Author: Candice Goldsmith
A large group of people crowded
for Sustainable Seattle's Tools for Tomorrow in partnership with Net Impact Seattle on Thursday January 17. The event, held at the Bainbridge Graduate Institute, hosted a panel to present three different examples of organizations
incorporating sustainability into their business practices.
Here's a recap of the presentations, including tips from the local experts:
WaferTech
Jim Short, Director of Facilities and Environmental, Health,
and Safety (EHS) at WaferTech, a semiconductor
manufacturing company, spoke about their Camas, WA manufacturing facility’s CSR
and Sustainability goals focusing on the three P’s: people, planet, and
prosperity.
Two large projects he
discussed included an energy efficiency project using a process cooling water
system (PCWS) and a hazardous waste reduction and reuse initiative. The PCWS involves a closed loop cooling
system to remove heat using cooling towers instead of traditional electric
chillers. This project resulted in
a savings of 3,700,000 kW-hour/year, 1.3 million pounds/year of CO2, and
$153,000 per year. In terms
that we all can understand, WaferTech is saving enough energy to power 350
houses for a year and as much CO2 as taking 130 cars off the road for one year. Funding for this $1.6mill project came
from a variety of sources, including ARRA (federal government), other
government loans/grants, Bonneville Power Adminstration, Washington State
University extension, and WaferTech’s investment which will pay itself back
within three years.
WaferTech’s project for hazardous waste targeted the largest
categories of hazardous waste created and identified ways to reduce then reuse
quantities produced. Between 2003
and 2011 using this project, the Camas facility was able to reduce its sulfuric
acid quantity by 94% and sold the remaining waste to a nearby papermill as a
starting product for their processes.
By using Craigslist, waste brokers, waste exchange sites, and calling
nearby companies directly, WaferTech has been able to find reuse options for
most of its waste. In addition to
being paid for their waste as a starting product for new industries, they’ve
also recouped costs by lowering their insurance liability as a direct result of
lowering their on-site hazardous waste.
Overall, the Camas facility has reduced their hazardous waste disposal amounts
by 90%.
Looking forward, Short says WaferTech will focus on heat
recovery to mitigate natural gas use, improving pump efficiency, and finding
more reduce/reuse options for hazardous waste. Tips from Jim Short:
- Focus on areas with most opportunities for improvement
- Ideas can come from anywhere internal or external
- Public/private partnerships can help make sustainability projects more financially feasible
- Conservation/waste reduction is the least expensive sustainability strategy
NEEA
Next up on the panel was the Northwest Energy EfficiencyAlliance’s Romena Cohen, who plays a leadership role on her organization’s
green team, SustaiNEEA and is on NEEA’s market execution team. Cohen explained NEEA’s three prime
objectives: to fill the energy efficiency pipeline, accelerate marketing
adoption, and to leverage over 100 power utilities in the Northwest. Cohen spoke about NEEA’s Strategic
Energy Management (SEM) program, a framework used internally and externally on
a variety of building types using the following components: metering, controls,
analysis, software, performance indicators, employee awareness, benchmarking,
capital projects, plant assessments, and technical training. Qualities of effective energy management
systems include a holistic/interdisciplinary view of energy management,
executive sponsorship defining the organization’s commitment, and being proactive. SEM uses an continuous plan, do, check,
act cycle aligned with finding an executive sponsor, setting goals,
implementing a tracking system, and allocating resources to successfully
implement sustainability projects.
Having worked on many sustainability projects, Cohen offered her insight
that these projects can be long, tumultuous, and similar to the Kübler-Ross model for the “five stages of
grief.” Regardless of difficulty,
it’s important to gain help and support where possible to keep going. Some programs that NEEA supports are
the kW Crackdown and the 2030 District, both of which are excellent resources
for sustainability programs. Cohen
recommends getting started by contacting local utility companies for
their assistance identifying areas for improvement and using the SEM or other
tools to implement sustainability projects.
Terex
Last up was Jim Hanley, Health, Safety, and Environmental
(HSE) Manager at Terex, a large equipment (lifts, cranes, etc.) manufacturing
company in Seattle. The Seattle
operations largely comprise welding, grinding, and machining; wet, powder, and
electro-coating; manufacturing nitrite pins; and assembly. Terex’s background in sustainability
began as many do, with an integrated approach on waste reduction through Lean
Manufacturing [Editor's note: In 2013, Tools for Tomorrow is hosting a Lean Manufacturing workshop. Join the Sustainable Business mailing list for date and invite.] and environmental compliance. In the early 2000’s, they become proactive using spreadsheet
trackers with over 30-metrics for each facility, which quickly became
overwhelming and cluttered in an international organization. In 2008, Terex first reported to the
Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and found value in gathering and reporting data
that could then be used to foster sustainability projects. In 2012, they started gathering
sustainability data while growing as a company and turned to Scope 5 to help
bring clarity to their spreadsheet mess.
Hanley spoke about Terex’s efforts on energy, waste, and
hazardous waste reduction and provided guidance on steering large international
companies towards sustainability. Hanley’s quick answer is that “it happens
over miles, not feet.” A culture
plays a large factor in the company’s readiness to accept sustainability, and
therefore how much support projects will receive. At Terex, where there’s little customer interaction and no
customer demand for sustainability, the result is little executive drive and
sustainability projects go head-to-head against other projects for resources
and funding. With Lean
Manufacturing in place, Terex had a constant eye on efficient process
improvements for cost savings which often are much larger in magnitude than
savings from sustainability projects, so Hanley would usually lose the project
and resources. Hanley says it’s
important to talk in terms of what executives care about, which at Terex is
cost. Gathering data on cost
through CDP and Scope 5 brought clarity into buildings and departments that are
using the most resources and thus have the most opportunity for
improvement. Most important in a
customer-facing company is that the customers get what they want. Hanley feels that the customers are
most concerned about their personal impacts when using the equipment and
sustainability efforts like fuel efficiency gain a lot of traction.
Tips
The FAQ session at the end produced tips from all panelists for
getting started or working on sustainability projects:
- Technology to track performance is necessary in order to make the business case for sustainability projects
- Competitions with sister company and competitors help drive sustainability by making it fun (Game Theory)
- When gathering ideas for sustainability projects, look to organic suggestions from team members; form systems to gather employee ideas; and internal teams spanning all departments
- While it may be difficult getting the wheels rolling, it’s time to shift from reactive to proactive
- A variety of influencers can drive sustainability: investors, employees, customers, etc. Use them to your advantage.
[To receive notifications on future Tools for Tomorrow events, join Sustainable Seattle's Sustainable Business mailing list. For more information on Tools for Tomorrow, head to sustainableseattle.org. Send questions to info@sustainableseattle.org or comment below.]
About the Author
Candice Goldsmith, FMP, LEED AP O+M is a sustainability consultant in the built
environment, focusing primarily on existing buildings at Paladino and Company
in Seattle. With a background in
facility management and existing buildings, she brings an understanding of high
performance building operation from the manager/owner perspective to her
clients’ projects. Candice has LEED
certified over 30 buildings, including AT&T Park in San Francisco, the
first Major League Baseball stadium to achieve LEED EBOM certification. Candice led a volunteer-based Green
Team at her condo building in Atlanta, where she developed sustainability goals
for the building, including a comprehensive recycling program, energy and water
efficiency programs, a community resource for sharing and reusing moving
supplies, and outreach and education.
Candice is also owner/founder of an eco-friendly apparel company
operating 100% in Seattle: Dolomite Bags.
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