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A Finkl & Sons Co’s Innovation In The Die Steel Forging Industry:
A. Finkl & Sons Co. is one of the largest custom die steel forgers in the U.S., with $80 million in sales and 400 employees as of 1995. This fully integrated steel production facility in
Chicago produces die blocks for the closed die forging industry, plastic mold and die casting die steels, custom open die forgings, and forge shop and steel mill repair parts. |
| Aap Saint Mary's Aluminum Recycling: new link -- AAP Saint Mary's (AAP) produces original and
after-market aluminum automotive wheels. The process takes raw aluminum ingots and melts, casts, machines, and polishes finished aluminum wheels. During the machining process, up to 40
percent of a wheel's aluminum is lost, resulting in 6,000 tons of aluminum shavings per year. Traditionally, these chips were trucked to a third-party recycler, who cleaned, re-melted and
reformed them into ingots, which were returned to AAP where they were re-melted and reused. |
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Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc’s Bio Energy Recovery: In
response to rising fuel prices in the late 1970s, Anheuser-Busch looked for ways to gain control over energy and other utility costs. The company began exploring anaerobic treatment of
organic nutrients in wastewater, in which bacteria consume organic compounds under water, releasing biogas that bubbles to the top of the tank. The biogas (mostly methane) is collected and
used for fuel (bio-energy recovery), and solid waste is reduced. In addition, constructing and using a bio-energy recovery system requires less capital and operating expenses than
expanding conventional treatment facilities. Anheuser-Busch plans to be using this process in eight of its facilities by 2000. |
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Biochemicals For The Automotive Industry: Schlegel Corporation, a manufacturer of automotive components, replaced
methylene chloride with a biochemical cleaning system. Learn how they saved $72,000 in combined purchase, disposal and regulatory costs. |
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Biochemicals For The Printing Industry: new link -- Bolger Publications switched from using petroleum-based press wash
to a vegetable-based product, resulting in a safer work environment and financial savings. To learn more about Bolger’s case study and the use of biochemicals in the printing industry.
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Bowater Inc’s Mechanical Vapor Recompression Heat Pump Recaptures:
Bowater Inc., a Climate Wise Partner, manufactures market pulp, newsprint, and coated magazine paper. During the processing of green wood chips, which are half water and half fiber, the
water is converted to steam as the fibers are separated, processed, and pumped to paper machines to be converted to paper stock. The company wanted to capture the energy lost in this
low-pressure steam it vented from its seven-thermo mechanical pulping (TMP) refiner lines. / (added 09/2005) |
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Carbon-Lite Lifestyle: Christopher
Gronbeck's story. When Christopher Gronbeck says he's been "training," one is never quite sure if he means he's been honing a new skill or has just crisscrossed the states on Amtrak.
Over the past decade he's been determinedly shrinking his greenhouse gas emissions by bicycling and walking as much as possible rather than driving, and by taking trains and communicating
over the Internet rather than flying. |
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Chaparrel Steel Company’s Waste Reuse: Each year,
Chaparrel Steel uses more than 700,000 used cars as scrap in the production of 1.6 million tons of steel, using electric-arc furnace technology. The company generates wastes in the form of
electric-arc furnace slag, mill scale, and baghouse dust from its air pollution control systems. Because the mill scale was rich in iron oxide, Chaparrel had no problem finding a buyer for
it. Chaparrel had been selling the slag mixed with baghouse dust for a low price to highway construction firms, however, they believed there might be a more lucrative use for the slag.
Chaparrel created an internal task force (STAR, Systems and Technology for Advanced Recycling) that teamed with a neighboring cement plant to create a patented process called CemStar,
which adds slag to the raw material cement mix. CemStar processes the crushed slag through a magnetic separation system to recover valuable metallic substances that are then cycled back
into the electric-arc furnaces. The remaining lower-grade slag is used in the cement kilns as a substitute for limestone in the manufacturing process. / (added 09/2005) |
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Clackamas High School: Take a tour of
this LEED Silver school project at the Boora Architects web site. |
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Colorado State University Industrial Assessment Center’s Fabricated
Metal Products : new link -- The Colorado State University Industrial Assessment Center (CSU IAC) conducted an energy efficiency/waste minimization audit at a company that
manufactures screw machine products for hydraulic systems. The company has 140 employees who produce about 38 million parts per year, creating gross sales of $8.5 million. Energy expenses
amount to about 2.5 percent of gross sales. The major hazardous waste is spent ion exchange resins from the wastewater treatment area. |
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Cominco America Inc’s Re-Engineered Fertilizer Production:
Cominco produces ammonia for fertilizer, which uses water and gas fuel to generate steam. Process condensate is generated as wastewater, which is managed by a holding pond and injection
wells. Cominco retained an engineering consultant, M.W. Kellogg Co., to re-engineer its ammonia plant to reduce fuel and make-up water consumption. / (added 09/2005) |
| Crest (Center For Renewable Energy And Sustainable Technology) : documents state and local government
activities that have resulted in reducing or preventing greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency or renewable energy technologies, better municipal planning, and progressive
sustainable energy and resource practices. / (added 09/2005) |
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Dana Corporation’s Industrial Heat Treating: Dana Corporation
is the largest original equipment manufacturer of automotive and heavy equipment axles, transmissions, and brakes for the North American automotive industry. Dana, and an estimated 4,500
facilities in the U.S., use a heat-treating (carburizing) process that hardens and increases the wear resistance of steel surfaces on products such as gears, bearings, drive shafts, piston
rings, universal joints, hand and machine tools, gas turbine blades, and steel fasteners. Conventionally, the carburizing process treats parts in a 1750o (F) atmosphere composed of carbon
monoxide, hydrogen, and nitrogen, which are discharged when the process is completed. New federal standards will soon require these facilities to purchase air emission permits and install
discharge monitoring equipment |
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Decatur Foundry, Inc’s Infrared Drying: Decatur Foundry, a
Climate Wise Partner, is a small-run jobbing foundry in Decatur, Illinois, which specializes in iron castings for electric-motor frames and parts as well as pump components. The castings
industry has been moving away from quick-drying, solvent-based coatings to slow-drying, environmentally safer water-based coatings, creating a bottleneck in the production process. At the
same time, Decatur's customers were moving to just-in-time inventory systems, placing pressure on suppliers to provide quick turnaround on orders. A third variable putting pressure on
turnaround time was Decatur's short production runs, which require molds to be formed and made ready for casting as quickly as possible. |
| Dsire (Database Of State Incentives For Renewable Energy) : displays the results of a survey of state
financial incentives, programs, and regulatory policies designed to promote renewable energy technologies. |
| Ecovillages: A residential community in Loudoun County, Virginia committed to sustainable development.
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Environmental Showcase Home:
Greens the desert and saves "green" with a $30/month energy bill. |
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Episcopal Power And Light: is one of the
most compelling examples we've found of a group trying to confront the moral challenge posed by climate change. Learn about the tremendous successes this religious group has already
realized. |
| Fighting Climate Change One House At A
Time: Mike & Catherine Tidwell's story. With a healthy sense of responsibility and a small loan from the bank, Mike and Catherine Tidwell set about reducing their carbon
footprint by rethinking how their house uses energy. On their way they have shown that Americans of modest means can achieve enormous reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. |
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Fog And The Namibian
Beetle Provide Water In The Desert: A good example of biomimetics: Effective fog harvesting. |
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Four Times Square, Ny: An ecologically responsible office tower located in the heart of Manhattan. Highlighted High
Performance Features |
| Greenhome Project: Habitat for Humanity's Washington DC affiliate |
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Ilco Unican Corporation’s AqueoUS Cleaning System: The Ilco
Unican facility in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, produces over 1.5 million blank keys daily. The facility had been using 1,1,1, trichloroethane in a vapor degreaser to remove a medium-grade
residue from the keys, but designed an aqueous cleaning system to eliminate the use of the organic solvent. The chemical-free, aqueous cleaning system uses a high-pressure, hot water spray
to wash the keys and high-pressure air to dry them. The water in the system is recirculated and cleaned by an oil skimmer. |
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Inland Technology Inc: Biochemical Cleaning Solvents: Boeing Aerospace Corporation cleans its airplane parts with a
plant-based terpene cleaning solvent in place of petroleum-based solvents. / (added 09/2005) |
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My Carbon Footprint: Michael Totten's story.
If everyone in the world adopted what appears to be a relatively benign U.S. lifestyle, this would in fact lead to certain disaster for the planet, in terms of its climate system and
destructive impact on biodiversity. Thus I've spent the past several decades trying to shrink my carbon and ecological footprints, to "live simply so others may simply live."
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Nisshinbo, California, Inc ‘S Variable Speed Drives:
Nisshinbo, California, Inc. is a textile manufacturer that produces yarns and threads from the initial spinning process to finishing. With performance-based financing from Energy Capital
Partners, Nisshinbo installed variable-speed drives (VSDs) throughout their manufacturing facility as part of the textile spinning and weaving processes. The VSDs allow for energy
consumption to more adequately track energy requirements, adjusting for varying load requirements, using less energy more efficiently. |
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Novo Nordisk: a Danish pharmaceutical
company is not only managing its own environmental impact, but also demonstrating leadership by scrutinizing the impact of its supply chain too. / (added 09/2005) |
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Nw Federal Credit
Union: This facility incorporates many wonderful examples of sustainability accentuated by beautiful views of downtown Seattle and Mt. Rainer. |
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Quad/Graphics, Inc’s Innovation In The Printing Industry: Since
Quad/Graphics started in 1971, the company has grown more than 20 percent per year to become the largest privately held printing company in North America, with annual revenues exceeding $1
billion, ten manufacturing sites, and over 8,000 employees. Quad provides full production services, including design, photography, finishing, mailing, and distribution. |
| Red Feather Development Group: brings volunteers and tribal members together to learn strawbale
building methods. / (added 09/2005) |
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Republic Engineered Steels, Inc’s Scrap Metal Recycling & Water Reuse:
Republic Engineered Steels, a Climate Wise Partner, manufactures special quality bars of carbon steel, stainless steel, tool steel, and various alloy steels at ten plants in six states.
Due to economic pressures, Republic was forced to cut costs significantly, and began by soliciting suggestions from all employees. Melt shop staff at the Canton, Ohio plant made two
recommendations: sorting scrap steel before remelting it, and changing from live steam cleaning to a dip rinse system as well as other water-saving recommendations. / (added 09/2005) |
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Sandia National Laboratories -Microelectronics Development Laboratory’s
Water Use & Wastewater Reduction: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) is a multi program laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the U.S.
Department of Energy. Sandia's Microelectronics Development Laboratory (MDL) in New Mexico (NM) has over 30,000 ft2 of clean room space, with state-of-the-art equipment for processing
wafers up to 150 mm in diameter. MDL conducts R&D in a range of micro technologies, including advanced packaging and interconnection, micro sensors, compound semiconductors, advanced
nonvolatile memory, micro machining, and advanced materials and process development for the semi-conductor industry. Many operations conducted at MDL require high purity water. Incoming
water from the City of Albuquerque (COA) and well water obtained from Kirtland Air Force Base (KAFB) is processed through a water treatment facility that includes: carbon absorption,
reverse osmosis (RO), vacuum degassing, and ion exchange |
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Shaw Industries’ Automated Dyebath Reuse: Shaw Industries
served as a test facility for a NICE3 project that showed how carpet manufacturers can reduce pollution and save energy through automated dye bath reuse. In the conventional batch dyeing
process, water is pumped into a dyeing machine, where fabric is placed and saturated with water. Chemicals and dye are then added and the bath is heated and held at dyeing temperature
until dyeing is complete, at which point the bath is emptied, discharging large quantities of water, chemicals and energy. The machine is then refilled and the process is repeated for the
next batch. |
| Short Rotation Woody Crops Program: Suny Albany: / (added 09/2005) |
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Solar Power Generarating Systems At The Milk
Collection Centres Of Panchmahal Dairy: Dairy industry in India is developing at faster rate. However rising cost of inputs in dairy industry such as milk, fuel and electricity
is one of the major constraints. The milk collection centres cannot be operated in rural areas due to unavailability or lack of electricity. To overcome these difficulties a Solar
Photovoltaic Power Generating System can be utilized for providing continuous uninterrupted power and operation of Milk Collection Centres. |
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St Microelectronics: the first corporation
in the world to commit to zero-net carbon emissions. See how this Fortune 500 electronics firm plans to meet its very ambitious pledge and save money at the same time. |
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Sulzer Chemtech Ag’s Saving Energy In The Chemical Industry:
Sulzer provides supplies and services to the chemical industry. One of its more popular services is a "layer crystallization" process used to separate and purify chemicals. The process is
energy intensive, so to reduce operating expenses, Sulzer spent 18 months developing a process to reduce energy intensity while maintaining quality. The less energy-intensive approach used
a crystallizer under pressure, as both the condenser and evaporator of a cooling unit. The new process has several improved features: no intermediate liquid heat-transfer medium; no buffer
vessels; fewer and smaller pumps, piping, and valves; lower temperature differentials; and less space requirement. |
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The Tofte Project: An interactive website describing the
earth-friendly remodeling of a 50-year-old summer cabin in the town of Tofte on the North Shore of Lake Superior. |
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The World Wildlife Fund: is known around the
world for its leadership in conservation. Find out how they have aligned their values with their workspace to create a green office that conserves resources at home too. |
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Trailblazer Foods, Inc’s Water Recycling & Treatment System:
Trailblazer Foods, a small Portland, Oregon company, specializes in the production of fruits, jams, and syrups. Employees proposed, designed and installed one of the most innovative water
recycling systems for heating and cooling in the food process industry. The system uses recirculated water to pasteurize and cool food products, using the heat capacity and thermal
integrity of water to control temperatures reliably. Recirculating water reduced the need to heat and cool the water, cutting gas and electricity used by the boiler and fans. After using
the water many times, the water is treated, and hazardous sludge is eliminated, discharging effluent that meets environmental standards. The Water Treatment project cost $40,000. /
(added 09/2005) |
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Verizon Communications: a Fortune 500
telecommunications firm, has taken towards energy conservation and green energy procurement. Through the influence of Team Energy, a senior-level management group, two different systemic
approaches to change have been implemented. One imposes standards and energy reductions goals from the top down and the other calls for grassroots leadership within the company,
representing a comprehensive model for internal change. / (added 09/2005) |
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Wacker Siltronic Corporation’s Multi-Wire Saw For Silicon:
Wacker Siltronic, in Portland, Oregon, manufactures silicon wafers used in the semiconductor industry. Wacker has a history of commitment to proactive environmental management. In the past
12 years, Wacker has reduced air emissions by 89 percent, hazardous waste by 99 percent, and toxic chemical use by 86 percent, and overall chemical use by 47 percent. As a result, the
company saves about $2 million in operating expenses a year, and almost all projects help the bottom line. / (added 09/2005) |
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Walter Simpson Of The University Of Buffalo:
Many of the improvements he's made are deceptively simple - and could be easily emulated by other institutions, businesses, and even families around the country. |
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Water Efficiency Retrofit Program: A New
Hampshire Medical Center's successful approach to saving water throughout its building / (added 09/2005) |
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White Dog Café: in Philadelphia is unique
in its strong commitments to the environment and local community. From food to renewable energy to community action, the White Dog Cafe provides a stellar example of how to exist
sustainably and successfully in the food service industry. |
|
World Wildlife Fund: is known around the world
for its leadership in conservation. Find out how they have aligned their values with their workspace to create a green office that conserves resources at home too. |
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Zion Visitor Center: Zion National
Park's energy-efficient visitor center. |
