On May 24th, Eggers was awarded the “Energy Efficiency Champion Award” by the city of Two Rivers and WPPI Energy for its most recent energy saving efforts. The award was the result of several energy-saving initiatives Eggers has implemented over the last several years.
About the Award
The Energy Efficiency Awards are the result of a project the City of Two Rivers began 5 years ago. Eggers Industries, along with several other businesses within the community, participated in an energy audit in which WPPI assisted in identifying opportunities for increased energy efficiency.
Over the next several years, various businesses voluntarily took action to improve their energy efficiency. Three years ago, the City of Two Rivers began tracking the energy savings of these companies. As a result of the improvements 1,851,131 kilowatt hours were saved annually. Of the companies that participated, 5 exceeded 100,000 kilowatt hours of savings.
The City of Two Rivers honored these 5 companies. Each participant was honored with an “Energy Efficiency Improvement” award. Eggers, was instead awarded the “Energy Efficiency Champion” award. This outstanding honor was a result of the drastic energy savings Eggers had accomplished.
The combined savings of the 5 honored companies was 1,436,151 kilowatt hours. Eggers’ contribution to that total was 718,000 kilowatt hours—almost triple that of the next highest savings of 252,500 kilowatt hours. It is estimated that this reduction will yield $70,000 in energy savings annually.
Investing In Energy Efficiency
Eggers’ path to energy savings was focused on improvements in 4 key areas: air leaks, air compressors, lighting, and painting. All the projects were taken on by Eggers voluntarily and many were sponsored in part by Focus on Energy grants.
Air Leaks: When an energy audit was conducted at the company’s West Plant location, a number of air leaks that had formed over time were identified. Eggers maintenance used this information to plug such leaks and improve the efficiency of the building.
Air Compressor: The air compressor upgrades at the Eggers West Plant go hand in hand with the plugging of air leaks. As a result of resolving these air leak issues, Eggers was able to replace two inefficient older air compressors with one variable speed drive compressor without losing any productivity.
Lighting: One of the most strongly suggested improvements that resulted from the audit was the replacement of lighting at both the Eggers East and West Plant facilities. Per the audit recommendations, the lighting at both facilities was replaced with T8 lighting, which is an extremely energy efficient florescent lighting. This lighting reduced energy consumption by 52% over the last two years.
Painting: When used in combination with the new T8 lighting, painting the facility walls bright white created a greater reflection of the light being used, reducing the amount of lighting needed over all.
A History of Energy and Environmental Awareness
These energy and environmental improvements, however, are not a new endeavor for Eggers Industries. The company has been focused on environmental and energy solutions for quite some time. For instance, drop off materials are utilized for other purposes in the manufacturing process. VOC emissions are greatly reduced with the use of a water-based, UV cured finishing line, and general recycling programs are in place at all of Eggers’ facilities.
Eggers continues its mission of energy and environmental stewardship as it seeks additional ways to reduce energy costs and environmental impact with such projects as reviewing current parking lot lighting and corporate initiative teams focused on reducing waste.