ABOUT THIS REPORT The information in this report is ... - Cummins

Energy savings from the
earth’s core to the shop floor
Combine the talents of a self-described “eco-child” with
a cost conscious facilities leader and an engaged and
committed group of employees and you get Cummins
Turbo Technologies (CTT) in Huddersfield, U.K., one of
ENVIRONMENT
the Company’s leading facilities for energy conservation
and other green practices.
Jennifer Hirst, an Energy Engineer at
The facility is currently developing a geothermal
CTT Huddersfield, and Richard Keane,
system that draws energy from
CTT’s Facilities Manager, are the leaders
of Huddersfield’s energy conservation
efforts. The facility has consistently ranked
at the top of Cummins’ Energy Champions
program since the initiative began in 2008.
Hirst and Keane are quick to give
credit to the employees at Huddersfield.
They say more than 70 percent of the
energy conservation projects at the
facility in recent years were suggested
by workers on the shop floor.
“It’s been very gratifying to see ideas
come from the bottom up and not
from the top down,” Keane said.
Hirst, the self-described “eco-child,”
agreed. “They’re the ones with the
vision and approach,” she said.
But it’s also clear that Huddersfield
benefits from Keane’s and Hirst’s
dedication and passion for finding
ways to use energy more wisely.
the earth to heat and cool a building on
the campus that will provide training space.
Last year, CTT Huddersfield installed a
large array of solar cells on the roof of
the site’s Technical Center to supplement
power for that facility (Hirst would love
to see the tech center go totally “green”
someday, producing enough energy to
be taken off the grid).
And Huddersfield has consistently found
new ways to build on the $120,000 it
saved during Cummins’ first Unplugged
Energy Challenge, an effort launched in
2008 to reduce power consumption
during holiday shutdowns.
“Richard was leading energy efficiency
programs with CTT before the Energy
Champions program was created,”
said Mark Dhennin, Cummins Director of
Energy Efficiency. “He’s been a tremendous
advocate for energy efficiency.”
Richard Keane
Dhennin says Hirst has had a remarkable
impact in just the three years she’s been
with Cummins.
“In a relatively short time she’s played a
major role in implementing some really
important projects for us,” he said.
Keane says he came to energy conservation
from the perspective of a plant leader
looking to control costs. He said the focus
was on getting “turbos out the door” when
he arrived at Huddersfield in 2007. Energy
conservation took something of a backseat.
He attributes the facility’s success to
best practice sharing through the Energy
Champions program that showed energy
efficiency doesn’t have to come at the
expense of production. And he believes the
“One of the striking things I get to
see is what is happening at other sites,”
Keane said. “I think we do some very
good work and Jennifer is very dedicated
but there is excellent work being done all
over Cummins.”
Hirst says she believes communication has
been crucial to getting employees involved
at Huddersfield. “We’re delivering things in
a way that people understand— no jargon.”
The facility has electronic signs that track
power consumption so everyone can see
how the Huddersfield campus is doing
on their energy conservation goals. In
addition, the facility sponsors educational
programming designed to raise awareness.
Huddersfield is demonstrating how
environmentally sensitive a plant can be
when you have clear goals, leaders with
the right skills and dedicated employees.
Energy Engineer Jennifer
Hirst stands next to the solar
cells installed in 2011 at the
Technical Center on campus.
gains realized so far are just the beginning.
52 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2011–2012 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2011–2012 53