Legrand has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) at the International Energy Technology Conference (IETC) for its continuing efforts to make energy efficiency a top priority through the company’s involvement in the Better Buildings, Better Plants (BBBP) Challenge.
The BBBP Challenge is a DOE program that highlights leaders who have committed to saving energy and providing energy reduction models for others to follow. The BBBP calls upon participating companies to achieve a 25 percent energy intensity reduction within 10 years. Legrand has already exceeded this challenge and achieved a 28.5 percent reduction across 14 U.S. sites since starting the program in 2011.
“We’ve been actively tracking our efforts, and in 2012 we achieved an incremental 8.34 percent reduction in energy intensity over our baseline year of 2009,” mentions Legrand, North America President and CEO John Selldorff. “In addition, we have pledged to reduce energy intensity at our West Hartford, Conn., headquarters by 10 percent in just two years and are continuing on the path to meet this goal.”
Through this steadfast commitment to improving energy efficiency, Legrand has begun installing sub-meters at many facilities to identify further energy reduction opportunities and implemented internally focused initiatives that empower employees to use less energy in their day-to-day at work.
“We attribute our progress in 2012 to a combination of some new approaches, while working to expand and improve upon on previous years’ efforts,” adds Susan Rochford, vice president Energy Efficiency, Sustainability & Public Policy for Legrand. “We will continue to share the tools and approaches we have developed in the course of tackling our energy intensity reduction goals. Our latest tool is called Organizing for Results and includes a five-step process that other organizations may find useful as they develop and organize their sustainability efforts.”
Additionally, the company has pledged to report and share its results with the DOE and public through its participation in the BBBP Challenge. Selldorff and Rochford credit the company’s successful efforts in reducing energy consumption to a combination of the engagement of its employees, the sponsorship of a dedicated leadership team, the development of tools and key management processes, and investment of the time and needed resources to put it all together.