Green Frontier Blog

Thank you for continuing to read my four week blog series that uncovers the four, primary culprits of wasted energy in a typical manufacturing setting.  In my previous three blogs, I’ve dissected and offered tips to mitigate the inefficient operation of three of the four energy hogs in a typical manufacturing setting – compressed air, HVAC, and the equipment/machinery. Today, I will investigate the final element that is often overlooked because of its rather basic function – lighting.

In my previous two blogs, I've analyzed the inefficient operation of two of the four primary energy hogs in a typical manufacturing setting – compressed air and HVAC. Today, I will direct my attention towards the third string of the quartet – the actual equipment and machinery.

My blog last week focused on one of the top energy users in a manufacturing environment – compressed air.  This week I will focus my attention on a utility that gives compressed air a run for its money in respect to the amount of energy used and wasted during its operation – HVAC.

I plan on devoting my next few blogs analyzing the four primary energy consumers in a typical manufacturing environment. Obviously, every facility relies on different utilities to run their operation depending on processing needs, but the majority would see compressed air, HVAC, production machinery/equipment, and lighting as the big four energy users.

I was shocked the other day when I read greenhouse gas emissions reached their highest point ever last year as 30.6 gigatons of carbon dioxide were emitted, up five percent from 2008's record level of 29.3 Gt. How could this be with all the progress being made and reported by U.S. and international corporations daily to reduce their carbon footprints?