As a Better Plants partner, Owens Corning has reduced its worldwide energy intensity by ten percent from a 2010 baseline. But the company is not resting on its sustainability laurels; last week, it dedicated a 2.4 megawatt solar canopy at its downtown Toledo, Ohio, headquarters that will power as much as 30 percent of the facility’s annual electricity use. The panels cover the facility’s 9.5-acre parking lot and include a drainage system that enables melted snow or rain to easily flow off. A television monitor in the headquarters lobby will display how much energy the array generates at all times.
At first, the company sought only to repair its 20-year-old parking lot but its sustainability team had a larger vision. The project is actually the second of its kind for Owens Corning, which installed a 2.7 megawatt solar array at its Delmar, New York, manufacturing plant two years ago.
“We are a technology and engineering company, so to approach our headquarters and see this as a part of our campus, to me, has really enhanced the image of our company,” the company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mike Thaman, remarked to the Toledo Blade.
The dedication ceremony included remarks from company Chairman and CEO Mike Thaman and panel discussions on energy efficiency and renewable energy, respectively. It also coincided with Owens Corning announcing new sustainability initiatives, including:
- Executing power supply agreements of new installed capacity that represent the largest wind power agreements reported by an industrial company in the world;
- Establishing new 2020 sustainability goals to reduce greenhouse gas intensity by 50 percent and toxic air emissions intensity by 75 percent from its 2010 baseline.
Read more about Owens Corning’s new sustainability goals and renewable energy actions: http://media.owenscorning.com/press-release/corporate/owens-corning-announces-significant-sustainability-goals-and-renewable-energ.