In today’s market, consumers are continually looking at social cause and conscience when spending their money. To help improve brand loyalty while raising their social awareness profile, many perceptive manufacturers are taking steps to incorporate green and sustainable elements into their facilities. There are a number of things that can be done in a facility to save energy, and saving energy means saving money.
Many of these strategies have little or no cost and can be done immediately, without upgrades to equipment or facilities. Other strategies involving capital expenditures are also possible, and these can be planned for the future, as upgrades to existing facilities are required. Following are some simple ways owners and operators can green their existing facilities.
1. Perform a Simple Energy Audit
A simple energy audit is an excellent way to begin greening an existing facility, as many owners do not know how much energy their facilities use. Before implementing any energy savings ideas, facility managers need to know where they are starting so they can see how much can be saved after implementing these ideas.
This can be done in many manufacturing facilities by separating and recording the energy used by the various components in the building. Lights and ventilation, production or refrigeration equipment typically consume the most energy. If the systems within the facility are separately monitored, a simple spreadsheet can track the energy use of each of these components. If the facility is not capable of separating the consumption, it might be a good idea to check the run meters on the ventilation equipment and the hours the facility is in production and idle. Tracking this information over a period of time will give facility managers the ability to identify whether they are using the same, less or more energy over a given period of time. Some of the changes in consumption may be due to seasonal or temperature fluctuations, while other changes may be due to an increase or decrease in production. However, if the parameters do not change, the reason for variations will most likely be due to equipment degradation, misuse or overuse.
2. Regularly Perform Maintenance on Filters
Regular preventative maintenance includes making sure all filters are clean and lubricated and checking for leaks and loose belts. Some facility managers are diligent in the regular maintenance of all of the equipment in their facilities. Other managers lack the resources, training or personnel to stay current with repairs and regular preventative maintenance. Clean filters allow the ventilation equipment to work the way it was intended. When a filter is dirty or clogged, the fan inside of the equipment must work harder to either push or pull air through the filter. The harder the fan has to work, the more energy it needs, increasing the cost of operation and decreasing the life of the equipment.
3. Reset Your Equipment
Equipment is often adjusted or put into manual override when facilities go through seasonal or production changes. Often, those overrides are never reset, resulting in a piece of equipment or a system working harder or more often than it needs to. Spending time making sure equipment is set to the correct operating condition can reduce energy use and extend equipment life.
4. Make Sure All Lights Are Being Used Properly
I have toured many facilities over the years, and I am always amazed by the number of lights that are invariably on in places where they do not need to be. I will see light fixtures hung directly over stock racks or ventilation equipment. The lights are on, but they do not seem to be serving any purpose.
When I ask facility operators about the location of those fixtures, I typically get the same response. They explain that they reconfigured the space, and the lights do not match the new layout. The layout works for their new operation, but they are wasting energy using lights in locations where they are no longer needed. Other times, people in the facilities are guilty of leaving most or all of the building lights on all the time, even if these operations are only working one shift. Often, the explanation for this is simply that these facilities do not have a building management system to turn the lights off when not in production. A low-cost way to fix this problem is to change the operating procedure and train someone to turn off the lights. There will be extra labor cost involved in doing this, but it will be much less than the cost associated with leaving the lights on all night. Reducing the amount of time that the lights are on will reduce your energy bill and increase the life of the bulbs in each fixture.
5. Know When to Use Your Ventilation Equipment
Another low-cost way to green an existing facility is to look at the ventilation equipment operating schedule to see when the system is running. Money can be saved by matching the operation of the equipment to the production schedule. If the equipment is running all the time simply because there is no automated system to turn it off, it would be more efficient to train someone to make sure the system is only running during production. Running this equipment when it is not needed consumes energy, costs money and decreases the useful life of these units.
6. Capitalize on Green Investments
After implementing simple energy savings ideas at little to no cost, facility managers can capitalize on these measures by promoting the company’s environmental awareness to the public, either through social media or traditional media outlets. There are several calculators available, which can be downloaded for free, that will convert kilowatt-hours of electricity to carbon emissions. Sharing the news of a shrinking carbon footprint is always a good story and will help build loyalty to your brand.
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Thomas Taylor, a 30-year veteran of the construction industry and noted expert on sustainability, is a principal and co-founder of St. Louis-based Vertegy LLC. To learn more about Vertegy or Taylor, visit www.vertegyconsultants.com.