Volvo Trucks’ New River Valley (NRV) manufacturing plant in Dublin, Va. reduced its energy intensity by nearly 30 percent in just one year, making it the first company to meet a 10-year challenge set by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The DOE launched the Save Energy Now LEADER Program in Oct. 2009 as a challenge to the U.S. industrial sector. Volvo Trucks in North America and 31 other major companies pledged to reduce their intensity of energy per unit of production by 25 percent over a decade.
«Volvo met the Save Energy Now target in one year instead of ten,» said Chief Operating Officer Patrick Collignon, who served as vice president and general manager of the NRV plant during the time in which the target was met. «This accomplishment exemplifies our commitment to our core value of environmental care. Thanks to the engagement of employees across the organization, we’re lowering energy use while at the same time operating more efficiently.»
The plant reduced its MMbtu per truck (the DOE metric for energy intensity) from 79.64 in 2009 to 60.42 in 2010 – a reduction of 29.6 percent.
