FLINT -- General Motors’ Flint Assembly, Metal Center and Engine operations are among the 54 facilities to meet a voluntary energy-reduction challenge set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, cutting energy intensity to meet the EPA’s ENERGY STAR® Challenge for Industry.
To meet the ENERGY STAR Challenge for Industry, facilities need to reduce energy intensity by 10 percent within five years. The three Flint plants collectively avoided nearly 67,000 tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere — the equivalent of electricity use by 8,100 U.S. homes annually.
“Our employees are committed to helping increase our global operations’ energy efficiency,” said Mike Robinson, GM vice president of sustainability and global regulatory affairs. “They remain at the core of our progress.”
The three plants, all in a complex bounded by the I-75 and I-69 expressways, avoided more than $5.4 million in energy costs annually through their efforts. GM leads all companies worldwide in meeting the challenge. Total companywide savings in energy costs total $90 million.
To achieve the challenge, employees at the Flint plants used energy-saving tactics such installing energy efficient lights, using variable frequency drive motors to reduce energy consumption on mist collectors and pumps and using natural gas or electricity as alternatives to boilers.
Flint Assembly’s energy intensity reduction was more than 30 percent, resulting in a cost avoidance of $3.8 million; Flint Metal reported a reduction of nearly 28 percent for a cost avoidance of $1.2 million; and Flint Engine reported a reduction of nearly 11 percent for a cost avoidance of $365,000.
