How Manufacturers Can Reduce Industrial Energy Costs

Do you know how much of your energy spend actually goes to powering your plant? A large portion of your energy may be escaping through leaky air compressors and inefficient equipment. Manufacturing facilities are responsible for spending $200 billion every year to power facilities and waste nearly 30 percent of that energy.

To make your manufacturing facility more energy efficient and less expensive to run, here are seven ways to reduce industrial energy costs on your production floor:

1. Develop an energy management team to monitor energy usage and implement ways to reduce waste. Tip: Bring in company representatives who already have an incentive to keep costs low, or build in a bonus that can be tied to the amount of energy the team saves.

2. Conduct an energy audit to quantify how much energy each department is consuming, identify peak consumption times, and offer recommendations on energy efficiency upgrades.

3. Strategically schedule machinery use outside of peak hours, as peak hours can constitute up to 30 percent of a manufacturing facility’s monthly utility bill.

4. Schedule machinery shut-downs during off-shift periods to lower industrial energy costs.

5. Stagger equipment start-ups to avoid large spikes in your facility’s energy demand.

6. Optimize air compressors, as air compressors account for up to $3.2 billion in wasted energy costs annually in the U.S.

7. Conduct an audit of the HVAC system, which is responsible for nearly 52 percent of a building’s total energy consumption. Based on the findings, take the time to conduct maintenance or consider upgrading the system.

Here are three ways to make HVAC systems more efficient:

1. Install a programmable thermostat (which can reduce consumption by as much as 15 percent).

2. Invest in a demand-controlled ventilation (DCV) system, which regulates outdoor air intake based on a facility’s concentration of carbon dioxide due to the number of staff inside.

3. In some cases, the simple repair and insulation of ducting is enough to increase HVAC energy efficiency by 20 percent.

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