Dallas—Dal-Tile has taken action to reduce the amount of energy used by its production facilities to make a positive impact not only in the towns where its factories are located, but also for the planet.
“To ensure our manufacturing is as energy efficient as possible, we utilize internal and external experts to conduct intensive evaluations with the goal of finding areas of improvement in our facilities,” said Robert Hurt, director of environmental, health and sustainability services for Dal-Tile. “By connecting with local suppliers, we organize ‘energy treasure hunts’ that seek out areas where we can bring change to our day-to-day activity that may be overlooked. These treasure hunts are a team effort from start to finish and require our employees, alongside energy professionals, to look for solutions that reduce our carbon footprint.”
In this up to a four-day event, these treasure hunts consist of small groups of the company’s employees from different parts of the plant alongside energy professionals scouring a designated area, keeping their eyes peeled for air leaks, scrap sources, or equipment running without product, for example. These energy audits have produced significant results, such as the over one-million dollars in annual savings that was realized at the company’s Sunnyvale, Texas facility.
“Projects from lighting improvement, compressed air work and other improvement plans are well underway because of this initiative,” added Hurt. “Energy professionals now have ongoing scheduled visits to our plants to look for additional areas in need of improvement, as variables change from day-to-day.”