4 Honda Manufacturing Plants Earn Energy Star Certification

Honda recently announced that four of its manufacturing plants have earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Energy Star certification. The Marysville and East Liberty auto plants in Ohio received the award for the 13th consecutive year, while the auto plant in Greensburg, Indiana, achieved its seventh straight certification. In addition, the Honda plant in Anna, Ohio, became one of the first U.S. engine plants to garner the Energy Star certification.

Introduced in 1992 as a voluntary, market-based partnership to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions through energy efficiency, the Energy Star certification signifies that plants perform in the top 25 percent of similar facilities for energy efficiency and meet strict performance levels set by the EPA. On average, Energy Star certified plants consume 35 percent less energy and contribute 35 percent fewer greenhouse-gas emissions than similar non-certified operations.

"Earning these certifications is important since it is a way to recognize Honda associates for their continued efforts to reduce energy usage at our manufacturing plants and office buildings," said Joanna Bambeck, who leads Honda’s green factory efforts in North America. "This achievement also shows the progress that our plants are making toward realizing a carbon-free society and achieving our 2050 CO2 targets."

The East Liberty auto plant, which produces the Honda CR-V, Acura RDX and MDX sport-utility vehicles, expanded its use of light-emitting diode (LED) lighting, installing more than 850 new fixtures and saving more than 1.1 million kilowatt hours of electricity.

The Marysville auto plant, which manufactures the Honda Accord, Accord Hybrid and CR-V as well as the Acura ILX and TLX, saw improvements through the inception of a five-year plan to improve energy management. The initiative started with the plant’s high-bay lighting with LED fixtures.

Honda Manufacturing of Indiana (HMIN), which builds the Honda Insight as well as the Honda Civic and CR-V, continued on its path toward greater energy efficiency through the phased conversion to LED lighting and increasing emphasis on managing non-production energy use, along with the implementation of a compressed-air leak-management program.

The Anna engine plant achieved energy savings by reducing the power needed to pressurize its compressed-air system. The facility also raised the temperature of its process water system, lessening the energy used by the plant’s chillers.

"Improving the energy efficiency of our nation’s industrial facilities is critical to protecting our environment," said Jean Lupinacci, chief of the Energy Star Commercial and Industrial Branch. "From the plant floor to the boardroom, organizations are leading the way by making their facilities more efficient and earning EPA’s Energy Star certification."

For more information, visit www.energystar.gov.