Volvo North America – Katharine Grant – 2012

Goals

Katharine Grant was hired as an EDF Climate Corps fellow to spend her summer in Hagerstown, Md., at Volvo Group’s North American heavy-duty powertrain site, a facility where engines and transmissions are designed, manufactured and assembled for Mack Trucks, Volvo Trucks North America, Volvo Bus and Prevost. 

Solutions

After analyzing facility energy use, Grant modified the energy tool originally created by Mack Trucks’ 2011 EDF Climate Corps fellow. The updated tool can be used to monitor electricity consumption and its effects at the site. After prioritizing key project areas with the help of Volvo facilities employees, Grant also proposed several technical efficiency projects, such as installing electronic timers on production equipment to reduce idling time, creating a compressed air maintenance plan and adding occupancy sensors to warehouse light fixtures. 

Potential Impact

Annually, on aggregate, these projects could save the powertrain site $115,000 in operating costs, 2 million kilowatt hours of electricity and 1,500 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.