Beer wholesaler goes green with NYC’s largest private solar installation by an American company
On Wednesday, Union Beer Distributors activated the largest private solar installation by an American company in the NYC metropolitan area. The array will generate 100kW of power on the roof of the 120,000 sq. ft. Williamsburg, Brooklyn beer wholesaler, a division of the family owned and operated L. Knife & Son Companies.
"Our new solar array at Union Beer will significantly offset the facility's high demand for refrigeration in the summer season," said Michael Brophy, corporate facilities manager for L. Knife & Son Companies. "Nationwide, this is our second major solar project this year and it will help us to continue to provide the public with the freshest and best quality beer while strengthening our commitment to the environment, to our suppliers and to our customers."
"Environmental stewardship has long been a part of our company's culture" states Chris Sheehan, general manager of Union Beer Distributors. Since 1992, the Sheehan Family Foundation has contributed more than $12 million to local environmental and educational charities. "It’s always exciting to integrate our green initiatives right into our daily operations," adds Sheehan. "We are substantially reducing our carbon footprint with a technology that makes sound business sense."
While Union Beer Distributors has been implementing carbon-reducing strategies for years, a recently passed tax abatement program for solar installations made this major initiative more feasible. "This project is a shining example of a customer's vision to harness the power of the sun to save money and reduce greenhouse gases," said Robert Schimmenti, vice president for engineering and planning for Con Edison, the utility company that serves New York City. "We encourage our other customers to explore whether solar power could work for them. The incentives the federal, state and city governments offer make this a great time to consider solar."
Union Beer's solar array was installed by NYC based altPower, Inc. The panels were manufactured in Delaware, the mounting system was manufactured by Sunlink in California, and the solar inverter was manufactured by Solectria in Massachusetts. By comparison, Union Beer's solar installation will generate 40% more power than the 70 kW system installed by Tishman Speyer in Rockefeller Center in 2008, which was previously the largest private installation in New York City. To date, the only larger private solar array in the NYC metropolitan area was a 168 kW system installed by the Swedish furniture retailer, IKEA.
Union Beer, the L. Knife & Son Companies, and the Sheehan Family Foundation have a long history of stewardship and community-minded philanthropy, having received a number of national and regional environmental awards in the areas of recycling, land conservation, wetlands protection and humanitarian efforts. The L. Knife & Son Cos. were also recognized as Beverage World Magazine's 2010 Beverage Wholesaler of the Year for their dedication to innovation and outstanding service.
Related resources:
- Learn more about the L. Knife & Son Companies
- Learn more about solar power with Con Edison
- View high resolution images of the new solar installation at Union Beer
