Volvo North America – Shuqi Dong – 2018

Goals

The Volvo Group, based in Gothenburg, Sweden, drives prosperity through transport solutions, and is committed to environmental care and to reducing any adverse impact on the environment from its products and operations. In service of this, the Volvo Group North America (VGNA) enlisted EDF Climate Corps fellow Shuqi Dong to help identify ways to reduce operational energy cost and the environmental footprint of Volvo Group’s three largest North American facilities: Hagerstown, MD, Dublin, VA, and Macungie, PA. She was specifically tasked with designing an energy conservation program that would raise employees’ awareness and help change their behavior toward more sustainable practices.

Solutions

In collaboration with the communications and energy teams from the three facilities, Shuqi conducted an energy survey that involved more than 500 employees. The survey helped her understand the behaviors and attitudes surrounding energy conservation and initiated employee input regarding program design. She also conducted extensive research on best industry practices and interviewed both internal stakeholders and external industry experts regarding the design.

As a result of her research, Shuqi was able to develop a program consisting of templates and tools. Throughout the process, she worked closely with each site to tailor and implement the programs that best matched their needs. She also created a program roadmap and implementation timeline to guide future development and expansion to other Volvo Group facilities.

Potential Impact

Implementation of Shuqi’s program will help VGNA reduce operating costs, energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The program can also aid the Volvo Group in reaching and/or maintaining ISO 50001 compliance. Perhaps more importantly, it will help build a collaborative culture within the company and support future energy conservation measures.