DOWNEY, Calif.()--As part of its global commitment to corporate responsibility and
sustainability, Coca-Cola Enterprises (NYSE: CCE) is nearly complete
with a major lighting retrofit project to reduce energy consumption in
its California facilities. The project will decrease CCE’s energy
consumption for lighting by 5.6 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) a year,
with the potential to decrease 113 million kilowatt-hours over the
20-year life of the new system. This is enough electricity to power 537
homes annually. The project has earned CCE the Orion Energy Systems
(Nasdaq: OESX) Environmental Stewardship Award, which was presented
today by Orion’s executive vice president Michael Potts to Coca-Cola
Enterprises’ executives during a ceremony at its Downey, Calif.,
production facility.
Public officials who attended the event and addressed the audience
included the Mayor of the City of Downey, California, Dn. Mario Guerra,
27th District California State Senator Alan Lowenthal (D-Long
Beach), California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Deputy District
Director Araceli Gonzalez and U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein’s Field
Representative Elizabeth Delgado. Also in attendance were City of Downey
3rd District Councilman Roger Brossmer and 5th District
Councilman Luis Marquez.
Campbell Hawkins, manager of energy efficiency for Southern California
Edison, the utility that provides power to many of Coca-Cola
Enterprises’ California facilities, applauded CCE for its commitment to
energy efficiency. Hawkins also cited the importance of working together
with companies like Coca-Cola Enterprises and Orion Energy Systems to
reduce pressure on California’s strained electrical grid.
The project entailed replacing more than 4,000 high-intensity discharge
(HID) and fluorescent lights with Orion’s Compact ModularTM,
high-intensity fluorescent (HIF) system at 24 Coca-Cola Enterprises
facilities throughout California. CCE also has installed solar power
generating panels on the roof of its Los Angeles facility, has committed
to make all sales and marketing equipment on average 20 percent more
energy efficient by 2010, and has ten hybrid electric trucks delivering
product to customers throughout Los Angeles. In all, CCE has 142 hybrid
electric delivery trucks, giving it the largest fleet of heavy-duty
hybrid delivery trucks in North America.
Coca-Cola Enterprises has established five strategic focus areas, three
of which – energy conservation/climate change, water stewardship, and
sustainable packaging/recycling – are related to the environment. CCE
remains focused on conserving water in its operations and is in the
process of installing water-efficient technology such as container
rinsers that use ionized air rather than water, silicon-based dry
lubricants on its production lines and water reclamation upgrades.
Additionally, the company has worked to increase recycling rates
nationwide through the work of Coca-Cola Recycling.
“At Coca-Cola Enterprises, corporate responsibility and sustainability
is where the world touches our business and where our business touches
the world,” said Terry Fitch, general manager and vice president of
Coca-Cola Enterprises’ West Business Unit. “We’re doing everything we
can to help reduce our carbon footprint in California and across the
country, because we believe that responsible and sustainable business
practices like this will not only help us manage through these complex
times but will also ensure the long-term growth of our company,
sustainable development in our communities, and protection of the
environment.”
As a result of the 5.6 million kWh annual reduction generated from the
lighting retrofit, Coca-Cola Enterprises will help to divert 3,715 tons
of carbon dioxide (CO2) from entering the atmosphere each
year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Also, Coca-Cola
Enterprises will reduce the amount of sulfur dioxide (SO2)
released by 15 tons per year and the amount of nitrogen oxides (NOX)
by five tons per year. The power use reduction is the air-scrubbing
equivalent of planting a 1,038-acre forest or the energy equivalent of
saving 466,962 gallons of gasoline each year.
The environmental benefits and energy cost savings of the Coca-Cola
Enterprises project are possible because Orion fixtures are engineered
based on the dual principles of optimizing input energy and maximizing
lighting output. Orion’s patented high-intensity fluorescent lighting
platform uses about 50 percent less energy and provides 50 percent more
light than traditional high-intensity discharge lights, which have been
the industry norm since approximately 1960. Orion systems turn on
instantly, provide a more natural type of light, and operate at a
relatively cool 110 degrees.
“Coca-Cola Enterprises is fast becoming one of the leaders in
responsible and sustainable business practices,” said Michael Potts,
executive vice president of Orion. “The State of California benefits
from the environmental attributes of Coca-Cola Enterprises’ efforts,
including taking significant power off the electrical grid which tends
to lessen the upward pressure that exists on power prices and the need
for new power plants.”
“Lighting accounts for 55 percent of the energy we use in our sales and
distribution centers and ten percent in our production facilities.
Therefore, reducing our lighting energy use by half makes good economic
sense for us because it creates operational efficiencies while
protecting the environment,” added Fitch.
“This is an historic moment,” said California State Senator Alan
Lowenthal. “What we are experiencing here today is a major paradigm
shift. Corporate citizens such as Coca-Cola Enterprises and Orion Energy
Systems are saying the solution to pollution is prevention. The solution
to pollution is sustainability. The solution to pollution is reducing
our carbon footprint. Great corporate citizens like Coca-Cola
Enterprises – that is how the United States will lead the world, so I am
just really pleased to be here.”
Orion’s energy efficient technology platform includes its Compact ModularTM
high-intensity fluorescent lighting system, the InteLiteTM
wireless control system and the direct renewable ApolloTM
solar light pipe, all of which are installed as an integrated system in
the Downey facility warehouse. The integrated system was recently
internationally recognized with the prestigious Platts Global Energy
award for the single most innovative and sustainable technology of 2008.
The system can reduce energy consumption for lighting in a
commercial/industrial facility for up to ten hours a day during daylight
hours when the electric grid is operating at or near peak capacity.
Orion has deployed its energy management systems in 4,068 facilities
across North America including 108 of the Fortune 500 companies. Since
2001, Orion technology has displaced more than 386 megawatts, saving
customers more than $455 million and reducing indirect carbon dioxide
emissions by 4 million tons.
About Orion Energy Systems, Inc.
Orion Energy Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: OESX) is a leading power technology
enterprise that designs, manufactures and implements energy management
systems, consisting primarily of high-performance, energy-efficient
lighting systems, controls and related services for commercial and
industrial customers without compromising their quantity or quality of
light. For more information, visit www.oriones.com.
About Coca-Cola Enterprises
Coca-Cola Enterprises is the world’s largest marketer, distributor, and
producer of bottle and can liquid nonalcoholic refreshment. CCE sells
approximately 80 percent of The Coca-Cola Company’s bottle and can
volume in North America and is the sole licensed bottler for products of
The Coca-Cola Company in Belgium, continental France, Great Britain,
Luxembourg, Monaco, and the Netherlands. For more information, please
visit www.cokecce.com.
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