Overview

Since 1921, Westerleigh Concepts has been a leading innovator in the union printing and mailing industry, specializing in political printing for local, state, and national campaigns. Westerleigh’s combination of state-of-the-art equipment and unmatched experience has instilled confidence in their clients who rely on them for high-quality printing and quick turnarounds. Westerleigh has earned its reputation as the go-to political printing and direct mail marketing firm for local, state, and national campaigns.  Westerleigh’s commercial printing operation is located in South Plainfield, NJ.  The owner has been interested in solar for several years and is environmentally conscious as evidenced by the solar array at his residence.  He was interested in offsetting his electric usage, reducing his energy costs, installing a new energy efficient roof, and installing conditioning equipment on the roof to make the plant floor more comfortable for the workers in the summertime.

Challenge

In order to offset the company’s annual usage with solar, and condition the shop air, it was necessary to remove all unused equipment on the roof to maximize the footprint for solar.  In addition, three separate electric meters served the building.  In NJ, a solar array can only service one electric meter so in order to offset the building’s entire usage (aggregate usage from all 3 meters) it would be necessary to combine the 3 electric services into one single account/meter.

Solution

Our roofing partner installed a new energy efficient membrane roofing system.  Our HVAC and electrical contractor then installed (2) 20 ton and (2) 25 ton AC units and combined the electric services into a single account.  This required considerable coordination with PSE&G, the local electric utility.  ECS installed a 309.68 kW SunPower ballasted solar system that offsets Westerleigh’s full annual usage.

Benefits

Westerleigh can now control the temperature and humidity of the shop floor. Their facility is now energy independent as the solar array offsets their annual electric consumption. Westerleigh can promote the fact that the print materials they create are manufactured with Green energy.