by Brianna Crandall — February 9, 2022 — Chemetal, a manufacturer of metal designs and laminates for interior spaces, has expanded its solar footprint. The company added 420 panels, equaling 178 KW, to its existing rooftop solar array. The installation was completed in early fall 2021, and went live later in the fall, once all connections with the local utility were completed and approved.
Chemetal’s solar panels, now totaling 1,000, will provide more than 50% of the plant’s electricity. Image courtesy Chemetal
The company is now using all of the newer rooftop area of its 72,000-square-foot facility for solar, an array that will provide more than 50 percent of the facility’s annual electricity use.
Geoff Schaefer, Chemetal president and creative director, commented:
Adding solar is a good thing for companies to do, to use renewable energy sources. It’s a necessary step to reduce our carbon footprint.
The new solar array adds to the 560 panels the company installed in 2017, soon after the company added to its existing facility, bringing the total number to just under 1,000 panels, and the annual solar production to nearly 400 kW. As a frame of reference, a 1-2 kW array is considered adequate to power a four-person home, notes Chemetal.
As they did previously, Chemetal once again partnered with Solect Energy of Hopkinton, Massachusetts, for installation.
Chemetal is one of the world’s largest sources of metal designs and laminates for commercial and residential interiors. Chemetal makes many metal designs in-house, where its trained production crew creates works of art on metal with a manufacturing consistency.
The 50-year-old family-owned business has a strong commitment to green practices. Many of its metal products are made entirely of aluminum, the most recycled material on the planet. Some of its aluminum finishes contain up to 85 percent recycled content, offering builders and architects LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) credits. LEED is the most widely used third-party verification for green buildings.
Additionally, Chemetal designs are part of the mindful MATERIALS library, a clearing house for material manufacturers to share product transparency information in an organized format. Chemetal materials in the library conform to VOC (volatile organic compound) emissions and are free from PVC (polyvinyl chloride).
Going further, Chemetal has created Health Product Declarations (HPDs) for many of its materials. HPDs are a way to show compliance with the most rigorous green building certifications in the world, including LEED, The Living Building Challenge, and other standards that require that all materials used in a project are Red List Free. Chemetal is devoted to providing healthier materials that meet the standards of these next-generation building projects.
For more information about Chemetal’s initiatives, visit the company’s website.
