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California Portland Cement Company:
In Practice
California Portland Cement Company (CalPortland), a cement and concrete manufacturing company with production facilities located throughout the southwestern United States, has established itself as an industry leader by building on its commitment to manage energy strategically. CalPortland participates in the ENERGY STAR Cement Focus and was awarded Parnter of the Year in 2005, 2006 and 2007.
Industrial Partner Since 1996
Awards & Recognition
- Partner of the Year 2006,2005
- Sustained Excellence 2007
- Sustained Excellence 2008
Contact Information:
California Portland Cement Company
2025 E Financial Way
Glendora, CA 91741
818-852-6200
In Practice
1: Make Commitment
1.2: Establish an Energy Team
Energy Management at All Levels
CalPortland's energy program involves all parts of the organization, from the CEO, and Sr. VP for Operations, to energy teams at the plant level. Senior Management does not serve as a figurehead role on the energy team, but rather is involved with the functioning of the energy program through regular energy team meeting attendance and review of all projects. CalPortland has structured its energy program with a central corporate energy team supported by plant energy teams that ensure program support and innovation goes in both directions between plants and headquarters. There is even a team comprised solely of process engineers from across the corporation who work on energy use in production. The CEO's involvement with the energy program demonstrates to the organization that managing energy effectively is a company priority. This team succeeded in saving more than 138 million KBtu in 2004 alone.
4: Create Action Plan
4.1: Define Technical Steps and Targets
ENERGY STAR Focus Pays
When California Portland Cement Company (CalPortland) reorganized its energy team, they first looked to the ENERGY STAR Guidelines for Energy Management for an overall management framework. Next, they became active in the ENERGY STAR Cement Focus, and studied the ENERGY STAR Energy Savings Opportunities in Cement Manufacturing guide to determine technical measures they could take towards energy efficiency in their plants. Reviewing the energy guide in depth revealed many energy saving opportunities to CalPortland. Their energy managers then created a checklist for target initiatives such as: specific schedules of audits to be performed, creation of new specifications for equipment operation, and other plant energy-saving opportunities to evaluate. As a result of these efforts, CalPortland is now making substantial progress toward meeting specific energy objectives, such as decreasing their use energy use from compressed air and maximizing their process efficiency.
4.2: Determine Roles and Resources
Focusing on Process Pays
Many industrial manufacturers are hesitant look to the process of production for improvements in energy performance Many industrial manufacturers are hesitant to look to the process of production for improvements in energy performance. However, California Portland Cement Company (CalPortland) realized early on that they could only create a successful energy program with the involvement of their process engineers. So, CalPortland established a Process Energy Team along with their other plant teams, to address the main use of energy at their plants: the manufacturing process. Many organizations see process energy as an "untouchable" use of energy because plant managers are often wary of energy teams changing the production process.
CalPortland negated this fear and found a way to involve those who are the essential guardians of the company's profit: the production engineers. CalPortland also gave their vendors responsibility for their energy performance by securing agreements from them that they each must meet CalPortland's premium efficiency requirements for motors and other parts. The cumulative effect of California Portland's groundbreaking program was an energy savings of over 138 million Btu's in 2004 alone.
5: Implement Action Plan
California Portland Cement Company (CPC) uses annual sales and operations strategy meetings to promote the energy program to executives and middle management in order to ensure their continued support of the energy program. At the annual strategy meeting, the corporate energy manager gives a presentation outlining the energy program goals and achievements. Participation in these meetings puts energy management on the corporate strategy agenda. To maintain the strategic emphasis, energy management is a topic of discussion at all quarterly corporate cost review meetings, and is a frequent agenda item at executive, staff and board meetings. Continued executive involvement has paid off; in 2005 the energy saved from improved efficiency totaled nearly 48 million kBtu, enough energy to power 1,100 homes for a year.
