New Balance

At a Glance

Industry

Retail and Apparel

Project Type

Industrial Energy Efficiency

Year

2016

Location

Dongguan

Value icon

Net Present Value:

$190,000

Savings icon

Annual kWh Savings:

435,000 kWh

Reductions icon

Annual CO2 Reductions:

400 metric tons

Summary

Yujiao Xiu evaluated the implementation of energy efficiency projects at four New Balance footwear suppliers in China and drafted a guidebook to spread best practices throughout other supplier facilities in Asia.

Goals

New Balance, a leading global athletic footwear and apparel company, enlisted Yujiao Xiu to help implement energy saving projects at four of its China-based supplier factories. With the help of a 2015 fellow, one facility had already completed a CPI2 assessment of its energy performance and had a list of energy efficiency projects to implement. The challenge for 2016 was to help additional facilities turn their own sustainability plans into reality.  

Solutions

 After analyzing the CPI2 results and comparing energy plans across all facilities, Xiu and the New Balance team identified motors and air compressor systems as the most promising opportunity to maximize efficiency with common projects across multiple sites. Each facility was used to highlight a different project. In the first facility, Variable Speed Drives were installed on 109 polish machines to reduce energy waste by adjusting and matching the motor speed requirement of the different products. In the second facility, old, inefficient and noisy exhaust motors were replaced with modern systems to save energy and significantly reduce noise levels. In the third facility, Xiu installed regulator valves to restrict the air pressure delivered to blow guns, reducing compressed air waste. The final facility had not yet evaluated its air compressor system, so Xiu facilitated the evaluation and documented a test method for benchmarking the system’s energy output. Based on this work, Xiu compiled an implementation guidebook for energy efficiency projects on motors and air compressor systems to help spread best practices throughout New Balance’s suppliers. 

Potential Impact

In total, these projects will allow the four factories to save 434,897 kilowatt hours of electricity and 397 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, generating 1.26 million CNY in net operational costs. At the end of the fellowship, New Balance remains committed to scaling energy efficiency projects across its other factories, following the CPI2 recommendations and using the guidebook as a reference on how to implement projects more consistently across different supplier sites.


Related Links