Imitating Energy Efficiency Successes, 2013 NEEP Business Leaders

What do the manufacturer of the Blackhawk helicopter, a community center and a medical school campus have in common? All of them were honored at the 2012 Northeast Energy Efficiency Summit as State Champions of the annual Business Leaders for Energy Efficiency program. Every year, NEEP invites its utility sponsors to nominate business customers throughout the region that show leadership in adopting and implementing efficiency strategies. Regardless of budgets, business models, market placement, or provided services, energy is needed to power business across all sectors. Whether its lighting controls, combined heat and power systems or supply chain improvements, the high rates of return and significant energy savings are catching the eye of energy managers and CEOs alike. To these businesses the investment they put into efficiency measures means reduced emissions, job creation, increased productivity and for some, the ability to keep business in the U.S. in an increasingly competitive global market. The bottom line is that efficiency makes good business sense and the businesses NEEP highlights are proof of that. In 2012 NEEP honored 14 business leaders from New Hampshire down to the District of Columbia; these businesses show their continued commitment to energy efficiency adoption and improvement year after year. Keep an eye out as we reveal the 2013 Northeast Business Leaders for Energy Efficiency in the next month – you won’t want to miss seeing their videos and reading their stories at the 2013 NEEP Summit in Springfield, MA. Here’s a look at the 2012 state champions from Connecticut, New York, and Massachusetts. These businesses embody innovation and set concrete examples of the potential energy efficiency holds. Sikorsky Aircraft, located in Stratford, CT, set aggressive goals to implement an energy savings project that would save more energy and emit fewer pollutants each subsequent year. A large piece of their energy efficiency portfolio is cogeneration (combined heat & power) which takes excess heat from other means of energy production and puts that heat back into the system. Basically, it’s like using the steam from a boiling pot of water to power something else. Presently Sikorsky’s cogeneration can handle 100 percent of their energy load 60 percent of the time. The goal? 100 percent of the energy load 100 percent of the time. This will enable Sikorsky Aircraft to be considered zero net-energy, a coveted title for an energy efficient building. http://youtu.be/mpX0xGcCB9c The University of Massachusetts Medical School, situated in Worcester, MA, houses a 400 bed hospital, a level 1 trauma center and twenty operating rooms. This impressive facility received the single largest financial incentive from National Grid to date. The money from National Grid was invested into a cogeneration system. Cogeneration, a growing branch of energy efficiency, supplies medical facilities with energy security, independence, and peace of mind. Power outages can be catastrophic and sometimes fatal for hospitals and care centers. Cogeneration takes pressure off of building energy loads and largely solves the medical power outage problem. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfO5EyQOKN0 The Suffolk Community Jewish Center, located in Commack, NY, is a non-profit organization that supplies thousands of families with important recreational, developmental, and health services. The Suffolk Community Center was facing a 75 percent funding cut and had no idea how they were going to stay open for their community. They investigated the nuances behind their energy consumption and found that there were massive opportunities to save through an energy efficiency makeover. The Suffolk Center worked with National Grid to realize over $70,000 in annual savings. The Suffolk Community Jewish Center now largely equates energy efficiency with community wellness and progress. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Quw_bUoMo8 Energy efficiency holds potential in all sectors of industry. NEEP strives to unlock this potential and recognize success stories along the way!