Lean Manufacturing: GLRPPR Sector Resources

News: Archives of GLRPPR webinars now available

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 16:06:12 GMT

Archived webinars and related information are now available on GLRPPR's Conferences & Webinars page.

Resource: Assessing the Economic and Environmental Benefits of Industrial Water Use Efficiency within the Great Lakes Region

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 18:20:49 GMT

The Alliance for Water Efficiency, with funding from the Great Lakes Protection Fund, assessed five representative industries within the Great Lakes watershed that are supplied with treated drinking water and that discharge to a local wastewater utility. The assessments that were conducted focused on four factors: potential water conservation opportunities; benefits and costs from the water user's perspective; the environmental benefits of undertaking those conservation opportunities; and a strategy for providing funding assistance to industries. The effort found significant opportunities for water savings in each of the industrial sites assessed. In these five sites alone, 66 million gallons per year could be saved, most of which would also reduce wastewater flows in a roughly equal amount. The payback time for these improvements ranged from .2 years to 5.8 years, averaging 1.2 years. The average simple return on investment across the full project was 84%.

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News: What Would a Manufacturing Renaissance Do to US Energy Intensity?

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 16:50:15 GMT

U.S. manufacturing has reduced energy intensity during the past decade, but an increase in output driven by natural gas will test manufacturers, writes Adam James, executive director of the Clean Energy Leadership Institute.

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News: 6 Reasons Your Sustainability Innovation Is Failing

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 17:38:12 GMT

Jennifer Woofter applies six barriers to innovation to sustainability initiatives.

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News: Moving mountains for Earth's sake at Caterpillar

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 15:52:03 GMT

Interview with Tim Lindsey, Global Director of Sustainable Development at Caterpillar.

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Resource: Manufacturing Energy Consumption Survey (MECS) 2010 Survey Data

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 16:36:37 GMT

The Manufacturing Energy Consumption Survey (MECS) is a national sample survey that collects information on the stock of U.S. manufacturing establishment, their energy-related building characteristics, and their energy consumption and expenditures.

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News: Energy Department Turns Up the Heat and Power on Industrial Energy Efficiency

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 17:09:06 GMT

Industrial processes -- from petroleum refineries and paper mills to chemicals and metals industries -- consume about one-third of all energy produced in the United States. While the Energy Department is investing in advanced energy-saving technologies like carbon fiber and 3D printing, we also see great potential in more traditional technologies -- like combined heat and power (CHP) -- that strengthen U.S. manufacturing competitiveness, lower energy consumption and reduce harmful emissions.

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Resource: Getting Started with Sustainability [presentation slides]

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 16:52:31 GMT

Presented as a webinar for U.S. EPA's Small Business Environmental Assistance Program. Includes information about sustainability planning, making the business case, and some project ideas to implement immediately.

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Resource: Getting Started with Sustainability

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 16:51:08 GMT

Archive of the webinar "Getting Started with Sustainability." Laura Barnes, Executive Director of the Great Lakes Regional Pollution Prevention Roundtable, discusses making the business case for sustainability, outlines a method for creating a sustainability plan, and offers suggestions for sustainability projects.

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News: DOE helps manufacturers find millions in hidden energy savings

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 15:19:38 GMT

For the last few years, the U.S. Department of Energy has helped numerous U.S. companies analyze and reduce their energy use through its Better Buildings, Better Plants program.

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