WEST HARTFORD, Conn.— Legrand North and Central America concluded the first leg of its Energy Marathon 2.0 in October of last year. The competition, an internal company-wide event designed to save energy through ready-to-implement technology and process changes, saw a high level of employee participation and innovation, yielded excellent saving results, and set the foundation for continued energy reduction best practices for years to come – but the marathon was not yet over.
At the conclusion of Energy Marathon 2.0 in October, three sites were named winners of their respective building class categories (manufacturing, distribution, and office) and a fourth was awarded the Superlative award for saving the most kWh and energy costs during the 26.2-day event. The Legrand North America locations of Fort Mill, Middletown, Hickory, and Fairfield entered into the second leg of the competition where they were asked to sustain their impressive energy savings for the next several months.
Based on an energy intensity measurement, each site was tracked on their performance compared to the same time period one year before. In the end, the Hickory location team emerged as the ultimate winner with a 16.3% reduction in energy intensity.
Since the conclusion of the Energy Marathon (November 2016 through March 2017), the four competing sites saved $33,334 in energy costs, a total of 310,705 kW hours, and the equivalent of 218 metric tons of CO2 worth of electricity.
“Our Energy Marathons are designed to challenge employees and managers to find innovative and effective ways to save energy,” said Susan Rochford, Vice President, Energy Efficiency, Sustainability and Public Policy, Legrand, North & Central America. “The ultimate goal of this program is to establish and develop best practices that can be adopted for long-term conservation. Our four finalists certainly succeeded in this area.”
Based on the idea that a marathon is 26.2 miles, the Legrand Energy Marathons bring energy efficiency to the forefront for a focused, 26.2-day period. The Energy Marathon 2.0 ran from October 3rd to the 28th, with the four winners competing in the final sustainability leg.
Adding to the overall success of the program, in 2016 the 22 competing sites saved a total of 722,941 kWh and $79,725 over the course of the near-month-long event. This level of electricity savings equates to 508 metric tons of CO2 emissions. Overall, Legrand North America reduced its electricity use by 15.9% during the event, compared to a September 2016 baseline. This was a significant result increase over Energy Marathon 2014 which, with 18 participating corporate sites, had a total savings of 588,540 kWh and $46,732.00 on electric bills.
Site reduction strategies involved ensuring that machines, lights and other equipment were properly shut down at the end of the work day, as well as re-configuring lighting controls to only illuminate occupied spaces at any given time, and issuing friendly energy waste infractions to fellow co-workers who were unnecessarily using energy during the competition.
The Legrand Energy Marathons are an element of the company’s larger commitment to energy conservation and sustainability. Legrand has been a Department of Energy Better Buildings, Better Plant Challenge Partner since 2011; is an Ally member of the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, and an Associate member of the Alliance to Save Energy, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting energy efficiency worldwide to achieve a healthier economy, a cleaner environment and energy security.
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