The Kenworth assembly plant in Chillicothe OH was honored recently with the 2016 AEP Ohio Energy Efficiency Award presented by American Electric Power (AEP), one of the largest electric utilities in the United States. The annual award recognizes AEP Ohio’s business customers and partners who have demonstrated a strong commitment to energy efficiency.
Kenworth Chillicothe’s participation in an AEP Ohio Continuous Energy Improvement (CEI) program produced total energy savings of five million kilowatt hours (KwH)--1.56 million kilowatt hours (KwH) in the first 12 months, and 3.44 million KwH in the second 12-month period. Kenworth’s experience in CEI offers a template for sustaining energy savings year-after-year.
“Kenworth’s Chillicothe assembly plant is committed to protecting the environment and conserving natural resources through effective management of energy used to support the manufacturing process,” said Daryl Simon, Kenworth assistant general manager for operations.
Kenworth Chillicothe’s energy savings were driven by such projects as compressed air set point reductions, machine preventive maintenance and optimization, staggering of air conditioning set points, manually turning off half of the rooftop HVAC systems during weekends, and installing occupancy sensors. The plant also integrated energy efficiency into new employee training.
“Our environmental efforts are of special importance, and the AEP Ohio program offers a significant avenue to contribute to the development of enhanced best practices in manufacturing energy efficiency,” said Judy McTigue, Kenworth-Chillicothe plant manager.