Energy Marathon Toolkit May 2015

Transcription

1 Energy Marathon Toolkit May 2015 Legrand, and the Legrand logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Legrand Holdings Inc. in the US and other countries All rights reserved.

2 As the leading provider of products and systems for electrical installations and information networks wherever people live and work, Legrand delivers an unequaled depth and breadth of innovative solutions. Everywhere electricity and information is flowing, Legrand is there to manage it from beginning to end. Our solutions are designed to help achieve the highest levels of building performance by improving energy efficiency, security, productivity, cost-effectiveness, and sustainability throughout lifetime operation. This toolkit seeks to act as an Energy Marathon resource. It is not intended to serve every contingency or provide prescriptive advice. 2

3 Energy Marathon Toolkit Contents Page Why Conduct an Energy Marathon? Overview: Energy Marathon Fact Sheet Energy Marathon Checklist On Your Mark: Energy Marathon Leadership and Action Planning Get Set: Ensuring Maximum Participation and Measurable Results Go: Running the Marathon Crossing the Finish: Analyzing Data, Sharing Best Practices, and Recognizing the Winners

4 Legrand s Commitment Improving energy productivity is a priority for Legrand. Since 2009, Legrand, North America has reduced its energy intensity by over 38%. Legrand is committed to sharing key tools and resources including this Energy Marathon Toolkit that have been developed as part of its successful effort to reduce energy intensity across its North American facilities. These resources can be used by manufacturing companies and other organizations to develop and implement energy efficiency programs for their businesses. All of these tools, including the Power Down Day Toolkit, A Guide to Submeter Deployment, and the Legrand, North America Energy Policy are offered at no cost and are available at Why Conduct an Energy Marathon? On November 29, 2012, Legrand asked more than 2,500 employees to Power Down. In one 24-hour period, our employees met that challenge and achieved a 24% reduction in energy intensity across the company. But as the old saying goes, it takes 20 days to create a habit, so we decided to take our successful one-day event and evolve it into an Energy Marathon. In October 2014, our employees focused on saving energy for 26.2 days the extra 6.2 to make sure the behaviors would stick! As a manufacturer, energy efficiency is crucial to maintaining competitiveness in the market place. We know it is increasingly important to manage energy responsibly to benefit both the environment and the bottom line. Conducting an Energy Marathon allowed us to bring energy efficiency to the forefront boosting employee engagement, and reshaping energy usage behaviors through a fun and friendly competition. Over the course of our 26.2-day Energy Marathon, we achieved a 15.4% reduction in electricity use - amounting to 588,540 kwh of electricity, worth $46,732. If people could change behaviors for 26.2 days, what is to say that these actions couldn t be permanent? If even half of these behaviors were maintained, our annual savings would exceed 4 million kwh and $325,000. Legrand Energy Marathon Results: 15.4% Reduction in Electricity Consumption 588,540 kwh saved $46,732 saved 20% reduction in kwh used per person Legrand is offering this toolkit to help others interested in developing, organizing and communicating their own Energy Marathon. 4

5 Overview: Energy Marathon Fact Sheet What is an Energy Marathon? The Energy Marathon is a 26.2-day energy saving competition that empowers associates to implement technology and process changes while reshaping their own energy usage behaviors. The competition can occur at one or many facilities so long that energy usage data is available to be measured and evaluated. Our Energy Marathon included 18 locations across North America. Why Have an Energy Marathon? The Energy Marathon brings energy efficiency to the forefront for a focused 26.2-day period. Through friendly competition, facility managers and associates become motivated to find new ways to save energy. Since the event lasts nearly a month, long-term energy behavior changes can be created. When Should an Energy Marathon be Held? The best time to hold an Energy Marathon is over a 26.2-day period that generally does not experience extreme weather fluctuations from the baseline period being compared to. We recommend using a comparable timeframe a week to a month prior to the start of the Energy Marathon as the baseline. Who Leads the Energy Marathon? There are four key leadership roles necessary for a successful Energy Marathon: Executive Staff supports and helps launch the Energy Marathon. Core Team Leader serves as project manager and handles all logistics including selecting Site Leaders, compiling energy readings, gathering and analyzing data, communicating about the event and making sure tasks are completed on time. This person also leads a Core Team made up of experienced leaders. Core Team provides support to the Core Team Leader in critical roles such as facility operations, human resources, marketing communications, graphic design, and sustainability. For example, somebody with expertise in graphic design could design a logo, while the communications expert can help devise a communication plan, incorporating the logo in messaging. Site Leader(s) serves as key liaison to the Core Team Leader and owns the Energy Marathon project at their specific site. Each site should have its own Site Leader. The Site Leader should form a small local team to assist in responsibilities such as recording daily electric meter readings, communicating to local associates, and identifying strategies to save energy at their site. How Can I Prepare for the Energy Marathon? Identify your Core Team Leader and Core Team Build a team that will be able to brainstorm ways to save energy, recommend specific process and technological changes in facilities, communicate across your organization, and coordinate recognition for the winning site and other participating sites as appropriate. Identify your Site Leader(s) Seek qualified individuals who will read the electric utility meter and lead communications and event execution at the site level. Identify how to interpret electric utility meter data Not all meters are the same, some might be analog, some digital. Many have multiplication factors that must be applied to the numeric display in order to convert values to kwh. If it is not readily apparent how to distinguish kwh consumption on your electric meter, contact your electric service provider. Set a baseline We tracked electricity usage over a 13.1-day period in September then multiplied it by two to establish a 26.2-day projection. You should choose the most appropriate timeframe that reflects normal operations and considers seasonal weather variations. Note: Be sure to maintain the same proportion of weekdays to weekends as you will have in the Energy Marathon in order to establish the most accurate baseline. 5

6 How do you recognize the winners? Brainstorm with your Core Team the best recognition options for your organization. At Legrand, we recognized the top performing Site Leaders at a small local ceremony attended by the CEO as well as awarded the winning site with a trophy, pizza party for their associates, and a donation to a charity of their choice. In addition to awarding a grand-prize to the winning site, we held mini-contests and drawings each week for small individual prizes. In doing so, we were able to keep employees engaged preventing event fatigue over the 26.2 days. How do you share the results of the Energy Marathon? We shared real-time Energy Marathon standings and overall progress each week throughout the event. Through daily blasts, weekly flyers and TV monitor slide updates in our common areas, we were able to drive competition from start to finish. At the end of the event, we shared results via our quarterly CEO webcast and in an follow up to all associates. Legrand provides additional tools and resources to help you and your organization to save energy. Available at: 6

7 Energy Marathon Checklist Leadership Commitment Obtain leadership commitment regarding the Energy Marathon related to the following items: Who will be involved in planning, coordinating, and executing the event? What metric(s) will you consider to determine success? When will you hold the Energy Marathon? Be sure to establish a baseline that most accurately represents the 26.2 days of the Energy Marathon. Where will your Energy Marathon be held? Is it only at one facility, or will multiple sites be competing against each other? Why are you running the Energy Marathon? Is it to raise awareness on a larger energy efficiency initiative? To save energy and reduce costs? Or do you have another goal in mind? Preparation Set a date for both the Energy Marathon and a baseline period Appoint a Core Team Leader who will drive communications and oversee event progress Determine how you will keep track of daily progress Establish a Core Team and one Site Leader from each site who will lead local communications and oversee the Energy Marathon at their location Site Leader(s) should identify local volunteers to assist them in interpreting energy data for their site and helping to spread the word through site specific communications, like posters and flyers. Local volunteers may also be useful in identifying opportunities to save energy at their site. Schedule regular meetings with the Core Team to review status action items Communication Consider designing a logo Identify how you will communicate across your organization (i.e. , posters, TV monitors in common areas, team meetings, etc) Research energy efficiency tips to share in communications to promote energy efficient behaviors Organize weekly mini-contests or drawings for prizes throughout the Energy Marathon Start communications a few weeks prior to the Energy Marathon Prizes & Recognition Design and purchase a trophy, plaque, or certificate for the winning site Identify prizes that are meaningful for your organization. Legrand created 4 prize categories: A donation to a charity of choice for the winning site A trophy presented to the winning site A small celebration for the winning site (i.e. pizza party, donuts, etc.) Small individual prizes for weekly contests that helped associates save energy at home Follow-up Review and share the results of the Energy Marathon Recognize and award the winning site and other outstanding efforts Meet with Site Leaders to understand best practices used during the Energy Marathon Review opportunities identified for future improvement Share best practices and suggestions for improvement throughout the organization Begin training for the next Energy Marathon! 7

8 On Your Mark: Energy Marathon Leadership and Action Planning First and foremost, it s important to understand what roles need to be filled, actions that need to be taken, and when they should be completed. Identifying Leaders Identify leaders to serve on a Core Team to perform the following actions: Core Team Leader identifies, divides, and ensures tasks are completed in a time sensitive manner. Coordinates and leads Core Team meetings and communication with Site Leaders. Core Team Members: There are four key leadership roles necessary for a successful Energy Marathon: Facility Operations Leader impacts facility level controlled aspects, such as HVAC systems, and lighting controls, that may be adjusted to save energy. Identifies process changes that make facilities more energy efficient. Human Resources Representative facilitates event planning and prize distribution. Coordinates non-digital communication distribution such as flyers, signage and TV monitor slides. Marketing Communications Specialist collaborates with Sustainability to develop targeted, engaging communications. Sustainability Specialist tailors communications to reflect the big picture goals in energy management that the organization is striving to achieve. Researches energy efficiency tips for inclusion in communications guiding associate energy usage behaviors. Graphic Designer designs captivating imagery for communications that help to brand the event and drive engagement. Site Leader(s) reads utility meter data and implements energy saving strategies at the facility level. Identifies local individuals to assist in site specific tasks. 8

9 Organizing Tasks For three months leading up to the Energy Marathon, Legrand held bi-weekly meetings with the Core Team to identify and complete necessary tasks in alignment with the project plan. We utilized a Time & Action spreadsheet to assign tasks to owners and set targeted deadlines. We broke action items into five distinct categories: 1. Core Team Tasks 2. Communication Plan 3. Operations Plan 4. Other Actions 5. Celebration Plan Time & Action Spreadsheet - you may want to create a similar tool to keep track of the smaller items that could easily go overlooked with the big picture in mind. 9

10 Get Set: Ensuring Maximum Participation and Measurable Results Preparing an Effective Communication Campaign From Legrand s experience, delivering effective communications from start to finish was one of the most critical aspects of conducting a successful Energy Marathon. We strived to keep our associates engaged throughout the event in order to achieve the greatest degree of energy savings. We designed our communication plan by following these steps: Creating a Logo A logo provides a visual connection to the event. It should be catchy, symbolic of the event, and representative of your organization. Identify Your Methods of Communicating How will you get the message to your target audience? Here are some of the ways we reached our employees: CEO voic to all associates CEO blast Marketing blasts on event progress and tips for saving energy Giveaways with attached note cards Signage outside facilities Flyers in common areas TV monitor displays in common areas Educational presentations from home energy efficiency organizations Twitter updates Corporate Facebook posts Flickr photo sharing CEO webcast message To help kick-off the event, we gave all of our associates Legrand Pass & Seymour occupancy sensing lighting controls to help them save energy at home. We challenged employees to install them, and send us a picture in order to be entered to win prizes. Provide Background Information In order to keep the big picture in mind, Legrand related the Energy Marathon to our overall energy intensity reduction goal of 25% by This set the stage for the event and helped raise awareness of our overall sustainability initiatives. 10

11 Give Purpose Each message should have a purpose to the desired audience. We delivered s daily to employees to keep them updated on their site s ranking and our overall progress. We also provided tips for employees to save energy at home and at work in order to give them direction in finding ways to save energy. Here are a few helpful links to get you started: Maintain Interest In order to prevent event fatigue over the 26.2 days, we held a number of smaller contests and drawings for individuals to win prizes that would help them save energy at home. Entry details were shared via daily s and on flyers for employees without access. Note: Building the framework for communications ahead of time will enable a better flowing story than developing ad hoc messages. While we discovered many news-worthy stories throughout the event, we incorporated them into the original communication framework instead of creating separate messages. Examples of Communications: 11

12 How will Success Be Measured? One method for accurately measuring electricity use at the facility level is by simply reading the utility meter. We found that the numeric display on many electric meters however did NOT report kwh on a one-for-one basis. In order to convert to kwh consumption on these utility meters, a multiplication factor issued by the electric utility had to be applied to the numeric display. Utility multiplication factors were found labeled on electric meters and bills, but varied between utility providers. In order to calculate kwh consumption on these meters, we subtracted the initial numeric display reading from the final and multiplied the difference by the utility multiplication factor. On this electric meter, the utility multiplication factor is located above the digital display. The digits on the screen must be multiplied by 200 in this case to convert to kwh. Equation: (Final Reading Initial Reading) x Utility Multiplication Factor = kwh Used We collected electric meter data over two timeframes a baseline period and the Energy Marathon. The baseline period readings were taken Sept. 3rd, 12:00 PM and Sept. 16th, 1:00 PM half of the 26.2-day Energy Marathon. We used the equation above to determine how many kwh of electricity were used over that 13.1 day period and then doubled the number to create a 26.2-day baseline for comparison during the Energy Marathon. Note: Since our weekend energy usage is much less than that during the work week, it was important to choose a baseline period that maintained the same proportion of weekend vs. weekdays. This helped ensure that we set a realistic baseline. After we established the projected 26.2-day energy usage baseline, we divided it by 26.2 in order to establish an average daily consumption. In doing so, we were able to keep track of our progress during the Energy Marathon on a daily basis. This was essential to providing standings updates to associates in communications driving competition amongst employees and Site Leaders. Each day during the Energy Marathon, Site Leaders read their electricity meters at 12:00 PM and submitted the reading to the Core Team Leader for record in the Energy Marathon Record Sheet a spreadsheet designed to show daily progress versus the baseline. The final reading of the Energy Marathon was taken at 2:00 PM on Oct. 27th to comprise the final.2 of the marathon. Energy Marathon Record Sheet While some modifications may need to be made to fit your organization s needs, this spreadsheet will provide you with the basic functions necessary to monitor and report progress on your Energy Marathon. This file can be downloaded at: ECE4805CC7D94D25B180F30FF60B4110.xls%E2%80%8B 12

13 Go: Running the Marathon It s finally time to watch all of your hard work pay off! The execution of a successful Energy Marathon will rely heavily on the competitive spirit of your Site Leaders and how well you engage employees through your communications. Delivery of Communications During the Energy Marathon, you will want to set a schedule for communications to be delivered. This consistency will keep your readers anticipating the next message. Since you ve already outlined the format and purpose of each message, the only real-time edits that should be necessary are ones incorporating details on the event progress. Here are some things we shared to keep associates motivated: Energy Marathon site standings Real-time calculations of energy savings and greenhouse gas reductions Cost savings estimates Weekly contest prize winner announcements Site specific initiatives and accomplishments Social media links and PR pickups Data Collection In order to share progress with employees, it is essential that your Site Leaders provide timely feedback on their electricity usage. The Core Team Leader should be in frequent contact with Site Leaders to recover meter data daily and begin cataloguing some of the facility level adjustments being made to save energy at the sites. During the half-way point, we held a meeting for Site Leaders to share with the Core Team some of their strategies for leading energy savings at their facility. This enabled the Core Team to gauge Site Leader efforts while serving as a best practice sharing session for Site Leaders to learn from others experiences. Note: Keep in mind, this is a competition, and Site Leaders from the top locations may be hesitant to share their energy saving methods until the end. It s important to pay close attention to trends in data. After a week, you should have a good sense of how the event is going. Depending on how your sites are performing, you may want to use your communications to encourage people to step it up! 13

14 Crossing the Finish: Analyzing Data, Sharing Best Practices, and Recognizing the Winners Analyzing Data As the Energy Marathon comes to a close, there are several ways that data analysis can be useful to your organization. We considered the following metrics to help determine our level of success: Electricity usage reduction (%) vs. baseline Total kwh savings Cost savings CO2 reduction kwh reduction per person To easily convert kwh savings into something more tangible for use in our communications, we referred to the EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator. Sharing Best Practices Since Legrand s Energy Marathon included 18 different facilities across several geographical regions, no two sites approaches were the same. Sharing best practices and evaluating their applicability across your organization is an important follow up step. One opportunity to save energy that was identified at our West Hartford facility was to improve our factory shut down practices. Our operations leaders noticed a number of machines, printers, lights, and computers being left on after hours. We addressed this problem by issuing Energy Waste Citations on a nightly basis to workstations that left items on after hours. A notice was also given to the department manager to alert them of the violation. Energy Waste Citations Day 1: Issued 96 citations in West Hartford, CT factory Days 20 27: <10 citations Results Legrand s West Hartford, CT factory used 20% less electricity during off-hours (12 AM 5 AM) vs. baseline Potential annual savings $60,000 This is just one example of a discovery made as a result of our elevated focus on energy efficiency. This program can be continued indefinitely and expanded to other facilities as a best practice for reducing off-hours energy use. 14

15 Recognizing the Winners While everyone who reduces his or her energy usage is a winner, we reserved special recognition for the Energy Marathon victor, and a handful of Site Leaders who led outstanding efforts at their respective locations. Legrand, North America executives were joined by Dr. Mark Johnson, Director of the Advanced Manufacturing Office at the U.S. Dept. of Energy, in recognizing the winner of the Energy Marathon and several other top performing sites. Sharing Results The Energy Marathon was a learning experience for Legrand to gauge how much energy our employees could save by changing behaviors and making some ready-to-implement facility adjustments. Our event was a great success. Not only did we save energy and reduce costs, but we empowered our employees to actively contribute to our corporate energy intensity reduction goals in a fun and engaging way. We wish you luck on YOUR Energy Marathon and hope you will also share lessons learned on the impact it had within your organization. Additional Tools & Downloads Legrand is committed to sharing tools and resources we have developed on our sustainability journey. If the Energy Marathon seems too challenging, why not start with a Power Down Day? To access this and other tools and resources to help you achieve your sustainability goals, visit 15

16 Legrand, and the Legrand logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Legrand Holdings Inc. in the US and other countries All rights reserved.