OREANDA-NEWS. November 17, 2015. The manufacturing industry is one of the largest consumers of energy in the U.S. economy. Manufacturers spend almost \\$230B on energy every year, which represents almost 25% of our total domestic energy use. Because of this, the sector has a huge opportunity for energy reduction.

And U.S. manufacturers are starting to do just that. Highlighted in a recent Cleantechnica article, the latest U.S. Department of Energy Better Plants Program update reveals the industry saved 457 trillion BTUs and \\$2.4B in energy savings over the past five years. However, the data they collected represents only 11% of the manufacturing businesses in the U.S. — meaning the potential for savings is much greater and this is only a drop in the bucket of possible energy reduction to come.

Better Plants is a multi-sector initiative created to improve the energy efficiency of America’s commercial, residential, and industrial buildings. It is part of the Obama Administration’s broader Better Buildings Challenge, which targets improving energy efficiency in all U.S. commercial and industrial buildings by at least 20% over the next 10 years.

Under the program, the manufacturing sector set its own specific goal to reduce operational energy by 25% over 10 years with assistance from DOE. To date, 157 companies have joined the Better Plants partnership. This equals approximately 2,400 manufacturing facilities and 11.4% of America’s manufacturing energy footprint participating in the program.

Some other Better Plant highlights include:

  • 21 new Better Plants partners joined in the last year alone
  • Better Plants partners are found in all 50 states and nearly every manufacturing sector — from chemicals to metals to paper
  • Participation is not affected by if the state is a traditional energy efficiency leader or laggard — California and Illinois have as many facilities as Georgia, Indiana, and Texas
  • Partners span all sizes — including 3 of America’s 10 largest corporations by gross revenue to 20 companies who spend less than \\$1M per year on energy
  • To date partners have saved the equivalent to the annual energy use of 3.7M U.S. homes or taking 5.6M passenger vehicles off the road for a year

So far, 25 Better Plants partners have met their energy savings goals through the challenge, with 9 reaching the mark this year alone. Beyond adding new members, Better Plants is also adding new focus areas. The effort expanded into pilot programs to improve supply chain efficiency and water efficiency in 2014, and plans on rolling out combined heat and power and cooling/refrigeration programs by 2016.

“When companies save energy, they also save money and reduce harmful carbon pollution,” said Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz. “This is especially true in the manufacturing sector, where energy costs are often a significant contributor to total operating costs.”.