News & Events

News

March 21, 2007
California Portland Cement Company Is First Cement Company to Receive EPA 2007 ENERGY STAR Award for Sustained Excellence in Energy Management
EPA ENERGY STAR partner California Portland Cement Company (CPC) was awarded a top honor when it received the 2007 ENERGY STAR Award for Sustained Excellence – Energy Management. CPC has achieved impressive energy savings since 2003, when it instituted a corporation-wide energy program at the behest of its CEO. Key strategies in 2006 included investment in new energy-efficient plant technologies, wholesale employee energy education, and plant benchmarking of energy using the ENERGY STAR cement plant energy performance indicator. CPC was among the inaugural group of companies to receive the ENERGY STAR when two of its plants scored in the top quartile of energy use for cement plants nationally.

For more information on the ENERGY STAR awards, see
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=industry.bus_industry_awards.

September 13, 2006
First Cement Plants Receive the ENERGY STAR for Top Energy Performance in the Nation
Cement plants achieving a level of energy efficiency within the top quartile of energy performance in the U.S. are eligible to earn the ENERGY STAR, the national symbol of energy efficiency in manufacturing plants. Cement plants which currently hold the honor of displaying the ENERGY STAR banner or flag include:

The Ash Grove Cement Company plant in Chanute, Kansas

The Ash Grove Cement Company plant in Seattle, Washington

The California Portland Cement Company plant in Colton, California

The California Portland Cement Company plant in Mojave, California

The CEMEX, Inc. plant in Clinchfield, Georgia

The CEMEX, Inc. plant in Davenport, California

The CEMEX, Inc. Kosmos Cement plant in Louisville, Kentucky

The Lafarge North America plant in Calera, Alabama

The Lafarge North America plant in Sugar Creek, Missouri

The Titan America Roanoke Cement Company plant in Roanoke, Virginia

Plants qualify by achieving an energy performance rating in the top 25 percent nationally using EPA's ENERGY STAR Cement Plant Energy Performance Indicator (EPI). EPA's national energy performance rating system, developed in cooperation with industry, enables companies to evaluate the energy efficiency of their plants relative to the industry and to develop challenging energy improvement goals and plans. Scores are based on actual energy use. EPA is currently working with 10 industries to advance similar energy management tools.

September 2006
EPA and the cement industry held the 2006 Annual ENERGY STAR Focus on Energy Efficiency in Cement Manufacturing in Washington, DC in association with the Association of Energy Engineers' World Energy Engineering Congress. For more information, contact Betsy Dutrow (dutrow.elizabeth@epa.gov).

July 2006
Cement Industry, EPA Set Energy Performance Benchmark to Improve Plant Efficiency
EPA and the Portland Cement Association are pleased to announce the completion of a benchmarking tool for evaluating the national energy performance of a cement plant operating within the United States. Rating the energy efficiency of a plant starts the process for cutting energy usage and enables companies to set realistic goals for reducing energy use. The new ENERGY STAR tool, developed through EPA's ENERGY STAR Focus on Energy Efficiency in Cement Manufacturing, is called the cement plant energy performance indicator (EPI) and is available for download after July 31, 2006 from www.energystar.gov/industry.

March 2006
EPA Names California Portland Cement Company 2006 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year
For two consecutive years, EPA has selected California Portland Cement Company (CPC) as an ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year for Leadership in Energy Management. Working with ENERGY STAR, CPC began developing its energy management program in 2003. In that brief period, the company established a comprehensive management system to ensure energy is tracked across the corporation, plants are assessed and upgraded with energy efficiency as an important consideration, and plant employees become knowledgeable and informed about energy management. Cement manufacturing is an energy intensive process. In 2005, CPC invested in process improvements to kilns, grinding mills, and related equipment at its plants. The leadership at CPC makes it clear that energy and environmental performance go hand-in-hand and are good for business. In 2005, CPC's chief executive officer (CEO), in his role as Chairman of the Portland Cement Association, wrote to other industry CEOs encouraging them to measure and improve the energy performance of their plants. Within the cement industry, California Portland Cement is a strong voice for change. Since 2003, CPC has achieved energy savings of 173 billion Btus. For more information, see http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=industry.bus_award_recipients


May 5, 2005
On May 5, 2005, the cement industry participated in EPA's 2005 Annual ENERGY STAR Focus on Energy Efficiency in Cement Manufacturing at California Portland Cement Company's Rillito, Arizona plant. Participants considered methods for improving energy management in cement manufacturing from making the business case for strategic management to understanding the breadth of a corporate energy management program. Discussion also covered the ongoing development of an ENERGY STAR plant energy performance indicator to gauge the energy efficiency of a cement plant. For more information, contact Betsy Dutrow.

April, 2005
The DOE Industrial Technologies Program (ITP) is making a Plant-Wide Assessment (PWA) award to the California Portland Cement Company for a Plant-Wide Energy Efficiency Assessment at the Arizona Portland Cement Plant. This PWA will analyze the current energy usage and opportunities of three plant areas - cement manufacturing, process optimization, and operation efficiencies; electrical power distribution and lighting opportunities; and compressor air operation - to identify opportunities to improve energy efficiency, and develop an implementation plan. More information on Plant-Wide Energy Efficiency Assessments is available online.

November 3, 2004
EPA and DOE coordinated on November 3, 2004 to provide the cement industry with an overview presentation on the energy management software offered by the Department of Energy for plant energy management.

May, 2004
The cement industry participated in the 2004 ENERGY STAR Energy Efficiency Focus for the Cement Industry in May 2004. The meeting addressed opportunities for improving the energy efficiency of cement plants in the near-term.

November 13, 2003
Cement Formulation Change Promises Improved Emission Performance

Events

There are currently no events planned at this time.

See all News and Events