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Learn more about what our Business Environmental Leadership Council member companies are doing on energy efficiency. You can click on a company name to see what an individual company is doing, or you can use the database and sort for different categories – just select the category you’re interested in and hit the “Apply” button. Hold down the Ctrl key when clicking to select more than one option in the list (or to unselect options).

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Air Products Summary
Internal
  • Air Products continuously focuses on improving its process technologies and operations to promote energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Annual energy efficiency targets are defined, and a rigorous continuous improvement (CI) process is used to identify and implement efficiencies throughout the company's facilities.
  • Using 2007 as the baseline year, Air Products set new intensity-based energy efficiency goals for the company's large Air Separation Units (ASUs) and synthetic gas production facilities, which today represent approximately 70 percent of the company’s total global energy requirements.
  • Air Products' global goals are meant to achieve a 7 percent reduction in energy consumption at the company's ASUs per quantity of gas produced and a 7 percent reduction in fuel and feedstock consumption per quantity of hydrogen produced at the company's synthetic gas production plants by 2015.
  • Air Products’ larger hydrogen plants integrate hydrogen production and cogeneration at its onsite facilities, exceeding the efficiency level typical of natural gas combined cycle plants.
  • Air Products has reduced energy use per unit of oxygen and nitrogen produced by 35 percent over the last 20 years. Process improvements to hydrogen technology have improved thermal efficiency by 3 percent and reduced waste heat losses by 60 percent.
  • Air Products' operating facilities use state-of-the-art technology to match the company's energy needs to other demands on the energy supplier by shutting down production at peak demand times and loading up production at other times. This “demand loading” optimizes the generation efficiency of the power plant, improving the efficiency of the generating facility.
  • Air Products has targeted fuel efficiency improvement of 1-2 percent per year for the company's Merchant hauling fleet.
  • Air Products uses advanced controls and data evaluation techniques to improve product yields and efficiencies at the company's Performance Materials facilities.
  • At Air Products' corporate headquarters, energy efficiency programs have been implemented since 2004, resulting in a 20 percent reduction in electricity for cooling in its large chiller plants and a 15 percent reduction in fuel in its main boiler rooms.
Products & Services

Air Products provides products and services, and is actively developing enabling technologies to increase energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Examples include:

  • Oxygen use for oxy-fuel combustion efficiency enhancements applications, which reduce the use of fuel as well as the resulting GHG emissions and other air pollutants, particularly nitrogen oxides and particulate emissions.
  • The company's patented Cleanfire and Cleanfire HR burners provide high fuel efficiencies for oxygen-fired systems.
  • Oxygen enrichment technology to improve processing capacity and lower energy costs per unit for sulfur recovery operations.
  • Innovative ion transport membrane (ITM) technology for high-efficiency oxygen production, enhancing the economic viability of large-scale oxygen applications such as Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) and oxyfuel combustion.
  • Air separation technology incorporating cold energy from liquefied natural gas (LNG) to significantly reduce power and water consumption when compared to traditional cryogenic air separation technology.
  • Patented state-of-the-art AP-X technology process to promote energy-integrated natural gas liquefaction.
  • High purity process gases and cleaning agents used in the production of latest generation photovoltaic solar energy cells.
  • The company's hydrogen facility design can include cogeneration units to generate efficient steam and power, reducing reliance on other carbon-emitting energy sources.
  • By retiring older facilities in favor of energy efficient hydrogen plants, Air Products can reduce hydrogen-related carbon dioxide emissions by up to 20 percent.
  • Argon gas is used to create an insulating barrier within multi-pane glass, reducing energy losses in residential and commercial buildings.
  • Air Products' family of polyurethane additives are key components of foam insulation systems, enhancing the efficiency of appliances and buildings.
Supply
  • Air Products transitioned from containerized product to bulk product for shipping and transportation efficiency as well as reduction in packaging materials and plant filling operations. This reduced the number of customer deliveries, resulting in reduced fuel consumption.
  • Air Products partners with customers for advanced inventory management, including telemetry and real-time monitoring to maximize efficiency of product deliveries.
  • Air Products includes efficiency as a factor when planning logistics in order to maximize product hauled and to provide optimum delivery routes.
  • Air Products monitors fuel consumption by driver and implements driver training strategies to improve fuel consumption.
Success
  • Air Products’ Port Arthur II integrated hydrogen/cogeneration facility was named one of POWER’s natural gas-fired Top Plants of 2007.
  • Hydrogen’s contribution to an increase in product yield is equivalent to avoiding more than 10 new grass-root refineries between 1976 and 2006 along with the related carbon footprint during their construction and operation.
  • Air Products estimates that 1 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emission reductions are achieved each year at oxy-fuel or oxygen enrichment installations provided by Air Products, even after accounting for the indirect CO2 emissions required to produce the oxygen utilized in the oxyfuel applications.
  • Air Products estimates that its products drive annual reductions of 120,000 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions.
  • Air Products won the General Electric “Return on Environment Leadership” award for a cogeneration facility in Kentucky. The facility uses modern gas turbines and heat recovery technologies to significantly improve energy efficiency.
  • Air Products was selected by the Department of Energy’s Industries of the Future Best Practices Program to demonstrate the potential for using CO2 to manufacture polyurethane, reducing energy use and emissions.
  • Air Products’ hydrogen fueling technology was highlighted in the 2009 Hydrogen Road tour which covered 1,700 miles from California to Vancouver, BC.

Air Products’ principle business is selling gases and chemicals to customers in technology, energy, healthcare, and industrial markets worldwide.

CEO: John E. McGlade;  Revenue: $10 Billion (2012);  Employees: 20,000 (2012) Company DescriptionFor over 70 years, Air Products has enabled customers to become more productive, energy efficient and sustainable. With over 20,000 employees and operations in more than 50 countries, Air Products serves customers in more than 30 industries, including a wide range of energy, environment and emerging markets.   It supplies industrial gases, performance materials, equipment and technology. It is the world’s largest supplier of hydrogen and helium and has built leading global supply positions in growth markets such as semiconductor materials, refinery hydrogen, coal gasification, natural gas liquefaction, and advanced coatings and adhesives.The company’s fiscal year 2012 sales were approaching $10 billion, increasingly from product and technology solutions for energy, environment and emerging markets. Its offerings and applications expertise improve its customers’ sustainability in several ways including reducing energy use, increasing productivity and product quality, and lowering emissions and waste. Visit Air Product's Web site for more information.
Alcoa Summary
Cross-cutt
  • Alcoa launched Make an Impact, an innovative program that lets employees calculate their carbon footprint and offers tips to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.
Internal
  • Alcoa has reduced the electricity required to produce a ton of aluminum by 7.5 percent over the last 20 years. 
  • In 2002, Alcoa established the Energy Efficiency Network based on a partnership with the Department of Energy. The network conducts energy efficiency surveys at operating locations, identifying areas of possible improvement. The locations then agree to address certain projects and are free to disregard others. To date, this program has identified more than $80 million in potential savings opportunities, and captured sustainable annual savings exceeding $20 million. 
  • Alcoa commissioned the second of four gas-fired cogeneration power plants at the Pinjarra alumina refinery in Australia in 2008, while another two power facilities have been constructed and commissioned at the Wagerup refinery. 
  • Alcoa has developed boiler technology to increase energy efficiency at its facilities in Hildesheim, Germany by over 45 percent.
  • Alcoa launched Make an Impact, an innovative program that lets employees calculate their carbon footprint and offers tips to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.
Products & Services
  • Alcoa supplies lightweight, recyclable materials for motor vehicle assembly; each kilogram of aluminum that replaces higher density materials provides the potential to save 20 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions via better fuel economy and recyclability.
Success
  • Alcoa has reduced the electricity required to produce a ton of aluminum by 7.5 percent over the last 20 years. 
  • In 2002, Alcoa established the Energy Efficiency Network based on a partnership with the Department of Energy. The network conducts energy efficiency surveys at operating locations, identifying areas of possible improvement. The locations then agree to address certain projects and are free to disregard others. To date, this program has identified more than $80 million in potential savings opportunities, and captured sustainable annual savings exceeding $20 million. 
  • Alcoa has developed boiler technology to increase energy efficiency at its facilities in Hildesheim, Germany by over 45 percent. 

Alcoa is one of the world’s largest producers of aluminum.

Alcoa is a member of the Business Environmental Leadership Council (BELC), the largest U.S.-based association of companies dedicated to business and policy solutions to climate change. A worldwide company with more than 480 operating locations in 40 countries, Alcoa is engaged in mining of bauxite, production of alumina and alumina based chemicals, smelting and fabrication of aluminum, forged products and powders, the production of aluminum and plastic packaging materials, automotive components and electrical distribution systems, and the production of high temperature components for turbines, and is a major electric power producer.
Alstom Summary
Cross-cutt
  • Alstom is working with Microsoft to develop smarter power plant technology, and to research smart grid deployment.
Internal
  • Alstom is targeting a 20 percent reduction in overall energy intensity and greenhouse gas emissions from its operations by 2015, and has identified 10 sites for energy efficiency improvements to achieve this goal.
Products & Services
  • Alstom is a leading producer of high speed rail systems, including the new AGV high speed train that consumes 15 percent less energy than comparable trains. 
  • Alstom is working with Microsoft to develop smarter power plant technology, and to research smart grid deployment.
  • Alstom developed critical and supercritical technology for coal-fired plants that can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 30 percent.
Supply
  • All suppliers have to abide by the Alstom Charter for Sustainable Development, which includes standards for energy efficiency.  
Success
  • Alstom developed critical and supercritical technology for coal-fired plants that can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 30 percent.

Alstom is a multinational company that serves the power generation and transport market

 Alstom is a leading producer of integrated power plant systems and innovative transportation solutions. Headquartered in Paris, France, Alstom had revenues of $22.6 billion in 2008, and employs more than 80,000 people in 70 countries. Alstom is the top global manufacturer of high speed rail systems, including the new AGV high speed train that consumes 15 percent less energy than comparable trains. In its own operations, Alstom has committed to a 20 percent reduction by 2015 in overall energy intensity and greenhouse gas emissions. Alstom is also a pioneer in the development of technologies that capture and store CO2 emissions from power plants.
American Water
Buildings
  • In Pennsylvania, American Water is piloting a technology that allows its large energy consuming sites to reduce their electricity consumption during peak events or times of energy usage. This “demand management” technology will avoid the need for additional power generation and reduce energy costs for its customers.  
  • All American Water facilities are incorporating high efficiency lighting technology to reduce energy use. Lighting accounts for less than one-half of 1 percent of the company’s electricity use. While lighting improvement projects are a good use of capital dollars, the impact on the company’s carbon footprint will be minimal because lighting represents such a small portion of overall electricity use.
Internal
  • American Water has set a goal to reduce its GHG emissions per volume of water produced by 16 percent from 2007 levels by the year 2017.
  • The vast majority of American Water’s electricity consumption is used to pump water from source to treatment and storage facilities and on to its customers. The company is testing the efficiency of its pumps, evaluating alternatives for improvement, and designing enhancements. Improved pump efficiency is an opportunity to both reduce energy use and decrease the company’s carbon footprint. Research has shown that the average “wire-to-water” efficiency of existing “in-field” water utility pumps is about 55 percent. New installations are designed to achieve efficiency ratings of between 76 and 82 percent. American Water sees this as a major opportunity to decrease its carbon footprint. By replacing or refurbishing older pumps, its studies have shown that pump efficiency can improve by as much as 20 percent.
  • About 5 percent of American Water’s GHG emissions come from its vehicle fleet, which is used to operate and maintain its water and wastewater systems.  The company is working to improve the efficiency of its fleet of cars and trucks and has implemented a "no idle policy" to improve fuel efficiency. American Water continues to work with public utility commissions in the states in which it operates to obtain approval for the increased purchase of high-efficiency, hybrid and electric vehicles.
Supply
  • A large number of products purchased by American Water are produced utilizing recycled materials. With respect to infrastructure items, all iron castings, whether ductile or other, are manufactured by melting ferrous scrap mixes depending on availability and pricing. Such items  include ductile iron pipe and fittings, hydrants, valve bodies, curb and valve box castings, iron lids, among others.
  • A number of American Water’s treatment chemicals utilize recycled material in their production. These include ferrous and ferric salts (ferric sulfate and ferric chloride), which are manufactured using ferrous scrap. The remaining chemicals are produced using virgin materials. In 2010, treatment chemicals produced from recycled material and used by the company’s regulated business accounted for 11 percent of the treatment chemical purchases across American Water.

American Water Works Company, Inc. provides water and wastewater services to residential, commercial, industrial, public, and other customers in the United States and Canada.

American Water is a member of the Business Environmental Leadership Council (BELC), the largest U.S.-based association of companies dedicated to business and policy solutions to climate change. The company serves approximately 15 million people with drinking water, wastewater, and other water-related services in approximately 30 states and 2 Canadian provinces. The company also enters into public/private partnerships, including operation and maintenance contracts; and design, build, and operate contracts for the provision of services to water and wastewater facilities for municipalities and the U.S. military. The company also provides biosolids management, transport, and disposal services to municipal and industrial customers. It offers granular carbon technologies and products for cleansing water and wastewater, wastewater residuals management services, and water and wastewater facility engineering services. The company was founded in 1886 and is based in Voorhees, New Jersey.
AREVA
Internal
  • AREVA is concentrating on reducing GHG emissions, particularly SF6, N2O and CO2, in its mining and chemical activities, which together represent three-quarters of AREVA’s emissions. The company has committed to operate on a carbon-neutral basis through reducing and offsetting GHG emissions. Each of the AREVA’s corporate entities establishes a multiyear energy conservation plan based on an energy assessment that identifies opportunities and actions for energy savings. The assessment follows the Group’s methodology and covers lighting, building ventilation, process ventilation, heating, transportation, steam production, compressed air production, cooling systems, electrical equipment and thermal processes. To assist sites, methodological tools are available: awareness kit, energy news, guides to best practice and to the best available technologies. Energy audits enable the sites to deploy more actions favoring energy savings.
  • The company uses a variety of energy efficiency processes to reduce GHG emissions including installing variable speed drives primarily on supply and exhaust fans to regulate air flow, using heat recovery systems from furnaces, and lighting replacements.
  • The company’s Georges-Besse II uranium enrichment plant at the Tricastin in France drastically decreases AREVA’s environmental footprint: the new plant’s centrifugation technology uses 50 times less electricity than the gaseous diffusion process it replaces, and the plant no longer needs water from the Rhone River for its operation. At a total of some 3 billion euros, the Georges-Besse II plant is one of France’s largest industrial projects.
  • Since 2004, the company has achieved a 23 percent reduction in energy consumption.
Products & Services
  • AREVA offers customers a large number of products and technologies as solutions to meet regulatory requirements, for climate protection, and for energy and resource efficiency. AREVA is deploying expertise and skills throughout the uranium cycle to make nuclear energy safer and competitive as a low-carbon energy resource. The company’s solar CSP “booster” projects augment power generation at existing coal-fired plants to increase output while reducing emissions.

Ranked first in the global nuclear power industry, AREVA provides an integrated offering to utilities that covers every stage of the nuclear fuel cycle, nuclear reactor design and construction, and related services.

AREVA is a member of the Business Environmental Leadership Council (BELC), the largest U.S.-based association of companies dedicated to business and policy solutions to climate change. Headquartered in Paris, France, AREVA has a commercial presence in more than 100 countries. The group is also expanding in renewable energies – wind, solar, bioenergies, hydrogen, and storage – to be one of the top three in this sector worldwide in 2012. With these two major offers, AREVA’s 48,000 employees are helping to supply ever safer, cleaner, and more economical energy to the greatest number of people.
Bank of America Summary
Buildings
  • Bank of America has committed $1.4 billion to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification in all new construction of office facilities and banking centers. It has also pledged to invest $100 million in energy conservation measures for use in all company facilities. 
  • The bank is building the most environmentally friendly skyscraper in the country at One Bryant Park in Midtown Manhattan. The Tower will serve as the headquarters for Bank of America’s operations in New York City, and house its global corporate and investment banking, wealth and investment management and consumer and commercial banking businesses. Bank of America aims to reduce energy consumption by at least 50 percent compared to a conventional building. 
  • In January of 2008, Bank of America opened its Adelanto Banking Center, the first retail bank branch in the U.S. to achieve LEED “Platinum” certification.
Cross-cutt
  • Bank of America is also reducing energy use by unplugging unused servers at operations centers; shutting down computers automatically; and through the use of advanced data center cooling strategies. Additionally, lighting and HVAC systems have been upgraded.
Internal
  • Bank of America has set “9x9” Climate Leaders goal – this is an absolute reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 9 percent by 2009. Bank of America will rely heavily on energy efficiency to meet this goal. 
  • Bank of America has a National Energy Team, led by Corporate Workplace, which was established to reduce energy consumption, promote energy efficiency, implement the bank’s GHG reduction program and explore alternative energy potential. In 2005, the team achieved a 4.31 percent portfolio-wide electrical energy reduction -- 0.31 percent ahead of its 4 percent goal -- through implementation of efficiency projects, enhanced building operations, and increased employee education and awareness. 
  • Bank of America’s reduction strategies include: upgrades to energy efficient technology, improving operations through performance metrics, best practices, education, benchmarks, and incentives. 
  • Bank of America is also reducing energy use by unplugging unused servers at operations centers; shutting down computers automatically; and through the use of advanced data center cooling strategies. Additionally, lighting and HVAC systems have been upgraded.
Products & Services
  • Bank of America offers a “Green Mortgage Program,” which allows homebuyers to receive a reduced interest rate, or $1,000 back for each home-purchase mortgage meeting Energy Star specifications. 
  • Bank of America is working with the Environmental Protection Agency’s SmartWay Transport Program. Bank of America provides Small Business Administration (SBA) loans without requiring collateral and offers flexible terms to small and mid-sized trucking companies to finance fuel efficient technologies. 
  • Bank of America’s loan program is intended to help trucking companies purchase SmartWay Upgrade Kits that include idle-reduction devices, low-rolling resistance tires, aerodynamic equipment and exhaust after-treatment devices.
Supply
  • Bank of America uses a nationwide, consolidated one-day-a-week delivery schedule for office supplies, which reduces fuel use and provides savings of $1 million annually.
Success
  • Bank of America has a National Energy Team, led by Corporate Workplace, which was established to reduce energy consumption, promote energy efficiency, implement the bank’s greenhouse gas reduction program and explore alternative energy potential. In 2005, the team achieved a 4.31 percent portfolio-wide electrical energy reduction -- 0.31 percent ahead of its 4 percent goal -- through implementation of efficiency projects, enhanced building operations, and increased employee education and awareness. 
  • In January of 2008, Bank of America opened its Adelanto Banking Center, the first retail bank branch in the U.S. to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design “Platinum” certification.

Bank of America is a financial services company, and one of the largest bank holding companies in the United States.

Bank of America is a member of the Business Environmental Leadership Council (BELC), the largest U.S.-based association of companies dedicated to business and policy solutions to climate change. Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk-management products and services. The company serves more than 54 million consumer and small business relationships with more than 5,700 retail banking offices, nearly 17,000 ATMs and award-winning online banking with more than 19.8 million active users.

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