Sustainable Silicon Valley Companies - Models for Strategic Energy Saving - Essay Example

SUSTAINABLE SILICON VALLEY COMPANIES : MODELS FOR STRATEGIC ENERGY SAVING AND SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Sustainable Silicon Valley (SSV) began in 2001 as a collaborative effort between the government – this was spearheaded by the California Environmental Protection Agency, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, and NGOs led by the Silicon Valley Environmental Partnership. The group has solicited support from industrial partners to focus on energy saving and carbon management, and have determined 35 key environmental issues, with the following being the top six: 1) use of energy from non-renewable sources; 2) use of fresh water; 3) urban sprawl; 4) habitual development and fragmentation; 5) use of non-renewable raw materials; and 6) discharges of toxic chemicals to the air. The Silicon Valley Environmental Index serves as the baseline measure for environmental quality. Of the six highest priority issues, SSV focuses on the reduction of energy use. The measure utilized for tracking progress is carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Thus, CO2 emissions are taken as a substitute for measuring efficiency of energy use. The regional objective of SSV is to reduce CO2 emissions in the Silicon Valley by 20% in reference to 1990 levels; they intend to accomplish this by 2010. In comparison, the Kyoto Protocol put forth a proposal of 5% decrease in CO2 emissions globally over the same period. Carbon Dioxide Reduction Changes in climate that are outcomes of build-up of human generated greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide presents one of the most critical environmental issues we confront today. The repercussions of climate change are of strong and lasting impact, and exert effects on all levels. This encompasses increasing weather variations which can bring forth less rainfall and decreased snow pack (thus influencing water supply), as well as an increase in sea levels and flooding. Increased temperatures from global warming can also affect air quality through enhanced ozone levels. Acknowledging both the criticality of climate change and the need to stay competitive despite the expensive cost of energy in the Silicon Valley, SSV entered a regional voluntary partnership, and established a consensus-based, lofty goal of reducing CO2 emissions by 20% below the region’s 1990 reference levels by 2010. Each industrial partner in the program selects its manner of achieving the target – whether through energy efficiency mechanisms (i.e. new equipment), saving energy (i.e. behavioral modifications), reinforcing the use of renewable energy sources (e.g. photovoltaic systems) or buying green power. Frequently, an aggregate of measures is utilized. Enhancing energy efficiency has led to crucial changes in the way these companies have operated. The following research represents the experience of industrial participants to SSV’s ambitious energy saving effort. Agilent Technologies, Inc. Agilent Technologies has been distinguished as a provider of tools and technologies that sense, measure, and give meaning to the physical and biological world. Its clients include top players from communications, electronics, life sciences, and chemical analysis. Concentrating on Technical Improvements and Education To concentrate on its primary thrust of decreasing greenhouse gas reductions, Agilent has undertaken a conversion of its energy reduction goal to a CO2 reduction goal in 2004. The company’s energy consumption has been reduced by 5% through the implementation of technical improvements such as installing more efficient chillers and pumps; enhancement of the automation of lighting controls; and active education of employees on conservation of resources. The company’s headquarters in Palo Alto, California presently yields 6% of its energy from solar and wind electric technologies. Because of its active involvement in PaloAltoGreen, the organization has avoided 222,180 lbs. of CO2 emissions in 2004. Its Santa Clara, California plant was the first corporate sponsor of the Silicon Valley Power Neighborhood Program, which installs photovoltaic systems to assist in providing power to schools and non-profit organizations. Akeena Solar Akeena Solar is the biggest national residential and commercial solar electric system installer in the United States. It offers design/build services to clients so that they can harness their own dependable and clean electricity directly from the sun. Akeena is a company that follows through its commitments. Following the installation of a 6kW solar power system in January 2005 to provide for all its power, Akeena Solar has ceased yielding net electrical costs. Apart from its photovoltaic system, the company utilizes biodiesel in its vehicles whenever possible, composts and recycles in the office, and utilizes fluorescent light bulbs. Majority of employees own and drive electric or hybrid vehicles and have installed solar systems in their own homes. Alza Corporation Alza Corporation is a Johnson and Johnson subsidiary, which offers drug delivery solutions for a wide range of platforms, including oral, transdermal, implantable, and liposomal technologies. It has established collaborative relationships with pharmaceutical and biotechnology organizations to develop and produce pharmaceutical products. Using Landfill Gas for Co-generation Alza Corporation’s commitment was to reduce its CO2 emissions by 7% by 2010, with 1990 as a reference point. It intends to undertake this through energy efficiency projects, on-site renewable generation, green power purchases, and landfill gas purchases from the City of Mountain View for its co-generation project. As a portion of Johnson & Johnson’s ENERGY STAR Best Practices for energy efficiency, Alza is presently reviewing its operations vis-à-vis the context of a 10-stage worklist enumerating 245 energy best practices. This list describes in the detail the suggested improvements a facility may undertake to qualify for the next generation goals. These cover all of J & J’s voluntary pollution prevention partnerships such as ENERGY STAR buildings, Motor Challenge and Climate Leaders. Alza has been implementing significant steps geared towards energy efficient technologies and CO2 emission reduction. Calpine Corporation Calpine Corporation is a North American power company that provides electric power to wholesale and industrial customers from clean, efficient, natural gas-fired and geothermal power facilities. It is the biggest producer of renewable geothermal energy globally. Low Investment Carbon Strategy Calpine Corporation has vowed to decrease its greenhouse gas emission in the US by 4& per megawatt hour (MwH) from 2003 to 2008. The organization’s carbon efficiency measure is 0.268 metric tons of per megawatt hour (mt/MwH) – which is a little bit lower than the California average efficiency of 0.275 mt/MwH. This is substantially below the national fossil-fuel fleet average of 0.877 mt/MwH. In April 2005, Calpine concurred to a proposal to collaborate with the California Energy Commission and the Department of Energy in geological carbon sequestration project in California. In May 2004, its Board of Directors unanimously supported a low carbon investment strategy. 2004 also features a milestone in terms of the beginning of the organization’s performance optimization program, which over the next five years will reduce its heat rate by 4%. Calpine is a partner of the Climate Leaders Program and California Climate Action Registry program. Cisco Systems Cisco Systems is a supplier of networking equipment and a provider of network management services for the Internet. Its products include routers, hubs, and ethernet equipment. The company has been engaged in the development of advanced technologies, specifically in the following areas: home networking, Internet telephony, optical storage networking, network security, and wireless networking. Promoting Collaboration to Yield High-Impact Results Cisco Systems regards the design and establishment of environmentally sensitive, cost efficient facilities as a critical part in its intent to save money, while concurrently responding to the climate change issue. Cisco Systems’ principle for new construction is to “plan it right”, which implies thinking about energy efficiency early on during the design phase; that is, prior to the actual construction of the building. Effective planning necessitates enhanced partnership between groups with varying fields of specialization. Cisco used to have separate facilities and maintenance groups, which is customary in majority of companies. However, now, these groups collaborate and work together. Cisco has combined people who specialize in the design side with those who have daily working familiarity with the buildings to leverage on each other’s knowledge. The newly built San Jose headquarters of Cisco goes beyond California’s building energy benchmark standards by 15-20%. These energy savings features have garnered Cisco Systems $5.7M in the form of rebates through PG&E. Moreover, they have saved enough energy sufficient to power 7,300 homes, and a significant reduction in annual operating costs amounting to $4.5M. The reduction in CO2 emissions amounted to 23.3M lbs a year. There were also additional savings from upgrading equipment; moreover, new operating processes have reduced the company’s energy utilization by about 12.4M kWH per year, and garnered some $1.25 million dollars in yearly savings. County of Santa Clara Santa Clara County is located at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay and covers 1312 square miles. It has a population count of around 1.7 million, representing one of the biggest in the State. It is the biggest among the nine Bay Area counties. On the other hand, its population accounts for 25% of the Bay Area’s total population. The County of Santa Clara covers the following 15 cities: Campbell, Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose, Santa Clara, Saratoga, and Sunnyvale. Implementation of Broad-range Upgrade of Equipment and Energy Conservation Measures The peak of the energy crisis in California in 2001 and 2002 marked the implementation of critical efforts in the reduction of energy consumption in county-owned and –leased facilities. As of FY 2004, the outcome of these initiatives is an overall reduction of nearly 20% as of FY2001. To attain these goals, the investment of the County amounted to $3.2 million in energy conservation initiatives, which garnered over $440,000 in the form of rebates and energy cost savings of close to $1 million annually. With these projects, the County has not only assisted in alleviating energy cost increases, but has also made a significant contribution to environmental conservation by reducing approximately 12.7 million lbs. of CO2. The county has likewise utilized a wide array of strategies to attain these outcomes, including the establishment of a special Emergency Energy Task Force to spearhead the conservation initiatives. The following conservation measures undertaken by the County to decrease their energy consumption: energy audits, installation of real time electrical power meters, chiller replacements, installation of cool roofs, lighting retrofits, more energy efficient building operating policies (e.g. increased cooling set points and decreased heating set points, reduced building operating hours, etc.), installation of lighting motion sensors, water conservation projects (installed low flow devices), installation of electronic thermostats (replaced inaccurate analog thermostats), development and implementation of energy conservation friendly procurement policies, installation and optimization of heating, ventilation and airconditioning economizers, and adoption of PG&E’s “Savings by Design” guidelines for new construction by County’s Capital Programs. The effective implementation of these initiatives necessitated the commitment and leadership of the Board of Supervisors and the County Executive. Moreover, it also involved every county agency and department as well. The County constantly undertakes its commitment to conserving energy and preserving the environment through its energy conservation policies and practices. Hewlett Packard Hewlett Packard is among the largest consumer and enterprise information technology organizations globally. HP technology encompasses consumer handheld devices to some of the globe’s largest and most powerful supercomputer installations. The Hewlett Packard Palo Alto facility began purchasing 3% green power from PaloAlto Green in April of 2004, and is doing so again in 2005. HP’s support of wind and solar power through PaloAlto Green precludes a release of an approximate 590,000 pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere each year. In 2003, HP pegged a goal to attain a 50 million kWh reduction in yearly electricity use internationally during 2004. The organization has gone past its goal by delivering over 60 million kWh in yearly energy savings. Maintenance and operational improvements and efficiency projects (e.g. server energy efficiency went up by over 35%), high employee engagement, and resources conservation education initiatives have been instrumental to the success of HR in reducing energy use. HP has been strongly involved in the US Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR voluntary energy efficiency program since 1992. Over 1,000 products are ENERGY STAR qualified. Moreover, 94% of qualified products from their Personal Systems Group and 98.5% of eligible products from their Imaging and Printing Group meet or exceed ENERGY STAR standards. Becoming a STAR in US EPA’s ENERGY STAR Million Monitor Drive HP is a member of US EPA’s ENERGY STAR Million Monitor Drive which aims to illustrate how individual work habits can exert an impact on energy conservation. As part of this project, HP modified the PC monitor setting on all its computers globally, instantly shutting off monitors after 20 minutes of inactivity. This initiative is expected to yield 7.8 million kWh yearly. LifeScan, Inc. LifeScan, Inc. is a member of the Johnson & Johnson family of companies; it produces blood glucose monitoring systems for diabetic individuals. By scratching out wiping and timing procedures, its One Touch Systems assisted in bringing blood glucose testing out of the laboratory into the hands of patients. Implementing Green Purchasing Policies and Buying Green Tags LifeScan satellite offices in Milipitas and Cabo Rojo have realized combined energy savings of $1.3 million annually through energy conservation initiatives including heating, ventilation, and airconditioning upgrades and chiller retrofits. These technological modifications came with the implementation of buying policies that further decreased LifeScan’s overall energy consumption (e.g. green purchasing policy). In addition, the organization has allotted $240 million for CO2 reduction initiatives, illustrating top management commitment to addressing the global climate change issue. Overall, LifeScan has attained a reduction of CO2 emissions by 22.4% (representing the 2001 baseline) in 2005. Apart from technologies and policies that advocate this goal, purchases of green energy offsets (e.g. “green tags”) also perform a crucial role in LifeScan’s climate change strategy. References www.ipcc.ch www.naaa.gov www.usgs.gov (www.svep.org) Unfccc.int/resource/docs.convkp/kpeng.html www.agilent.com/environment/environment.html?cmpid=4417 www.siliconvalleypower.com www.jnj.com/community/environment/index.htm www.energystar.gov energyefficiency.jrc.cec.eu.int/motorchallenge www.epa.gov/climateleaders www.calpine.com/about/oc_safety.asp www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=pm_mmd.pr_pm_mmd Read More