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Chris Rogers (VP Sales) accepting the award.
In late 2008 we saw that our plant's chillers were in dire
need of replacement. Like any production facility we use a large amount
of energy to cool our extruders and printing presses. As plans came
about for a new system, we realized that this could be a golden
opportunity to pursue a more environmentally-friendly system than our
previous one. Environmental responsibility has always been important to
Multifilm and now, more than ever, companies need to be striving for
green initiatives.
After much research, we decided to utilize the concept of geothermal
energy for our needs.
The concept is fairly simple; use groundwater from an
underground reservoir or aquifer, which is always at a constant
temperature of around 53F to cool our plant in the summer and cool the
machinery all year round, and use the waste heat from our processes to
heat the plant in the winter. We pump water from the ground to power our
AC system and cool our cast film extrusion lines and CI drums for our
presses.
At first our goal was simply to replace the old chiller, but
then we started realizing the inherent flexibility of the
geothermal system. Not only would the system allow us to
accomplish our first goal, but it could also cool and heat
the plant as well.
About two years later, we ended up
with is a CFC-free, one-of-a-kind process cooling and HVAC
system that drastically reduced our energy consumption, as
well as our carbon footprint.
While combinations of heat pumps and natural bodies of water in a
closed-loop system have become relatively common, our use of geothermal
energy to cool processes and for HVAC purposes is probably unique in the
country, according to ComEd, our local utility that graciously provided
grants for the system.
The system was dedicated on September 3rd, 2010. Illinois Congressman Bill Foster (14th district), and Ed Schock, the Mayor of our hometown of Elgin, were present for the ribbon cutting ceremony and opening reception.
We have since received further media coverage including articles in Plastics News, Flexible Packaging Magazine, Candy Industry, Plastics Technology, Packaging Digest, a future article in Converting Quarterly, a check from ComEd’s Bright Ideas program, and the Department of Energy’s Save Energy Now Award, pictured on the side, for our energy savings of 5,091 MMBtu’s and savings of $149,200 annually.
Needless to say, we could not be happier with the results.
