Here you will find a variety of sustainability messages, from manufacturers and contractors of all different sizes. We invite you to share with us YOUR company’s sustainability message.
John Deere
John Deere is committed to finding new and better ways to serve those linked to the land. The company understands that responsible resource management is vital to its company, employees, customers, neighbors and the world. John Deere works to develop and offer products that are efficient, effective and minimize environmental impact. And the company supports those products in offices, factories and dealerships that are built and maintained with the environment in mind.
Highlighting the importance of responsible stewardship, John Deere established an aggressive set of eco-efficiency goals to reduce the environmental impact of its products, services and operations by 2018. The enterprise eco-efficiency goals include:
- Reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by 15% per ton of production
- Reduce water consumption by 15% per ton of production
- Recycle 75% of total waste
- Use life cycle engineering to create products and services that meet customer needs and reduce environmental impact
The construction industry is embracing alternative energy for heavy equipment and many contractors are placing a high value on sustainability. This year, John Deere introduced the first construction-class hybrid wheel loader – the 644K Hybrid. The new loader uses a diesel engine to power an electric drive system that uses 25% less fuel compared with the conventional model. The hybrid technology improves productivity and reduces many users’ operating costs.
Click here for more information on John Deere and sustainability.
Safety-Kleen and EcoPower Engine Oil
More than 1.4 billion gallons of engine oil are generated every year in the United States. Unfortunately, a majority of that oil volume is burned for one-time energy use. Used engine oil can be collected and recycled or re-refined into high-quality lubricants that are equal to, or better than, oil made from virgin crude.
Safety-Kleen is doing its part as an industry leader in collecting and re-refining reclaimed oil so it can become an even more sustainable resource. The company collects more than 200 million gallons of used oil a year, as well as produces the EcoPower brand of eco-friendly engine oil.
EcoPower heavy duty diesel engine oil protects engines and the environment and helps off-highway and other fleets protect valuable engine assets, meet sustainability goals and improve a company’s appeal to customers. EcoPower meets or exceeds all applicable specifications set by the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). It requires up to 85% less energy to produce than oil made from virgin crude. When compared to burning used oil, the lifecycle of re-refined EcoPower yields a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of up to 80%.
EcoPower’s performance was proven in independent 500,000 and 1,000,000 studies using real-world fleet conditions. Results showed EcoPower met or beat the engine protection performance of other leading heavy-duty diesel engine oils made from virgin crude.
By collecting used engine oil and re-refining it into EcoPower, Safety-Kleen is closing the loop. Using re-refined engine oil for fleets protects engines and the environment. And that’s a change for the better.
Click here to learn more about Safety-Kleen and EcoPower.
Central Concrete Supply, Inc.
Concrete is one of the most extensively used materials worldwide. A critical element of concrete is cement. Worldwide, the production of cement accounts for some 5-6% of human-generated CO2. Recognizing this, U.S. Concrete’s National Research Laboratory set out to decrease the cement content of its concrete. The result was a process that led to the development of low CO2 concrete mixes. These concrete mixes not only significantly lower the carbon footprint of the projects utilizing them, but also deliver higher-performing characteristics compared to traditional concrete.
Central Concrete, a business unit of U.S. Concrete, is a recognized leader in low CO2 concrete mixes. Central’s standard mixes deliver 50% cement replacement materials and the company has utilized up to 75% cement replacement materials for many of its San Francisco Bay Area projects including The California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco – the world’s greenest museum; NASA Ames Sustainability Base, Mountain View – the greenest federal building in the U.S.; David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Los Altos – largest net-zero private office building in Calif.; the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) headquarters – San Francisco’s greenest office building; and the new Santa Clara 49er Stadium.
Central Concrete is taking key steps to pave the way towards more sustainable practices and products within the built environment. Central Concrete is a founding member of the Carbon Leadership Forum (CLF), a group dedicated to devising standards that will limit the carbon footprint of building products and systems. As a result of the CLF’s work, Central became the first ready mix supplier in North America to adopt Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), recognized in LEEDv4. In addition, Central has adopted the 2030 Challenge for Products and has already met the 2014 targets. Recently, Central also developed an industry first – a 90% cement replacement grout for backfill applications.
Click here for more information on Central Concrete and sustainability.
To read the full story, click here to download the Fall 2013 issue of Sustainable Construction.
