One local manufacturer slashed its energy use by installing energy efficient equipment through rebates provided by Unitil.
Since 2011, Avery Dennison’s Retail Branding and Information Solutions (RBIS) has received over $300,000 in rebates for air compressors, molding machines and lighting. As a result, the maker of automotive fasteners and tags for apparel anticipates it will reduce electric consumption by one million kilowatt-hours annually.
The company's quest to become energy efficient began in 2008 with a simple lighting project, according to Luis Grandich, CI manager for Avery Dennison.
According to Unitil’s George Saint-Amant, an energy services engineer who helps companies use energy more efficiently, Avery Dennison RBIS was among its top five commercial customers, in terms of energy consumed annually.
Grandich worked with Saint-Amant to conduct a comprehensive audit of virtually all its equipment, allowing the company to then prioritize capital projects. “We want to be as green as we can,” Grandich said.
“Our old compressors were energy hogs,” said Craig Smith, plant manager for Avery Dennison RBIS. Taking advantage of financial rebates provided through Unitil, the company purchased three air compressors, with a large holding tank, which significantly reduced the number of hours per day they needed to run.
Unitil’s George Saint-Amant (right) and Luis Grandich, CI manager for Avery Dennison RBIS, look over the recently installed energy efficient air compressors in the Fitchburg, Mass. facility.
While energy efficient equipment can cost more, rebates help close the gap, which makes such projects feasible.
The equipment is so efficient that it is able to increase product production with very little increase in electric usage. “We don’t have any difficulty competing globally because of stable energy costs,” Smith says.
The state passed legislation recently that allowed each utility company to target its top five commercial customers with special rebate incentives.
“The program has been a huge success, with all of our top customers opting in for the program,” said Saint-Amant. “In particular, Avery Dennison has been a textbook case of how these partnerships should work.”
Avery Dennison RBIS, a global leader in apparel and footwear industry solutions, is a $1.6 billion division of Avery Dennison (NYSE: AVY). With operations in more than 50 countries and 26,000 employees worldwide, the Fitchburg facility has been part of the company since 1982.
