ENERGY STAR® Guides for Energy Efficiency Opportunities, Featuring the Motor Vehicle Assembly Industry

As manufacturers face an increasingly competitive environment, energy efficiency improvements can be a way to reduce costs without negatively affecting product quality or yield. One major barrier to reducing energy costs and associated environmental impacts is access to the information that is available. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR Program works with industries to address the need for strong and strategic corporate energy management programs. As a part of this voluntary program, one tool ENERGY STAR provides is a guide for energy and plant managers on energy efficiency opportunities for their industry. We present the results from the energy guide for the motor vehicle assembly industry. After describing the industry's trends, structure and production and the process's energy use, we examine energy efficiency opportunities for motor vehicle assembly plants. Where available, we provide energy savings and typical payback periods for each measure based on case studies of plants that have implemented it. Our findings suggest that although most motor vehicle companies in the U.S. have energy management teams or programs, there are still opportunities available at individual assembly plants to reduce energy consumption cost effectively. Furthermore, we find that even in light industries like vehicle assembly, many energy efficiency improvement opportunities exist in processes in addition to the cross-cutting measures typically included in assessments of light industries.