Is your company standing on the sidelines, eager to enter the sustainability game but not crazy about the perceived payback time? Are your customers increasingly inquiring about the sustainable practices you are implementing in your processes and you are unable to offer up much? The fact is once you begin looking it doesn't take long before opportunities for following sustainability measures will reveal themselves.

For Urban Forest Recyclers (UFR), a manufacturer of filler flap containers that hold 30 eggs which are found in the Costcos of the world and in food service operations, the company found an opportunity to be environmentally friendly by using methane gas from a landfill to power its processes, gas which was being burned off and wasted.

UFR, which uses mainly recovered newspaper as its raw material, located to a site adjacent to a landfill in Newton County, Ind. The landfill is run by Republic Services Inc. The location puts UFR in a central location to the egg producers in the country. One of UFR's customers mentioned the eco-friendly opportunity in Newton County to the company officials.

To support UFR's investment in Newton County, which features a newly built 112,000-square-foot facility, Republic Services put in a system where “we buy and use the methane gas; the company is still burning off the excess at this time,” says Kevin Stangeland, president, UFR. “Local officials also assisted by running water and sewer lines to the site.” The UFR site is the anchor facility to a green-themed industrial park officials are planning in the county.

In addition to market proximity, Stangeland says, UFR benefits from the marketing angle of incorporating renewable resources in its processes, but more importantly, the implementation of the methane gas did not add to the company's costs. “A lot of times if you buy electricity from a windmill, for example, it ends up costing you more,” Stangeland says. “This doesn't. We only had to make some changes to the dryers to make sure they could handle it. The contract for the gas is quite attractive.”

Be A Sustainability Trend Setter

Mark Mathes, CEO, Vanguard Packaging Inc., invites companies to jump on the sustainability bandwagon for the right reasons. “Sustainability only works if it is economically viable and our facility proves it is not only economically viable but it also can save significant costs,” says Mathes of the company's Kansas City, Mo., facility, which is located at the Hunt Midwest SubTropolis, the world's largest underground business complex. The geothermal properties of the underground environment mean the company consumes zero energy when heating its facility.

“People think sustainability costs money,” Mathes adds. “It not only saves us money and lowers our costs but it also captures business. Companies that want to get in the sustainability game find the first step is to deal with vendors that already are in the game. By dealing with Vanguard, our customers' sustainability efforts are automatically elevated.”

That elevation is because Vanguard Packaging, which designs and manufactures corrugated packaging, displays and merchandisers, has implemented several measures to position itself as a leader in sustainability practices in its industry. By working with its automated scrap removal equipment vendor in designing the equipment, Vanguard Packaging has reduced the energy required to power these historically inefficient systems by 40 percent. The particular system, developed by GF Puhl, is expected to become the new industry standard.

It didn't take long to realize the savings on the investment. “I can tell you between the energy efficiency of our waste system and value of the scrap it collects, in our initial investment we looked at a four-year payback, and at this point, the payback will only take one year,” Mathes says.

This positive experience has caused Vanguard Packaging to require all of its machinery vendors to reengineer equipment to realize energy savings.

In regard to its waste streams, Vanguard Packaging treats all its process wastewater before discharging it. It also prevents 95 percent of its waste from going to a landfill. The company segregates and recycles everything that can be segregated and captured. Once that step is complete, the waste is further segregated into two categories. Compactor A, 5 percent of the company's waste, goes to the landfill. Compactor B's waste heads to Lafarge in Independence, Mo., as part of the cement manufacturer's alternative solid fuel program, where it is incinerated at 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The ash from the burn is mixed into concrete, some of which was poured into the floors of Vanguard's new facility, allowing the company to complete a full circle in regard to recycling. Construction for the new 380,000-square-foot underground facility began a year ago, and the company moved in the first week of February.

Lead By Example

Manufacturing companies aren't the only ones leading by example when it comes to implementing and demonstrating the benefits of sustainable efforts. Communities and organizations across the country are reusing, retrofitting and redeveloping assets ranging from businesses parks to bunkers.

“In our entire community there has been a big movement underway for quite some time to try to be on the cutting edge of sustainability,” says Jamie Grayson-Berglund, director of community development, Greater Omaha Chamber, and who also oversees the Destination Midtown, and South Omaha Development Project initiatives. “Our young professional community in particular is chomping at the bit to make Omaha known for this.”

In April, the finishing touches were being put in place at the Midtown Crossing at Turner Park in Omaha. The development is a LEED Neighborhood Development pilot project.

“The interesting thing about this project is that it is a $325 million investment and it all went up at once, not one building at a time,” Grayson says. “As a part of a redevelopment study in 2003, one of the participants, Mutual of Omaha, wanted to determine how it could maximize the use of the land it had under control and of the marginal uses surrounding its property. Mutual of Omaha wanted to make a big impression all at once and help Omaha change its thought process on urban living.”

Former surface parking lots comprise the 15-acre Midtown Crossing at Turner Park, which feature seven different buildings that are seven and eight stories high. The development features just over 1 million square feet of mixed-use space; 220,000 square feet of retail space; and 300 units of condominiums and 200 units of apartments. The park space in the development, the focal point of the project, is now double in size, featuring open green space, sidewalks and pedestrian-scale lighting. A three-lane, one-way road has been converted to two-lane traffic, with one lane set aside for possible use by a trolley line.

Moving west in Nebraska to Hastings, developer Prairie Bunkers is promoting the reuse of 184 bunkers that can be custom designed to support data center activities, such as those required by cloud computing organizations, government agencies, and financial services.

The bunkers were formerly home to the country's largest naval ammunition depot, built to support the World War II effort. The bunkers are 5,000 square feet each, four feet above ground and bermed over the top. They feature 12-inch poured in placed concrete reinforced every one-and-a-half inches with rebar.

Prairie Bunkers' research finds that the CO2 emissions saved by reusing the bunkers are substantial. The bunkers sit atop the Ogallala Aquifer, which provides geothermal resources to cool the systems in these data center operations. “These are closed loop systems so we wouldn't need to drill and disturb the underground water because we use the movement of the underground water to dissipate the heat of the data centers,” says Pam Brown, president and CEO, Prairie Bunkers. “There are substantial savings on the cooling with geothermal. We anticipate being a highly green data center.”

In Anadarko, Okla., a former carpet factory site is being repurposed to anchor a green tech park to create support businesses that are green industries. The park is 40 acres and features a 250,000-square-foot facility. “We started a green initiative a year ago in order to create green jobs,” says Kerry Holton, president, Delaware Nation. “It goes backs to our roots as acting as stewards of the earth. We will rejuvenate the economy and do it in a way that will not be damaging to the earth, and hopefully will restore and heal the earth.”

Holton says the Delaware Nation aims to manufacture solar panels at the green tech park, based on sales from Unami Solar LLC, which is located in New Jersey, and which are the original homelands of the Delaware Nation.

Another project set to locate at the green park involves the manufacturing of valves for waterless toilets. “The technology that is out there right now is antiquated,” Holton says of waterless toilets, which have been around for a long time. “This new, high-tech toilet saves water and energy and fits our green initiative.”

Holton says other activities for the green park include working with an LED bulb company, to manufacture the bulbs and the fixtures that will use the bulbs. Another effort involves turning the natural resource, red cedar, which are a problem in the state, and using the wood for biomass activities and construction materials, as well as using the oil in a number of green products.

The Delaware Nation and organizations across the country are actively implementing and exploring ways to carry out sustainability efforts to benefit their communities and attract companies and talent that share the same perspectives.

And businesses are increasingly implementing sustainability in their processes because they understand the costs savings involved, that customers want to see more of these activities, as well as the fact that these efforts capture business relationships. “I can't be emphatic enough about sustainability,” says Vanguard Packaging's Mathes. “It is simply the right thing to do.”

To learn more about the organizations featured in this article, visit:

Delaware Nation, www.delawarenation.com

Greater Omaha (Neb.) Chamber, www.omahachamber.org

Midtown Crossing at Turner Park (Omaha, Neb.), www.midtowncrossing.com

Prairie Bunkers, www.prairiebunkers.com

Unami Solar LLC, www.unamisolar.com

Vanguard Packaging, www.vanguardpkg.com

Lighting Efficiencies Bring Significant Savings

Since moving into its new facility in February, Vanguard Packaging discovered its electric usage based on kilowatt hours decreased 13 percent compared to the first quarter of last year when it was located in its former facility.

The savings is thanks to the company's lighting system, which is comprised of T5 lighting. Every light in the building is on a motion sensitive switch. “The bottom line is that we put the same amount of product out the door the first quarter of last year compared to the first of this year, so it was an equal comparison,” says Mark Mathes, CEO, Vanguard Packaging, in regard to its Kansas City, Mo., office.  

The company is a leader in sustainability efforts in the $35 billion corrugated industry (See main article.) Mathes says that in addition to the cost savings from sustainability initiatives, the company's customers want to see it implementing sustainable practices. “If nothing else, just as our product answers the need the customer is requesting, so does our being involved in sustainability,” Mathes says.

To learn more, visit www.vanguardpkg.com.

The “Green” Industry Advantages Of The U.S. Virgin Islands

“Besides the global push for more sustainability and the use of renewables, these activities are a great fit for our island,” says Jerry Garcia, director of marketing and public relations, U.S. Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority. “We have a great geographical location and various topography, which makes us well poised to be involved in all aspects of renewables.”

The islands aim to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels by 60 percent within the next 15 years by developing its renewable energy resources. In March, Gov. John deJongh Jr. signed a memorandum of understanding between the islands and federal agencies to develop a clean energy development strategy at a workshop hosted by U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

The island would support manufacturing and R&D activities for solar and wind initiatives. “Wind is a feasible option,” Garcia says. “It is emerging and manufacturers are making more aesthetically pleasing wind turbines, which would not affect the beauty of the island. There is a constant stream of wind due to the series of trade winds that come from Portugal.” Some of the wind activity could be placed offshore.

Garcia adds that opportunities exist for ocean thermal energy conversion, thanks to the temperature differentials found in the deep waters of the San Juan Trench, which is located a quarter of a mile from the island.

To learn more about green industry activities and the U.S. Virgin Islands, visit www.usvieda.org.