Saint-Gobain installs Variable Drive technology to reduce energy load and emissions at New York gypsum plant
The wallboard subsidiary of construction materials manufacturer Saint-Gobain North America has installed energy efficiency controls at its New York gypsum plant to save nearly nearly 700 MWh in electricity use annually.
CertainTeed LLC installed new grinding control technology at the Buchanan facility. The variable frequency drive technology helps cut the plant’s energy consumption and reduces greenhouse gas emissions in the equivalent of taking 1.2 million gasoline vehicle miles off the road, according to the company.
“This new technology in Buchanan will help our company maximize its positive impact, for our customers and the communities where we do business, while minimizing our environmental footprint,” said Jay Bachmann, Vice President & General Manager for CertainTeed Interior Products Group. “Our team will continue to look for ways to reduce our consumption of energy and natural resources while delivering more of our industry-leading gypsum wallboard to the market at a time of unprecedented customer demand.”
CertainTeed’s plant in Buchanan is the only gypsum wallboard manufacturing facility in New York State. The site began operations in 1967 and today is home to 120 employees.
Three years ago, the plant installed a nearly 7,000 panel, 2.4 MW solar array on its roof, which generates over 2.7 million kWh annually and is one of the largest of its kind in New York.
In Buchanan, gypsum rock is ground down into a powder that eventually serves as the main ingredient in a gypsum slurry. The Variable Frequency Drive offers the capacity to slow down or speed up grinding at different speeds, consuming less energy and ultimately reducing the facility’s carbon footprint.
Once produced, the slurry is poured and dries between two sheets of paper, creating gypsum wallboard.
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Saint-Gobain itself has advocated for accelerating energy efficiency improvements in the construction sector, forecasting that global measures could reduce CO2 emissions by 5.8 gigatons by 2050. Such a decrease could reduce sector-wide emissions by 83 percent, the company says.
Several recently announced projects have underlined Saint-Gobain’s focus on efficiency measures. Last month, it announced a nearly $100 million investment in its Montreal gypsum plan to create a zero-carbon manufacturing site for wallboard.
In May, Saint-Gobain announced installation of recycling technology in Nashville, Arkansas, to save 65,000 tons of material per year from dumping into landfills. Earlier this year, the company detailed heat recovery technology and virtual renewable power purchase agreements.
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(Rod Walton, senior editor for EnergyTech, is a 14-year veteran of covering the energy industry both as a newspaper and trade journalist. He can be reached at [email protected]).
