On April 12, at the Better Buildings, Better Plants Summit in Washington, DC, the U.S. Department of Energy recognized several organizations certified through DOE’s Superior Energy Performance 50001 (SEP 50001) program in the last year. DOE's SEP 50001 program, managed by DOE’s Industrial Efficiency & Decarbonization Office (IEDO), offers certification and elevated levels of recognition to facilities that achieve sustained excellence in energy management. Elevated levels of recognition include Platinum, Gold, and Silver.
Dr. Avi Schultz, Deputy Director of the U.S. Department of Energy's Industrial Efficiency & Decarbonization Office (IEDO) presented the awards.
3M
3M’s Greenville, South Carolina, and Knoxville, Iowa sites are recognized this year for their initial certification and respective achievements of 2.1% energy performance improvement over two years and 1.1% over one year. Kalie Miera, Senior Energy Engineer at 3M, appeared at the Summit to receive recognition on behalf of the two sites (pictured right). 3M has a total of 36 sites that are certified to the SEP 50001 program across North America. The company also submitted the top-scoring U.S. case study to the global Clean Energy Ministerial’s Energy Management Leadership Awards in 2022, thereby earning the U.S. National Award for Energy Management for that year.
Harbec Inc.
Harbec’s Ontario, New York plant, is celebrating its fourth certification cycle since 2013. Harbec’s latest achievements over three years have resulted in an energy performance improvement of 3.6%, an achievement that was recognized at the summit. President Bob Bechtold (pictured right) was present to receive DOE recognition.
Nissan
Nissan’s Smyrna site, based in Tennessee, was recognized for improving its energy performance by 9.4% over three years and for achieving elevated DOE recognition at the Gold level. Nissan’s Canton Vehicle plant in Mississippi was recognized for achieving 2.3% within the same timeframe and for achieving Silver-level recognition. Brett Rasmussen, Senior Energy Engineer for Nissan North America (pictured right), accepted the company’s award at the summit.
Volvo
Volvo’s Mack Trucks, Inc. Lehigh Valley Operations (LVO), based in Pennsylvania, was recognized at the summit for achieving and energy performance improvement of 5.5% over three years. This facility earned its fourth certification cycle since 2013. Bert Hill, Volvo Group North America’s Manager of Health, Safety, Environment, and Energy (pictured right), accepted the award on behalf of the company.