Graphics company goes green - We've got solar power!
Posted by
Erika Leaf on Tue, Jan 17, 2012 @ 01:31 PM
Imagine Group, working with Advanced Energy Systems, has completed the installation of a 30KW solar electric system on the roof of the Imagine Group building located at 990 Garfield in Eugene.
Partial funding of the project came from the now expired Federal Grant for Renewable Energy, a local grant offered through EWEB and the Oregon State Business Energy Tax Credit. The panels will produce over 33,000 kWh of electricity annually, providing about 30% of Imagine Group’s needs. Environmental benefits over the life of the system are estimated to result in the savings of the equivalent of 450 tons of CO2 from being released into the environment.
Imagine Group owners, Chris Meeker and Erika Leaf, believe in sustainability as a business and personal ethos and also as a strategy to improve profitability. “We already have a robust recycling program in place for materials used in our printing and manufacturing processes, and we were thrilled to build on that by reducing our company’s energy footprint with solar generation. AES made it easy to take advantage of the local, state and federal incentives that were offered for new photovoltaic systems. And now we get to receive the benefits of these solar panels every time the sun shines for decades to come!” says Leaf, who also drives a 100% electric car, the Nissan LEAF.
Imagine Group is a member of the GreenLane Sustainable Business Network and has provided signs, graphics and commercial photography to the local business and non-profit community since 1993.