Lifting Kansas City’s spirits with district energy

The customer

Within a renovated 19^th century stable in the Crossroads Art District of Kansas City is Lifted Spirits, a unique craft distillery and event space. Upstairs in their “Hayloft,” where horse feed and bedding were once stored, is a beautiful event space that customers can rent out to enjoy delicious spirits while making lasting memories. This former stable was constructed in the 1890s and converted into a high-end craft distillery in 2016. Ever since, Lifted Spirits has been a staple of the Kansas City community, featuring local artists’ work and hosting seasonal events. The distillery has even been recognized with awards from leading industry organizations, including the New York International Spirits Competition, International Spirits Competition, and American Distilling Institute.

The challenge

Lifted Spirits previously relied on a single onsite gas boiler to meet its energy needs. However, after a few years of navigating the complexities, repairs, and maintenance required to upkeep this aging equipment, the new owners sought an energy alternative. The challenge was finding an energy source that would reliably, cost-effectively, and sustainably supply proper control of heat and an abundance of hot water for the distilling process.

The solution

After evaluating the lifecycle costs of several energy options, Lifted Spirits’ owners decided that district energy was the optimal solution for meeting their heat and hot water needs, while also achieving significant energy savings.

Reliable service for a precise distillation process

Because the distillation process requires precise control for a significant amount of steam, a reliable and high-quality thermal energy source was crucial. Lifted Spirits chose Vicinity in part due to the 99.999% reliability rate associated with its resilient district energy system.

High-quality food-grade steam

In Kansas City, the district steam system generates food-grade steam, or culinary steam, to serve manufacturing and industrial customers who use steam in the production of food-related products. Culinary steam is necessary for the distillation process to ensure that Lifted Spirits continues to produce high-quality beverages. Providing a consistent, high-quality product is critical to Lifted Spirits’ overall business and brand reputation, helping drive customer loyalty.

Achieving cost-savings

After considering alternative boiler options and comparing the costs and efficiencies of each, Lifted Spirits chose Vicinity’s district energy system to achieve more competitive energy pricing and eliminate labor costs associated with boiler operations. Through a simple connection to the Kansas City district system funded by Vicinity, the distillery now enjoys cost effective thermal energy with minimal upfront capital costs.

Freeing up mechanical space for business operations

Without Lifted Spirits’ onsite gas boiler, the owners are able to leverage the added interior space for core business operations. Because the distillery hosts tours, tastings, and custom events, every square foot of space is valuable to enhance Lifted Spirits’ business operations and customers’ experiences.