Insuring the future

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Frustrated by the theft of several Ford® sedans, in 1915 Alvin Alderfer gathered the community's leading citizens at Tyson's Hotel in Harleysville, Pa., to discuss his idea of forming an association. Like the horse-theft societies area farmers had used for many years to spread risk among many, Alderfer proposed to form an association to protect their cars. Each member would contribute a small membership fee to a fund that would pay the costs of recovering or replacing any of the members' stolen cars. The first meeting was the beginning of what is now known as Harleysville Mutual Insurance Co.

Nearly 100 years later, Harleysville Mutual Insurance's territory has expanded far beyond the quiet Pennsylvania community that shares its name, but it maintains its headquarters in the same town where it all began.

Currently, Harleysville Mutual Insurance's network is represented by about 1,700 employees and 1,300 agencies in 32 states. It provides a variety of insurance-related products and services, including property, casualty and life insurance.

Continuing Alderfer's 1915 vision to protect its community, in 2008 Harleysville Mutual Insurance embarked on a journey to protect the environment and conserve natural resources. It began upgrading its headquarters' lighting and HVAC controls, and in 2009, the company installed an ice storage and air-conditioning system.

In 2010, Harleysville Mutual Insurance expanded its green initiatives and contacted Tecta Solar, a division of Tecta America Corp., Rosemont, Ill., to install a 511.5-killowatt ballasted solar photovoltaic (PV) roof system on its headquarters building.

Building the energy

Construction of the new roof system began Nov. 30, 2010, when Harleysville Mutual Insurance installed a new white Sarnafil 60-mil PVC roof assembly over steel and Tectum roof decks. Tecta Solar then designed and installed a customized racking assembly on a portion of the roof that was not able to support a traditional ballasted system, maximizing the PV system size.

"One major challenge," says Patrick Bollinger, Tecta Solar's project manager, "was designing an elevated steel superstructure to support the racking and solar panel assembly on the building's existing structural columns without putting any weight on the two roof sections with the lightweight Tectum roof deck."

Local engineering firm Ring Consulting Group, Lansdale, Pa., was subcontracted to design the steel superstructure, which was installed by Haberle Steel Inc., Souderton, Pa.

Crews of eight to 10 men set up loading areas to transfer materials to the roof. Once the materials were loaded, the crew assembled the new Sunlink racking system with ballast pavers and a protective Sarnafil slip sheet. Next, they installed the new ET Solar Inc. polycrystalline PV modules to complete the system. The installation took three months.

Adding to the challenges, the building also was occupied during construction, requiring additional coordination with the building's occupants. Tecta Solar performed a safety audit and devised a controlled access zone plan to identify hazards. It installed an Occupational Safety and Health Administration-compliant cable system with safety flags around the perimeter. Outside the flag zone, workers were tied-off.

Tecta Solar's crew installed 1,860 275-watt solar panels; each weighed 50 pounds and measured 77 inches by 39 inches. An SMA inverter—to convert the direct current power generated by the panels into alternating current power—was incorporated into the system and is housed on a concrete pad next to the building.

About 47,600 square feet of solar panels now cover nearly half the roof surface of the Harleysville complex. The solar panels are projected to produce about 623 megawatt hours of energy each year—enough to power 62 average Pennsylvania homes.

"We are especially pleased with the collective results of our efforts to reduce energy consumption during the peak hours of the midafternoon," says Andrew Shields, assistant secretary and director of facilities services at Harleysville Mutual Insurance. "In addition to reducing our annual total building load from 6 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) to 4.5 million kWh, these initiatives also assist the local and regional power grid to meet their growing demands."

Going green pays

In addition to contributing to a healthier environment, Shields expects long-term energy cost savings for the company as a result of the solar project.

"Because the system will generate about 15 percent of our annual energy needs at a fixed cost, we expect cost savings and protection from rate increases on some of our power costs," Shields says. "In fact, we expect to recoup our overall investment within the first seven years of operation."

Combined with the installation of the new solar generation system, Shields notes the other major environmental projects completed at its headquarters have resulted in total energy cost reductions of 25 percent since 2008.

To help fund the project, Tecta Solar obtained a $355,000 grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Financing Authority and registered the project with the Pennsylvania Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard administrator so the project generates Solar Renewable Energy Credits. A significant portion of the project's $2.8 million cost is being offset by a 30 percent federal tax credit coupled with as much as a $90,000 benefit because of a bonus depreciation that will help defray about one-third of Harleysville Mutual Insurance's investment.

Green with envy

Following a few snow delays, the project was completed March 18, 2011. At the time of the project's completion, it was one of the largest rooftop solar facilities in Pennsylvania.

"The benefits to be derived from ‘going green' are impressive and serve to underscore our company's commitment to the preservation of our environment and conservation of our natural resources," says Michael Browne, Harleysville Mutual Insurance president and chief executive officer.

"It was rewarding to install solar for such an environmentally conscientious company," says Katie Riedo, Tecta Solar's development manager. "It was also rewarding to know that an insurance company trusted us to install solar materials on its rooftop."

Chrystine Elle Hanus is Professional Roofing's associate editor and NRCA's director of communications.

Project name: Harleysville Mutual Insurance Co. headquarters
Project location: Harleysville, Pa.
Project duration: Nov. 30, 2010 – March 18, 2011
Roof system types: PVC and photovoltaic
Roofing contractor: Tecta Solar, a division of Tecta America Corp., Rosemont, Ill.
Product manufacturers: ET Solar Inc., Pleasanton, Calif.; Roofblok™ Paver Systems, Gardner, Mass.; Sika Sarnafil, Canton, Mass.; and SunLink Corp., San Rafael, Calif.