Covestro
At a Glance
Industry
Industrial Goods and Manufacturing
Project Types
Climate Justice/Energy Equity, Data Analysis, Engagement and Behavior Change, Sustainability and Energy Management Strategy
Year
2020
Location
Baytown, TX
Summary
Jeffrey Scanlon programmed Covestro’s energy management dashboard with detailed analytics, and developed an employee platform for environmental justice action.
Goals
Covestro, a leading producer of advanced polymer materials, has advanced its sustainable operations through an energy management dashboard. Jeffery Scanlon was enlisted to improve the dashboard’s capabilities, enabling managers and engineers to discover new trends and make informed decisions. Now, the dashboard integrates hundreds of on-site meter readings and daily operations metrics like energy loss due to plant maintenance.
Additionally, Jeffery worked with Covestro’s Executive Sustainability Committee to develop an employee engagement strategy around environmental justice.
Solutions
Jeffrey collaborated with Covestro energy managers to explore two high-leverage areas of improvement. First, they identified opportunities to incorporate daily meter reading into the dashboard to improve monthly energy closing processes. Second, they explored the integration of energy loss data from maintenance and other operations, allowing managers to analyze maintenance trends and plan future operations.
On the environmental justice front, Jeffrey met with various stakeholders across the company, including members of the Sustainability and Diversity teams and leaders of numerous Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). He developed a strategy to spark discussions pertaining to environmental justice and racial equity within many of Covestro’s ERGs and provided ERG leadership with support, discussion materials, planning tools, and facilitation services to sustain these efforts.
Impact
The improved energy dashboard will enable Covestro’s largest U.S. manufacturing site to analyze energy usage by individual production area, allowing for trend identification and comparisons across business units. Covestro will also be able to examine individual meter data, facilitating easier error detection and enhanced future production data. Lastly, Covestro can detect long-term energy degradation through the production loss data.
Jeffrey’s efforts in environmental justice will influence company culture and spark action amongst impacted communities. With executive leadership support, these tools can help Covestro grow as a champion of environmental justice.