Briggs & Stratton: Putting All Energy Efficiency Options on the Table

Briggs & Stratton manufactures internal combustion engines, as well as yard and home power products for customers in more than 100 countries on 6 continents. Briggs & Stratton is also a company that makes full use of any and all available resources to reduce energy intensity. To date, Briggs & Stratton has been successful in reducing its energy use by 37.1 million kilowatt hours (kWh)*. The company was able to achieve this reduction by leveraging support from a variety of resources, including the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Industrial Technologies Program (ITP), American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 funds, Wisconsin’s Focus on Energy program, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority program, and the company’s own experienced energy efficiency staff. These resources have been instrumental in helping Briggs & Stratton facilitate the implementation of hundreds of energy efficiency projects. From 2007 to 2010, Briggs & Stratton saved more than $2.87 million through energy efficiency projects across all of its facilities worldwide.

Energy Efficiency Progress
Briggs & Stratton has made industrial energy efficiency a priority, largely due to the company’s annual energy costs totaling approximately $20 million. ITP’s Save Energy Now LEADER Pledge―a 10 year, 2.5% annual energy intensity reduction target―provides a focus for the company’s sustainability commitments and a clear goal for its energy management programs. Briggs & Stratton now tracks energy usage at most of its manufacturing facilities, and has implemented energy efficiency projects at 17 facilities in North America alone. From 2007 through 2009, Briggs & Stratton decreased its energy intensity from 18.4 units to 16.5 units.

Briggs & Stratton has leveraged all available resources to implement energy management and industrial energy efficiency projects, as well as capitalize on all available renewable energy opportunities in order to meet its LEADER Pledge goal. The company is relying on the implementation of industrial energy efficiency projects—such as lighting; boilers and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC); aluminum smelting; power regeneration; heat recovery; and compressed air controls and system components—to meet the bulk of its LEADER commitment.

Overall, Briggs & Stratton aims to maximize the implementation of every energy efficiency opportunity. The Briggs & Stratton energy management program closely tracks the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) ENERGY STAR® model program. ENERGY STAR® created Guidelines for Energy Management, which consist of the following seven steps:

1. Make Commitment
2. Assess Performance
3. Set Goals
4. Create Action Plan
5. Implement Action Plan
6. Evaluate Progress
7. Recognize Achievements.

To supplement its energy management program, Briggs & Stratton also tracks and publishes energy metrics according to standards established by the Global Reporting Initiative—a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping organizations and businesses prepare standardized sustainability reports. Recent energy data are catalogued in the Briggs & Stratton 2008 Sustainability Report.

For the rest of the report, visit http://www.eere.energy.gov/industry/saveenergynow/pdfs/briggsandstrattoncasestudy.pdf&id=5099