Ingersoll Rand
At a Glance
Industry
Industrial Goods and Manufacturing
Project Type
Commercial Energy Efficiency
Year
2010
Location
Charlotte, NC
Akshay Honnatti and Curt Prudden spent their summer as Climate Corps fellows analyzing energy efficiency projects and shaping corporate energy strategy for Ingersoll Rand Corporation (IR), headquartered in Davidson, North Carolina. Ingersoll Rand is an innovative global diversified industrial company providing products, services and solutions to enhance the quality and comfort in homes and buildings, transport and protect food and perishables, secure homes and commercial properties and enhance industrial productivity and efficiency.
Honnatti, an MBA student at Olin Business School, Washington University in Saint Louis, and Prudden, an MBA student at the Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California, traveled to five manufacturing sites to conduct energy audits and identify opportunities to improve energy efficiency. The company operates more than 90 manufacturing sites around the globe and has a goal to reduce energy use by 25% over the next ten years as part of the Department of Energy's Save Energy Now corporate partnership program. Ingersoll Rand is shaping its corporate energy strategy in accordance with this goal through the newly formed Center for Energy Efficiency and Sustainability (CEES) along with the Corporate EHS team.
During the energy audits, Honnatti and Prudden visited multiple product manufacturing lines at five different sites. They identified a variety of energy efficiency projects, from efficient lighting upgrades and building heating/cooling improvements, to cultural modifications and manufacturing process changes that will contribute to the company reducing its energy consumption. In addition, the two helped develop the company's evolving energy reduction strategy by defining tools and standards that will be used by the manufacturing sites to reduce energy use. These improvements, in conjunction with the company's cultural shift toward sustainability, could lead to energy cost savings of $1.2 million and reduced greenhouse gas emissions of 4,632 tons of CO2 per year.