Rating the energy efficiency of auto assembly plants starts a process that will cut energy usage, save money and protect the environment.
U.S. motor vehicle manufacturers spend more than $700 million annually on energy for assembly plants. If energy use across the industry were reduced by five percent, the savings would be equivalent to conserving the fuel to operate almost 78,000 passenger cars for a year - preventing the emissions of more than 1 billion pounds of greenhouse gases.
EPA and the automobile industry worked jointly to develop the ENERGY STAR Automobile Assembly Plant Energy Performance Indicator (EPI) and were supported by the analytical skills of Argonne National Laboratory. The performance indicator benchmarks an entire assembly plant's energy use, a critical step in strategic energy management. It enables companies to determine how efficiently each plant is using energy as compared to the industry as a whole, and whether better energy performance could be expected.
Based on the input of simple plant-level information, the energy efficiency of an automobile assembly plant is scored from 1 to 100 and compared to the average and "efficient" plants in the industry. EPA defines an efficient plant at a score of 75 or better. Now, corporate energy directors can establish meaningful goals for reducing energy use in assembly plants and better manage their companies' energy costs.
The EPI was developed as part of an ENERGY STAR Industrial "Focus" with the motor vehicle manufacturing industry. EPA works closely with manufacturing industries to promote effective energy management and participating companies have reported substantial environmental, cost and energy savings while receiving recognition for their leadership. View further information online.
Page Last Modified: August 7, 2008
