable speed, two-stage, highly efficient air conditioning unit. They grapple with the loss of heat or air conditioning with the open front door.

“I want people to feel comfortable,” said Margy, acknowledging that galleries are often intimidating to the uninitiated. “As (gallery owner) Karyn Gabaldon says, people need to see in, and it helps if the doors are open.”

In addition to being a “physical” example for sustainability, Open Shutter enhances the “social” fabric of the community. Margy opens the gallery to non-profit organizations for fund raising events, and works with both the high school and Fort Lewis to involve students as interns.

The photography shows (which change every one to two months), often draw attention to global and local issues – ranging from awareness of Afghanistan to a retrospective of the Missionary Ridge fires, a show that raised $26,000 for Helping Hands, the organization established to help victims and firefighters. The most recent show featuring local photographer Gunnar Conrad raised $3500 for Project Merry Christmas.

Margy Dudley is a photographer by avocation, training and profession, but when arriving in Durango ten years ago, she recognized the need for a photography gallery and put her own work aside.

“I’d met an awful lot of photographers, and I realized we didn’t need another one – we needed a place to show our work,” said Margy. “I like having a central place where people can come and learn about photography and see unique things – see things they might have to go to a larger city to see. I try to keep it different all the time. I want to keep people guessing.”

The move to Main Ave., including the renovations and energy efficiency efforts, was indeed an investment for the Dudleys, but worth it according to both. As the business relies heavily on tourism or one-time customers, capturing them while they’re in town is vital.

“We counted visitors one day in the summer,” said Margy. “We stopped counting at 250 people. Up at the other place we might have gotten 25 in the same period of time. It’s sad that just one block makes such a difference, but for a gallery business, you really have to be where people just happen by.”

And as to the investment in solar on the building – which in the industry has stabilized between $9 and $10 per watt installed – Henry has no regrets. Solar systems are eligible for federal tax credits – which help with the up-front cost – as does the $3,000 rebate from LPEA.

“When I figured it out, netting out the federal tax credit in the first year and assuming about an 8 percent inflation rate for electricity, the cash on cash rate of return winds up being about 6 percent,” said Henry, assuming a 25-year rate of return as the panels are guaranteed for 25 years. “And that doesn’t include any depreciation or any other tax benefit. It’s a lot better than money market funds to day.

“Plus it’s something that is important to both Margy and me. It feels good to be one of the businesses Downtown doing this,” he continued. “We wanted to be an example for other people. There’s a lot of roof here in Downtown. It’s amazing how much roof area could be used for just this purpose.”

Open Shutter’s solar panels are not visible from Main Ave., per historic design guidelines, though part of the array is visible from Narrow Gauge and the railroad tracks in back. Henry welcomes the opportunity, however, to explain the system and help others explore renewable energy and energy efficient ideas.

On January 9, Open Shutter will host the opening reception for “FOCUS – The Community Show” featuring the works of local photographers. The show is set to run through January 21. 

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