Making a transition to a “green” organization can be a self fulfilling action, as well as an attempt to be more environmentally sound in a current economy where green practices continue to be increasingly common in many industries. 

One company has announced plans to break into the green segment with a complete shift from the electrical grid, a traditional system, to a completely environmentally friendly practice.

Cardinal Laboratories, a manufacturer of pet products, on Oct. 29, will officially covert its manufacturing and distribution center to a complete, 100 percent solar
powered energy efficient facility. The project was a combined effort of Cardinal and the Solar Partnership Program of Azusa, California. 

Tony De Vos, president of Cardinal, said that, despite the current economy, the changes are not only good for professional reasons, but is the socially responsible thing to do. 

“Cardinal is proud to be one of the companies leading the way toward a more environmentally responsible future,” De Vos said. “Looking at our environment from the big picture point of view, taking steps to get off the power grid and reduce our carbon footprint makes sense for our company, our world and future generations.”

With the new solar powered facility, Cardinal is now completely off the power grid, harvesting enough power with the solar system that it's sending electricity back to its local utility. 

And, as the first completely solar powered facility in Azusa, and in addition to being the first manufacturing and distribution center in the pet care products industry to go solar, the company also replaced many power-drawing items with energy-efficient alternatives. 

Cardinal officials said that the company replaced outdated skylights with new prismatic units, installed occupancy sensors in rooms and installed a white roof with 320 American-made solar panels from San Diego's Siliken Renewable Energy, covering 5,440 square feet of roof space over the Cardinal facility.

 

The new implementations have significantly reduced the energy load so drastically that Cardinal is able to install air conditioning in the factory, which the employees greatly appreciate, especially in the hot and humid California summers.