The US Department of Energy’s Better Plants Program has partnered with nearly 250 US organizations, representing over 3,000 manufacturing plants. The program helps the industrial community set and achieve ambitious energy reduction goals. By joining Better Plants, manufacturing partners gain access to a slew of information, tools and resources to improve their plants’ energy efficiency.
While the partners in the program gain access to all that the DOE has to offer, manufacturers that are not partners can tap some of the program’s resources. Here are the top five presentations, which are available to all manufacturers.
Beyond Flow Restrictors: Partners Share their Water Saving Strategies
2016 Better Buildings Summit
Partners: Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia; HARBEC, Ontario, New York
In this session speakers including representatives of HARBEC, an Ontario, New York-based 3D manufacturer and injection molder, discussed building awareness of energy and cost saving opportunities with operational management, benchmarking and analyzing data, and adding energy considerations and funding into utility planning, among other issues.
Transforming Manufacturing: Smart Manufacturing and Advanced Data Analysis Drive Energy Savings
2016 Better Buildings Summit
Partners: Celanese Corporation, General Mills, ThyssenKrupp Elevator
In this session, attendees including Celanese Corporation, a chemical and specialty materials manufacturer based in Dallas, Texas, took a close look at smart manufacturing and advanced data analytics, which can be key to unlocking energy efficiency.
Fresh Eyes: Peer-Assessed Energy Efficiency
2017 Better Buildings Summit
Partners: Darigold, Nissan North America, Inc.; Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing North America
Training from DOE’s Better Plants program has enabled groups of employees from different organizations, including automakers Nissan and Toyota, to work together in each other’s plants to uncover energy savings opportunities. Learn more about these opportunities and how you might participate.
Tools Nissan has Used from DOE to Save Energy
Partner: Nissan North America, Inc.
“Tools Nissan has Used from DOE to Save Energy” was presented by Brett Rasmussen from Nissan North America, Inc. at the 2018 World Energy Engineering Congress (WEEC) session, “Sweet! Leveraging DOE’s Integrated Tool Suite & Resources.” Check out Rasmussen’s presentation for a glimpse at the kind of tools DOE has to offer to manufacturers.
Energizing Workforce Needs at Intertape Polymer Group
Partner: Intertape Polymer Group Inc.
“Energizing Workforce Needs at Intertape Polymer Group” was presented by Philip Kauneckas from the packaging products and systems company Intertape Polymer Group Inc., Montreal, Canada, at the 2017 World Energy Engineering Congress (WEEC) session, “Filling the Jobs of Tomorrow Today: How Manufacturers Can Address Their Energy Management Workforce Needs.”
For more information about DOE Better Plants Program presentations, visit https://betterbuildingssolutioncenter.energy.gov/search. Use the “Filter Results by” option, with Sector set to Industrial and Solution Type set to Presentation, to find the presentations in this article and more that may be relevant to manufacturing.
For more information on the DOE’s Better Plants Program, visit https://betterbuildingssolutioncenter.energy.gov/better-plants.
