Firms start to reap green benefits

CNY Business Journal (1996+), Sep 19, 2008 by Schofield, Ashley

SYRACUSE - Interviews with about a dozen Central New York manufacturers show that they are making substantial investments in "green" initiatives, such as cutting energy usage and waste, and are beginning to obtain tangible business benefits from these efforts.

"Our sales have doubled in the last five years, but our power costs have stayed the same," says Roland Beck, president of Tessy Plastics Corp., a custom-injection molding company based in Elbridge. "That says something" about the success of the company's green initiatives, he adds.

The cost of energy is driving people to look for alternatives, and the payback time is much shorter for such green technologies, says Randall Wolken, president of the Manufacturers Association of Central New York (MACNY), which represents 325 members in 19 counties across upstate New York. MACNY helps individual companies develop more energy-efficient manufacturing processes and gets employees involved in green efforts through projects like recycling reward programs.

It is not rare for a manufacturer to see 50 percent savings on a project, we're talking about significant savings, Wolken says.

The Anheuser-Busch brewery in Lysander invested a total of $4.3 million in conservation improvements from 2006 to 2008 and is seeing substantial savings and benefits, Steve McCormick, plant manager, says in an e-mail.

Making internal processes energy-efficient

Most manufacturers begin implementing eco-friendly initiatives by reducing electricity costs.

Tessy Plastics installed energy-efficient lighting to replace regular light bulbs, in good working condition, at its main manufacturing site. The project cost about $80,000.

"It's hard to say here's $80,000 for lights, but we do it for the monthly savings," Beck says. He couldn't quantify the exact monthly savings.

Beck does not think energy-efficient bulbs are much more expensive than regular lights, but he says energy-efficient molding machines cost about 40 percent more than regular equipment. The company installed 100 such molding machines at a total cost of $15 million.

"It's a big cost up-front, but over the years it certainly pays for itself," he says.

Tessy Plastics has reduced its operating costs by 3 percent between material and electrical savings by installing the energy-efficient lighting and machines, Beck says.

Currier Plastics, an Auburn-based custom-injection and blow-molding manufacturer, also uses energy-efficient molding machines and sees large savings.

"The electric energy savings are [50 to 75] percent over conventional molding machines," says John F. Currier, president of Currier Plastics.

Conventional machines use electricity continuously, even while not manufacturing, while energy-efficient molding machines utilize electric power only when working.

The Lysander Anheuser-Busch brewery also replaced its conventional machines by purchasing ones that capture heat wasted in manufacturing processes and use it to heat water tanks, says McCormick.

"Our brewery has saved more than $400,000 by replacing a less efficient condenser unit," McCormick says. "[That's] enough to pay for the new equipment in just four years."

Fiber Instrument Sales, Inc., an Oriskany-based provider of fiber-optic and copper-wire telecommunications equipment and security systems, reduced its air-conditioning costs through more efficient machines utilizing fiber technology. By using fiber connections, instead of copper wire, it needs fewer air-conditioning machines to cool a building.

Most office buildings have an equipment closet on each floor, which need to be air-conditioned, but with fiber technology you can have one closet for the whole building, says Charles Carino, director of corporate communications for Fiber Instrument Sales.

"If it costs $5,000 to air-condition equipment closets over the course of a year and you only have one, it only costs $1,000 and you are saving $4,000," Carino says.

Welch Allyn, Inc., a Skaneateles Falls-based medical-equipment manufacturer, is looking to reduce its air conditioning and heating costs as well.

In its 125,000-square-foot expansion, Welch Allyn plans to use natural gas for cooling, and heating control systems from CHP Technologies to improve energy efficiency, says Scott Spanfelner, the director of operations at Welch Allyn's Skaneateles Falls manufacturing site.

Welch Allyn hopes to obtain LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) for its expansion project. Spanfelner says that if it achieves certification, it will be the first LEED manufacturing site in upstate New York, according to Tracie Hall, the executive director of the USGBC New York upstate chapter.

Reusing waste

Instead of manufacturing products from scratch, reusing and recycling waste is a popular. green manufacturing initiative.

The Anheuser-Busch brewery recycles and reuses 99.96 percent of all waste, McCormick says.

"Only 64 tons of waste was sent to the landfill in 2007," McCormick says. "This is a 9 percent reduction compared to 2006, and an 88 percent reduction over the last 10 years."