Walking the sustainability walk in Generations Park

Caterpillar walked the sustainability walk —literally — at this year’s CONEXPO-CON/AGG. The company transformed a 20,000-square-foot outdoor exhibition space at the Las Vegas Convention Center into a park where visitors learned about the company’s history of innovation and sustainability leadership. Called Generations Park, the venue was built by Las Vegas-based Sun City Landscapes, Inc. using Cat equipment that was sold and supported by Cashman Equipment Co., the regional Cat dealer.

Visitors to the park could stroll through paved and mulched walkways lined with trees and plants, rest on park benches, perch on the perimeter retaining wall, and walk through a variety of Caterpillar machines and sustainability exhibits on display.

Following the trade show, more than 98% of the materials used in the construction of the park received a second life and were either reused, recycled or returned.

Sustainability is good business

“The desire to develop innovative products that help Caterpillar customers succeed has been a driving force in our culture for generations,” says Caterpillar Chief Technology Officer Tana Utley. “We showcased that spirit in Generations Park, along with our long-standing commitment to use technology to help Caterpillar customers make sustainable progress possible.”
Featured in Generations Park were products, services and solutions that enable Caterpillar customers to meet their production and cost objectives with less impact on the environment.

The D7E Track-Type Tractor has an electric drive system that improves productivity by about 10% over a mechanical system and boosts fuel efficiency by 10% to 30%. The electric drive system contains less than half as many moving parts as a traditional transmission, and the parts are expected to deliver up to 50% more wear life.

Another highlight was the 5,000th Cat Certified Rebuild machine, a 980G Wheel Loader, that logged more than 30,000 hours in a high-production aggregates application before being rebuilt to Caterpillar specifications by regional Cat Dealer Whayne Supply Company of Louisville, Kentucky.

Other sustainable solutions featured in the park were the 320E Hydraulic Excavator, powered by a next-generation Cat engine that will meet Tier 4 Interim/Stage IIIB emissions standards and a Continuously Variable Transmission that delivers smoother shifts and superior control, while reducing fuel consumption by as much as 25%. Other machines on display included the 279C Compact Track Loader, 304D Mini Hydraulic Excavator, CB14 Vibratory Asphalt Compactor and TH514 Telehandler.

For more information about how Caterpillar, Cat Dealers and Caterpillar customers make sustainable progress possible, visit www.caterpillar.com/sustainability.