Manufacturers Learning to Reduce Energy, Increase Sustainability

6/1/2009

A Purdue University program is helping Hoosier manufacturers drastically reduce energy costs. More than 20 companies in north central Indiana have saved a total of $2.1 million in energy costs by participating in Purdue's Energy Efficiency Practitioner Program, which is offered through the school's Technical Assistance Program (TAP). While the energy program helps companies work toward their bottom line by cutting costs, it's also allowing manufacturers to meet increasing demands as the industry moves toward "clean" manufacturing.

"A lot of companies are coming to us saying their supply chain is demanding quantification of their carbon footprint—something I couldn't have imagined hearing two years ago," says Ethan Rogers, manager of Energy Efficiency Services at TAP. "Some companies are saying to their supply chain, 'We expect you to reduce your carbon footprint in coming years. Otherwise, we may deselect you.' It's a matter of being competitive in the 21st Century; you need to be practicing sustainability." Listen

TAP received a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to pilot the energy program in a 14 county region in north central Indiana. While the program ends in June, TAP will begin offering it statewide this summer on a cost recovery basis.

When a company enrolls in the program, it must form an "energy team" comprised of employees who will lead the effort, which Rogers says is the most critical aspect of implementing change.

"We believe the most sustainable solution to energy efficiency in a plant is to have an internal capability," says Rogers. "If you hire someone else to do it, that capability only lasts as long as that person's on your site. If your own people understand energy and how energy is used and wasted, then they have a much better ability to control it long-term." Listen

Once an energy team is formed, program leaders do a "walk through" of the manufacturing facility with the team to identify its most energy intensive systems and how energy is being used. Program leaders then help the team find opportunities to save energy and develop low cost or no cost projects to reduce the facility's energy consumption. Listen

The involvement of the in-house energy team was an important factor for leaders at Kokomo-based Haynes International Inc., which manufactures alloys used in corrosion and high temperature applications. After enrolling in the program, the company's energy team helped Haynes save $500,000 in gas bills over a three month period and $24,000 in electricity costs.

"We didn't want to bring in an outside consultant who would then go away. We wanted to know how to do it ourselves internally, so it would be a continuous process," says Haynes Vice President of Corporate Affairs Jean Neel. "When we spoke with TAP, they really seemed to 'get it' and knew how to deal with real world manufacturing. We knew we wanted to partner with them because it would help us learn how to reduce energy costs even after the 14-month program ended." Listen

The step by step strategy of the energy program also appealed to Haynes' leaders. Neel says adjusting a manufacturing operation to make it more energy efficient can be a daunting task. By focusing on small, lower cost projects, the facility was able to gain momentum while still significantly reducing energy use.

"When TAP first trained our energy team, they took the approach of, 'Let's pick the lowest hanging fruit,'—projects that didn't require a lot of capital and could produce some immediate positive results," says Neel. "We felt like we could get our hands around it pretty easily and then move on to more complex projects." Listen

Neel says the company's new focus on energy efficiency has encouraged its work force to seek other ways to increase sustainability. The company is now considering projects to minimize its waste stream and increase efficiency of the facility's furnaces. Haynes is also organizing a green workers conference to educate more employees about sustainability. Listen

Program leaders say the 22 companies that enrolled in the pilot typically reduced their energy intensity by eight to nine percent. Rogers says, more importantly, the program trained more than 100 people who are now capable of initiating other energy efficiency projects at their facilities.

"Ideally, the energy teams at each company create an internal capability to identify projects and implement solutions," says Rogers. "Energy efficiency, at the end of the day, is all about efficiency. We're simply helping companies become more efficient."

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