Community Industrial Efficiency Programs  

Industrial operations account for a large portion of a community’s energy bill, consuming about one-fourth of the total energy in the United States, at a cost of some $121 billion each year. There is tremendous potential and incentive for communities to reduce energy consumption in these facilities: Processing and manufacturing alone consume about 90 percent of the energy used in a typical industrial setting, and manufacturing facilities generate some 504 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year. 

Together, community organizations, utility companies, and industrial firms can design energy programs that help industrial firms reduce their energy consumption and reduce the harmful effects that energy consumption has on the environment. 

A realization among business and industry is beginning to emerge that energy efficiency, waste reduction, and pollution prevention make economic sense, and many communities are incorporating this concept through the development of eco-industrial parks. More information on sustainability in industrial operations, including energy efficiency, can be found in the Sustainable Business section of this website. 

Toyota announced that it is not only improving fuel efficiency in its vehicles, but also increasing energy efficiency in its factories. According to the Toyota North America Environmental Report, the company has improved fuel efficiency by 4 to 8 percent in nine vehicle configurations from model year 2001 to 2002. Since last year, Toyota has also reduced energy consumption per unit of production at its North American plants by 7 percent. Read more.

The California Power Authority, a state agency created during the electricity crisis during summer of 2001, announced in March 2002 the availability of $30 million for low-interest financing for manufacturing companies using or producing clean energy products. The power authority defines clean energy as renewable energy, energy efficiency, or "clean" distributed generation. The low-cost loans will go either to manufacturers that purchase and install such technologies, or to manufacturers who want to establish or expand facilities to produce such technologies. The announcement marks the first substantive program announced by the authority. Read more.

The Alliance to Save Energy helps U.S. manufacturers undertake the energy-efficiency improvements that can make their products more competitive both at home and abroad. ASE’s Commission for Environmental Cooperation Project is helping to create a North American Industrial Audit Program. Through its Inventory of Manufacturing Assistance Centers project, ASE is preparing a directory of federal, state, and local programs that offer technical assistance to industry, highlighting energy efficiency and renewable energy assistance.

DOE’s Industrial Assessment Centers sponsors industrial assessments for small- and medium-sized manufacturers at no cost. Recommendations from these assessments have averaged $55,000 in potential annual savings for each manufacturer. Many schools across the country operate DOE-funded Industrial Assessment Centers. 

Case Studies

Anheuser-Busch Brewery, Baldwinsville, New York
Describes a project to install new heat recovery equipment that should save the company more than $550,000 each year in energy costs, thanks to state incentives. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is providing a $250,000 cash incentive to the brewery in support of its $1 million project. The project will use an innovative configuration and underutilized heat recovery technology to recover 25 percent more waste energy from the brewery's four boilers than is currently recovered. The new equipment should be installed by fall 2003.

Cascade Wood Products, located in Oregon, installed new systems for dust collection, air compression, and lighting, saving nearly 2 million kilowatt-hours per year. The company received financial incentives from the Energy Trust of Oregon and expects to receive Business Energy Tax Credits and other rebates from the State of Oregon.

The Centre for the Analysis and Dissemination of Demonstrated Energy Technologies (CADDET) website offers success stories of projects that reduce energy consumption through energy management and control systems. Many other CADDET publications focus on technologies to increase energy efficiency in the industrial sector, as well. 

Elk River Energy City profiles an industry-focused partnership project between the Minnesota Environmental Initiative and Elk City, Minnesota, with demonstrations and projects intended to show the potential economic and environmental benefits of becoming an "energy city." 

Honda of America Manufacturing unveiled plans in early May 2004 to build a new $123 million paint facility at its auto plant in Marysville, Ohio. The new facility will incorporate high-efficiency ovens, air-recycling systems, and highly efficient variable drive motors to reduce energy use by 34 percent. Honda is also constructing a 20-million-gallon pond system behind the plant that will recycle rainwater to cool the plant in warm-weather months. The 7-acre pond will save tens of thousands of dollars in energy costs and significantly reduce the use of groundwater.

Office Max Wind-Made Paper
OfficeMax Inc. is offering its North American business customers a 100-percent post-consumer recycled paper manufactured with wind power and certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). The paper is also made without the use of chlorine and chlorine compounds. Mohawk Color Copy Recycled Paper is manufactured by Mohawk Paper Mills, the only U.S. mill using wind energy in its paper-making process. In August 2003, Mohawk Paper Mills entered into a contract with Community Energy, Inc. to purchase four million kWh of wind power annually for its manufacturing facilities. The paper product will be available through contract orders.

Roseburg Forest Products, located in Oregon, stalled a new "rolling screen" system to sort wood pieces for manufacturing particleboard, replacing steam-driven refiners and saving about 22 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year. The company received financial incentives from the Energy Trust of Oregon and expects to receive Business Energy Tax Credits and other rebates from the State of Oregon.

DOE’s Motor Best Practices site offers showcase demonstration case studies that target electric motor-driven system efficiency and productivity opportunities in specific industrial applications. 

Weyerhouser Company saved about 1.3 million kilowatt-hours per year at its sawmill in Coburg, Oregon, by upgrading the facility's compressed air system.

Links 

Canadian Industrial Energy End-Use Data and Analysis Centre. Established to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by improving energy efficiency in all sectors of the economy, this center offers a variety of services to government, industry, academia, and the public, related to industrial sector energy consumption, production, efficiency, and conservation. 

DOE’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network (EREN) provides links to many industrial-related resources that can help your community design a successful energy program. 

Industrial Assessment Centers allows easier access to expertise in energy efficiency and waste management and reduction for small- and medium-sized industries. Assistance includes expanded audits, workshops, "best practice" manuals, and life-cycle cost guidance. 

Energy Ideas Clearinghouse information and technical support for increasing energy efficiency in the commercial and industrial sectors. Up-to-date information on products and technologies; national, state, and local programs; and the environmental aspects of energy use is available at the Clearinghouse. 

Consortium on Green Design and Manufacturing (CGDM) was formed in 1993 to encourage multidisciplinary research and education on environmental management and pollution prevention issues in industry. One of its goals is to address manufacturing issues, including energy and resources, and to develop approaches for solving problems in these areas. Another goals is to serve as a facilitator for dissemination of information on green design and manufacturing for businesses, governmental agencies, and the non-profit sector. 

The Green Design Initiative at Carnegie Melon University is a major interdisciplinary research effort to make an impact on environmental quality through green design. The central idea of the initiative is to form partnerships with companies, government agencies and foundations to develop pioneering design, management and manufacturing processes that can improve environmental quality and product quality while enhancing economic development. 

XENERGY helps institutional, industrial, and commercial clients become more competitive by delivering complete and integrated energy management services. Web site provides information on the company’s commercial and industrial services, and describes some of its projects. 

Articles

ENERGY STAR® Honors Efficiency Leaders
DOE and EPA presented the 2003 Energy Star Partner of the Year awards in April 2003. The awards highlight the efforts of leading manufacturers, retailers, utility companies, and a variety of state and regional programs that promote energy efficiency and awareness of the Energy Star label. Leading product manufacturers include Sylvania, Maytag Corporation, and JELD-WEN Inc.

Software 

An enhanced version of IPLocator is available through DOE’s Office of Industrial Technologies to help energy-intensive U.S. industries identify advanced technologies that can help them use energy more efficiently, reduce waste, or otherwise compete more efficiently. 

C-MAX 2.0 allows users to systematically conduct industrial and commercial systems evaluation of options that reduce the cost of owning, operating, and maintaining a facility and achieve energy conservation goals and non-energy benefits. 

MotorMaster+, a Windows-based program, helps energy coordinators at industrial facilities implement an effective energy management program. The program contains a motor inventory module, where motor nameplate data is stored and linked to utility, facility, plant and process information. It includes a field measurement and operating data storage repository. 

In addition, descriptor searches may be performed to target inefficient or energy-intensive motors and motor-driven processes, and those which operate under abnormal or suboptimal conditions. Batch analyses can be run for new motor purchases, rewinds, or changeouts of operable motors with energy-efficient replacements. Life-cycle costing, energy accounting, and program evaluation features are included.

Videos

Better by Design is an eight-minute video produced by Minnesota Office of Evironmental Assistance that introduces DfE (design for the environment) and looks at four Minnesota companies (IBM, Pillsbury, Medtronic & 3M) that incorporated DfE into their product design with significant success. Some of these companies integrate green design company-wide, some integrate it into only certain facilities or divisions. Nevertheless, these advocates talk about real world benefits that vary with their respective companies, including increased efficiency, reduced waste of materials and energy, and reduced costs. Borrow the video -- appropriate for policy makers in government, business leaders and designers, teachers in college or high school -- free for two weeks from the OEA Clearinghouse by calling 651/215-0232 or 800/877-6300.

Last updated: March 3, 2005

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