Thank you to all Better Buildings and Better Plants partners and attendees for joining us at this year’s Association of Energy Engineers (AEE) World Conference!
Thousands of industry professionals convened at AEE World 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee, to learn about innovative energy efficiency and decarbonization solutions and technologies and discuss best practices. DOE, through Better Plants, was a sponsor and there was a dedicated track highlighting partner solutions and innovations.
There were also three technical sessions covering energy efficiency, tackling Scope 1 emissions, and project implementations from start to finish. Twelve partners shared their experiences, advice, and lessons learned. In open Q&As, attendees shared their advice and experiences as well.
Highlights included:
The first day of AEE World featured a two-hour session titled “Energy Efficiency: The Foundation of Decarbonization,” highlighting practical insights from industry leaders. Better Plants partners The Chemours Company, Eastman, Ozinga, and RTX shared valuable lessons learned as their organizations worked to reduce industrial greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Here are some key takeaways:
- Josie Stoner, Senior Process Engineer at The Chemours Company, detailed the company’s progress towards achieving its 2030 absolute GHG emissions goal – noting it is 85% of the way there. Stoner highlighted the roles of DOE’s 50001 Ready Navigator and 50001 Ready Cohort in making it happen.
- Sharon Nolen, P.E., CEM, Program Manager & Fellow, Global Natural Resource Management, Eastman Chemical Company spoke about “Banking on Energy Efficiency to Reduce Decarbonization Costs.” She emphasized the importance of benchmarking in decarbonization efforts and shared Eastman’s benchmark summary and conclusions.
- Lum Sadiku, Director of Energy and Sustainability at Ozinga, discussed the energy efficiency program at Ozinga, a ready-mix concrete manufacturer, and how they run their decarbonization program.
- Tracy Fialli, Senior Manager, Energy & Water, RTX gave a presentation titled “Decarbonization is a Team Sport,” in which she shared recommendations on how to involve everyone in an organization’s decarbonization efforts.
The second day featured a two-hour session led by Sachin Nimbalkar, Group Leader, Manufacturing Energy Efficiency Research & Analysis at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, focusing on how to tackle industrial Scope 1 emissions. This collaborative session brought together industry experts from Frito-Lay, Kraft Heinz, Lockheed Martin, and Nestlé, who shared insights from their organizations’ efforts to mitigate emissions.
- Bryan Seitz, Sustainability Strategy Manager Climate Lead, Frito-Lay North America, discussed the company’s steam generation decarbonization strategies and shared lessons that could be applied to any food and beverage manufacturing company.
- Aaron Stewart, the SG Decarbonization & Utilities Processing Design Engineering Lead at Kraft Heinz, shared the company’s recipe for net zero emissions in manufacturing. This included the initial design approach, establishing a thermal profile, conducting a technology assessment, and an impact review.
- Dave Gontarz, Staff Mechanical Engineer at Lockheed Martin, gave an in-depth look at 14 key initiatives that are helping the company reduce absolute emissions by 36% from 2020 baseline by 2030.
- Rishabh Bahel, CEM, Senior Manager, Energy and Sustainability, Nestlé Purina provided an overview of the company’s thermal decarbonization efforts.
The third day highlighted project implementation from start to finish. The speakers, sustainability leaders from Better Plants partners ABB, Cummins Inc., Owens Corning, and Sherwin-Williams, offered lessons learned and practical advice for any industrial company.
- Michelle Schwery, LPG Manager Renewable Energy US, ABB shared how the company drove sustainability in its new Wisconsin facility.
- Laura Jones, Director of ECO Efficiency, Cummins Inc., provided a comprehensive overview of the company’s Compressed Air Challenge Campaign, which had the goal of reducing compressed air energy uses at identified sites globally by 30% by 2024.
- Michael Kennedy, Water Compliance and Sustainability Lead at Owens Corning, shared the benefits the organization realized from a U.S. Department of Energy and Water Treasure Hunt at two facilities last year. At the Danville, IL facility, participants identified and documented 22 projects that would provide a total emissions savings of 18% and a site wide cost savings of 17%. Organizations interested in participating in a Treasure Hunt can learn more here.
- Chad Snodgrass, Lead Sustainability Engineer, Sherwin Williams, discussed the company’s successful implementation of onsite solar to drive decarbonization.
Beyond the sessions, partners, stakeholders, and attendees met during the Better Plants luncheon to network and discuss updates on the Better Plants program and DOE initiatives and to recognize the U.S. Air Force Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex with the National Energy Management Leadership Award.
The Better Plants booth gave attendees and partners more opportunities to engage Better Plants experts.
Chris Price and Nick Karki gave packed presentations on the Expo floor highlighting Better Plants tools that can be used by any organization. This included:
- The MEASURE and VERIFI Tools that are designed to help industrial energy and sustainability teams identify savings opportunities in their operational energy usage and emissions.
- Two web-based decarbonizations tools – the Facility CO2 Emissions Flow Tool and Levelized Cost of Avoided CO2 Emissions tool – which help visualize the flow of CO2 emissions and helps identify decarbonization measures, as well as their lifetime costs and savings.
The Leak Detection Tool drew a crowd throughout the conference.
Outside of the conference track, Crystal Bell, the ITV Technical Partnership Lead for DOE’s Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office, highlighted the Industrial Technology Validation (ITV) Program to a packed audience.
Thanks to everyone who helped make this year’s Better Plants track at AEE World a success! As a voluntary partnership initiative, Better Plants succeeds because our partners share their solutions at events like AEE World. Be sure to join us at our upcoming events, including the Energy Boot Camp and the 2025 Better Buildings, Better Plants Summit from April 30-May 2.