ASAHI/AMERICA AND EARTH DAY
Contributed by Alex Gambino, Director of Business Development
Plastics get a bad rap in everyday life due to local recycling issues and a lack of infrastructure capable of managing reusable material. Casual environmentalists categorize industrial thermoplastics as less than desirable solutions for many applications. The reality is that plastics used by Asahi/America’s customers offer decades-long solutions to what could not be well-managed with other materials.
Asahi/America products are specified for applications where conventional materials, like metal, are costly to produce or offer minimal life expectancy. Asahi/America piping systems for chemicals are designed for a minimum of 25 years, often lasting much beyond the minimum life expectancy. Asahi water and compressed air systems are capable of being designed for 50 to 100 year life expectancies.
Beyond our commitment to the safe application of thermoplastics, is our internal philosophy to practice green production initiatives when possible. When Asahi relocated to our new headquarters in Lawrence, MA in 2014, we set criteria to find a building capable of holding a solar array and snow loads. We permitted and installed a 1.13 MW AC solar array covering more than 100% of our electricity demands.
After some utility delays, our system came safely and completely online in 2018. Since installation, Asahi has generated 5,500 MWh of energy. The solar-installing company software that allows us to monitor production tells us that it is equivalent to nearly 500,000 gallons of gas offset, 3,300 CO2 tons of emissions avoided and growing.
In addition to the solar installation, our inside and outside lights were replaced with LEDs, significantly reducing our demand and prolonging the maintenance cycle. The facility's heating system was upgraded to high-efficiency units in the summer 2019, which reduced our natural gas demand by more than 30%.
Actual data taken from the online solar software program monitoring Asahi/America's solar panel activity.
Inner Circle
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