News Releases from Region 06

EPA Announces 2015 ENERGY STAR Certified Manufacturing Plants, West Texas facility among those recognized

DALLAS - (Feb. 24, 2016) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that Buzzi Unicem cement facility in Maryneal, TX, about 60 miles west of Abilene, is among the 70 manufacturing plants across the nation that achieved ENERGY STAR certification for their superior energy performance in 2015. Together, these manufacturing plants saved a record amount of energy, cut their energy bills by $476 million, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by more than five million metric tons -equal to the average annual energy use of more than 450,500 households. From applying corporate energy management programs to implementing energy efficiency projects, there are many ways plants can save energy with EPA's ENERGY STAR program.

"ENERGY STAR certified manufacturing plants make the case that we can cost-effectively combat climate change through greater energy efficiency," said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. "These plants show what is possible for their industries and help drive the innovation needed for a sustainable, more competitive future."

Since 2006, ENERGY STAR has certified manufacturing plants that reach the top 25 percent of energy performance for their industries nationwide each year. ENERGY STAR certified plants must have their energy performance independently verified. Plants from the automotive, cement manufacturing, corn refining, food processing, glass manufacturing, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and petroleum refining industries are among those that qualified in 2015.

Throughout 2016, many ENERGY STAR certified plants will be hosting events at their facilities to showcase their energy-saving strategies that are delivering top energy performance. For more information on which plants are hosting events, see www.energystar.gov/industrialshowcase.

Since the inception of EPA's ENERGY STAR certification, a total of 148 manufacturing plants have achieved this distinction. These plants have saved over 618 trillion British thermal units (TBtu) in energy, equal to preventing more than 41 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions and saving enough energy to provide the total yearly energy needs of approximately 3.5 million American households.

EPA provides industry-specific ENERGY STAR plant benchmarking tools to help industry measure energy performance. These tools are available for 15 manufacturing sectors and enable companies to compare a plant's energy performance against those of its industry counterparts and empower manufacturers to set informed improvement goals.

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