STRATEGIES FOR SUSTAINABILITY

Proactive sustainability programs can inherently provide opportunities to support strategic decision-making, sharpen the competitive edge, and safeguard natural resources. Specific and highly practical benefits can further be realized from reduced operating costs, increased productivity and profitability, measurable energy savings and reduced carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, improved waste and chemicals management, enhanced equipment reliability, and healthier and safer working conditions.

For the maintenance function alone, the road to sustainability can lead to more effective strategic directions and more efficient approaches. In our case, sustainability is woven tightly into our operating fabric and involves developing and offering new environmentally sound, energy-efficient products and services, as well as introducing effective energy conservation programs. We further encourage employees to take individual responsibility for active contributions to sustainability at work and in their private lives. The commitment extends to suppliers, too, with the message that a positive track record for sustainability will make a big difference.

We define sustainability as ?SKF Care? that focuses on four cornerstones: business, the environment, employees and the community. Within each of these, key focus areas and targets are established to drive continuous performance improvement. For the past eight years, sustainability performance data reporting has been integrated with financial data reporting to underscore that sustainability is embedded in the company?s culture and operations.

BEING SEEN AS GREEN
As a global supplier of bearings, seals, mechatronics, services, and lubrication systems, SKF provides technical support, maintenance services, engineering consultancy and training in more than 130 countries through more than 41,000 employees and 15,000 distributor locations worldwide.
With a long record of sustainability-related achievements that strive to increase energy efficiency and reduce carbon footprint, this manufacturer is grounded in the goals of sustainability that are highlighted by the design and construction of an all-new ?green? corporate headquarters that opened last year to house the consolidated operations of SKF USA Inc.

We have earned consistent and independent recognition for our sustainability achievements. Among them, we have been included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes for nine successive years, in the FTSE4 Good Index Series for eight successive years, and were the first international bearings manufacturer to receive global certification according to the ISO 14001 international standard for environmental management in 1998.

In this context, the following examples document some of the key sustainability actions ? big and small ? that may suggest opportunities and solutions for your operation.

EXAMPLE: RAISING A ?GREEN?HEADQUARTERS BUILDING
A new three-story, headquarters building that houses SKF USA Inc. (Kulpsville, PA) was designed and constructed with sustainability objectives top-of-mind. The 84,000 sq ft facility opened last year and incorporates these highlights, among others:
? White roof with high Solar Reflectance Index (SRI). White roofs can reduce the roof surface temperature by up to 100 deg F, thereby reducing the heat transferred into the building below. This helps to reduce energy costs, improve occupant comfort, cut maintenance costs, increase the life cycle of the roof, and reduce urban heat islands along with associated smog. In addition, pre-planning for solar panels is well under way.
? Water-efficient fixtures. These consume 44 percent less water than a building with conventional fixtures (for projected savings of more than 278,000 gal annually).
? Selected high-end lighting. This performs 25 percent more efficiently than standard office lighting.
? Installation of a geothermal well field connected to Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHPs). Associated savings of $115,000 per year in energy costs are expected compared with a conventional package rooftop HVAC system. GSHPs harness the earth?s constant temperature to heat and cool the building, saving us more than 30 percent on heating and cooling bills.

For cooling, heat from the building evaporates the refrigerant in the loop, which re-condenses as it travels through the loop in the cool earth and then re-evaporates back at the heat pump. Each time the refrigerant goes through a phase change, it absorbs or releases additional energy in the form of heat. For heating, the reverse occurs: energy in the form of heat is released into the building as refrigerant condenses at the heat pump.

EXAMPLE: REDUCING ENERGY AND EMISSIONS IN MANUFACTURING
? Our Mekan Factory in Sweden. This facility has worked continuously over the years to identify ways to reduce energy consumption. Executed projects include the recycling of cooling water from foundry furnaces as warm water in the facility, the recirculation of heating energy from compressor cooling water through heat exchangers to warm up incoming air, and the installation of roof and glass window insulation.

In addition, a 10-year plan has been completed to replace the old ventilation system with heat recycling. This has saved 4,090 MWh in energy in a year. Movement sensors also have been installed throughout the facility for a reduction in annual electricity consumption by 91 MWh.
? Our Factory in Pune, India. A team of technicians has been implementing various projects aimed at reducing energy use, cost, and resulting carbon emissions. In total, these projects have generated a 7 percent reduction in energy use and related carbon emissions in 2008 and projected savings of more than 16 percent in 2009. Many of the actions have required minimal capital outlay. As an example, a relatively small investment in power supply harmonic filters resulted in annual savings of 120 MWh and a 100 ton reduction in CO2 emissions.
? Our Factory in St. Cyr, France. This facility manufactures deep groove ball bearings and started work on energy-saving projects in 2005. Focusing on the systems that supply the necessary fluids for bearing production, technicians were able to identify simple and highly effective strategies resulting in immediate and significant savings. In total, energy consumption has decreased by more than 1.5 GWh, or 25 percent in two years (despite production volume increasing by 22 percent).

Today, all of our manufacturing sites that consume significant energy have a designated energy coordinator responsible for running energy-saving activities. In addition, all sites are required to calculate energy consumption and related CO2 emissions every year as part of the business planning process.

Perhaps most dramatically on a global scale, we established a goal in 2002 to reduce collective CO2 emissions worldwide by 10 percent in five years. This target was achieved two years ahead of schedule and new annual targets worldwide have been posted (and so far met) every year.

EXAMPLE: MOVING FORWARD BEYOND ZERO
We launched BeyondZero? as a concept in 2005 with the mission to achieve an overall positive net impact on the environment above and beyond ?reductions.? Our aim is to reduce the CO2 footprint and add even more positive contributions. This concept has been supported with a variety of energy-efficient products and solutions for the benefit of both us and our customers.

Among examples where BeyondZero principles have been applied by us to help the cause:
? Lubricant consumption for machinery at one plant was reduced by 18 percent using centralized delivery systems. This, in turn, reduced the time and money previously spent for associated lubrication-related maintenance. Even more dramatically, overall production at the customer?s facility eventually rose by 30 percent. This was accomplished by repositioning equipment maintenance practices to reliability-centered paradigms driven by condition monitoring technology. Recurring and costly unscheduled downtime for machinery virtually vanished.
? Introducing frequency-controlled pumps, recovering heat from the production of compressed air, installing new lighting in factories and warehouses, and adding roof insulation increased a manufacturer?s overall energy efficiency and lowered energy costs.

Opportunities for sustainability improvements can be found in virtually every piece of equipment and among all applications and processes. Over time, the rewards can be substantial in reduced operating costs, increased productivity, energy savings, and enhanced reliability of assets. In today?s manufacturing and economic environment, these outcomes prove especially practical and compelling.

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William C. McGlocklin is the director of environmental affairs for SKF USA Inc., 890 Forty Foot Road, Kulpsville, PA 19443-0332, 267-436-6930, email [email protected], www.skfusa.com.