The Challenge

The S. C. Johnson and Son, Limited Plant in Brantford, Ontario has been tracking Greenhouse Gas Emissions for over 10 years. The primary drivers of our GHG emissions are the energy sources we use to power our facility, which are electricity and natural gas. In Ontario, electricity is roughly 70% from GHG emitting sources and the burning of natural gas for heat at our site creates GHG.

In the years 2000-2005 SCJ was successful in reducing GHG emissions globally by 10%. The Global goal for 2006 to 2011 was established by first evaluating the impact of estimated increases in GHG emissions through acquisitions and increased manufacturing volume, and then comparing this against the potential energy reduction projects. Using these inputs, the 2005-2011 goal was set at a 12% reduction from the 2000 baseline. In order to achieve this global goal, each manufacturing site was requested to contribute a 2% reduction from their current output.

The Canadian Management team reviewed the information and decided to challenge the Canadian organization to the full 12% reduction from the year 2000 baseline, on an absolute basis.

To achieve this aggressive goal the Canadian company needed to overcome the following challenges:

• Production volume had increased by over 30% from the baseline, with a corresponding increase in energy use. So, the actual reduction from the current performance would require a reduction of 25% and not 12!
• Any capital utilized to achieve the goal must have a ROI.
• Energy and Natural gas reductions were managed by individual departments on an annual basis. To achieve the 2011 goal, SCJ needed to develop a management system to engage all departments and employees.
• We were slow getting alignment on the goals, and as a result, we didn’t get our plan finalized until the beginning of 2007. We had lost a year!

The Strategy

Our strategy for delivering the goal included:

1. Creating urgency and engagement throughout the organization

• Through communication, link Global warming, GHG & Energy Crisis to the work we do in our facility
• Cascade energy reduction objectives to key areas of the company
• Ensure annual and periodic communication of our progress against our goals

2. Break down the five year goal into manageable pieces

• Set annual goals
• Establish process to drive stepwise improvements
• Establish process to initiate large energy saving capital projects
• Implement real time measure onto all of our energy drivers
• Ensure that all energy consuming purchases are “best in class” for energy conservation

3. Create the right structure and organizational activities

• aEstablished forums to drive reduction ideas and action
• Establish meeting rhythms to drive accountability and track performance
• Assign and define roles and responsibilities of key employees

The Results

1. By the end of 2008, we reduced GHG emissions to 25% below the year 2000 baseline. Some highlights of this result:

• One of our production teams reduced their energy consumption by 10% in one year
• One of our capital projects reduced annual natural gas consumption by 425,000 cubic meters and reduced annual electrical consumption by 286,000 kilowatts