Owens Corning – Yuandan Wu – 2016

Goals 

Owens Corning Composites (China) Co. Ltd., a company specializing in the production of fiberglass in China, set a goal to reduce its energy use 20% by 2020. The company had collected some data on consumption and secured funding for efficiency projects, but wanted to achieve greater energy-savings and identify projects that would provide the best return on investment. To help meet its goals, Owens Corning enlisted EDF Climate Corps fellow Yuandan Wu.

Solutions

Yuandan collected and analyzed energy use data from facilities and interviewed staff. Her thermal analysis on ovens uncovered a promising opportunity to reduce consumption. She identified ways to capture the waste heat from a different heat recovery project at the plant. This preheated, hot and humid air replaced a portion of the low-temperature, fresh air flowing into the oven–a process that formally required a large amount of natural gas. Yuandan also conducted tests to ensure optimal operation conditions remained and products were not negatively impacted. 

Potential Impact

Yuandan’s projects have the potential to save Owens Corning (China) $1.95 million in net operational costs. Annually, they could save significant kilowatt hours of electricity, metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions as well as a reduction in natural gas use. This will bring the company one step closer to completing its plants’ energy reduction target.