Johns Manville (JM) recently earned a $68,554 rebate check from Energizing Indiana, Richmond Power and Light (RP&L) and the Indiana Municipal Power Agency (IMPA) for implementing energy-efficient lighting improvements to its Richmond Insulation Systems facility.
The rebate is the largest issued thus far to any of IMPA's 59 member communities involved in the Energizing Indiana Commercial and Industrial Prescriptive Rebate Program.
"IMPA, along with our partners at Energizing Indiana and Richmond Power and Light, are very pleased to recognize the efforts of Johns Manville," said Raj Rao, IMPA president and CEO. "Their commitment to reducing energy sets an example that we all can follow and highlights how energy efficiency should be a priority for all of us."
The retrofit project cut the facility's lighting energy consumption by approximately 80 percent and reduced annual greenhouse gas emissions by more than 4 million pounds of carbon dioxide, more than 20,000 pounds of sulfur dioxide and approximately 5,000 pounds of nitrogen oxides a year.
"This retrofit project provides a reduction in energy usage that helps the utility curtail the need to add capacity to the grid," said Zane Carpenter, Johns Manville manager of energy engineering. "It helps reduce greenhouse gas emission derived from electricity production; it helps the community by injecting money into the economy and putting people to work, including the lighting designers, manufacturers and local contractors; and it helps the business maintain a healthy bottom line by reducing overall operating costs. It's really a win for the company, the community, the utility and the environment."
Johns Manville retrofitted lighting throughout its entire facility, including manufacturing, warehouse operations, all office spaces and building exterior. The project replaced high-bay fixtures with linear fluorescent lights equipped with in-line quick-connect devices that allow for quick fixture removal without disrupting operations.
Individual occupancy controls were installed throughout the retrofit to automatically turn off fixtures when the space is not occupied. In areas of abundant natural light, a combination of ambient light and occupancy sensor controls turn off primary fixtures when natural light is present or no occupancy is detected.
In the office and basement areas as well as for task lighting, lamp and ballast systems were retrofitted with kits or replaced with fixtures. A range of controls including individual fixture occupancy sensors, wall switch-mounted occupancy sensors for select private offices or area sensors for common office areas were also installed. In addition, incandescent exit signs were replaced with new LED signs.
"Because we produce energy-saving products at our Richmond facility, it only makes sense that we'd want to reduce energy usage as well as our carbon footprint here," said JM's Richmond plant manager Joe Ehrenreich.
A manufacturer and marketer of premium-quality products for building insulation, mechanical insulation, commercial roofing and roof insulation, as well as fibers and nonwovens for commercial, industrial and residential applications, Johns Manville serves markets that include aerospace, automotive and transportation, air handling, appliance, HVAC, pipe and equipment, filtration, waterproofing, building, flooring, interiors and wind energy. The Denver-based company has annual sales of approximately $2.5 billion and operates 45 manufacturing facilities in North America, Europe and China, employing approximately 7,000 people.
For more information, visit www.jm.com.