Mansfield, Mass. -- The Belknap White Group (BWG) doesn’t just market and sell eco-friendly floor covering products. The firm is one of the first companies to embody the green movement by retrofitting its buildings with energy-saving, environmentally sound, green technology.

“Eight years ago, we started out looking at ways for our company to not just be conscious of the green movement, but to get more involved,” said Stephen Mancini, executive vice president, Logistics of The Belknap White Group. “We did our research, and found out that if we were to outfit our buildings with state-of-the-art exterior solar panels… not only would we ultimately be saving energy, we could qualify for tax credits and recognize savings in our electrical bills.”

Mancini stated that the roof of the firm’s Mansfield, Massachusetts main building, which basically housed inventory, “was 25 years old, whereas in relatively good condition, could use an upgrading. We soon discovered there were three areas which would benefit us, if we decided to go with an exterior solar panel program. First of all, we could receive governmental tax credit. Secondly, we would qualify for solar renewable energy credit. And last, which initially we thought would be the main item to target, we’d be able to cut back on power and electricity expense.”

The Mansfield office is comprised of three different roofs, with the warehouse roof being about 70% of the space. BWG estimated it would need approximately 3,000 panels to effectively cover the warehouse roof. The installation of these panels took longer than planned due to harsh New England winters, and rather than being completed in February of this year, the project was finished in June. “We recognized significant changes immediately,” Mancini added. “We noticed our electricity consumption going down and our tax credits coming in. Soon, we’ll be collecting our quarterly renewable energy credits, and at that time will be looking forward to receiving our much anticipated reduced electricity bill.”

The process of adding solar panels continues to be an ongoing one at Belknap White. Mancini says that a variety of factors, including geographic location, roof design, temperature, and others will determine the number of panels needed moving forward for its other locations but the company plans to continue its solar panel retrofitting program.

For more information, visit www.belknapwhite.com.