Month: September 2023

Winners demonstrated excellence in sustainability, safety and community service

CHARLOTTE, N.C., September 27, 2023 /3BL/ – Duke Energy has chosen eight organizations to receive its 2023 Power Partner Award.

The annual program founded in 1992 honors businesses and other organizations that have demonstrated excellence in sustainability, safety, service, and problem solving.

“We value our large commercial, industrial and government customers and encourage them to strive for organizational excellence,” said Chris Edge, Duke Energy vice president of large business customers. “All the winners awarded this year have innovated in ways that benefit their employees, stakeholders and greater community.”

The 2023 Power Partner award-winning organizations are:

Alamance-Burlington School System 
Burlington, N.C.

Category: Sustainability Excellence

The Alamance-Burlington School System (ABSS) is a school district covering Alamance County and the city of Burlington, N.C., with an enrollment of approximately 23,000 students. The school system is committed to participation in Duke Energy’s Energy Efficiency (EE) Design Assistance programs for new facilities and has enrolled facilities in extensive retrofitting projects resulting in valuable energy savings.

Milliken & Company 
Spartanburg, S.C.

Category: Sustainability Excellence

Milliken & Company, an industrial manufacturer of textiles, floor coverings and chemicals, works closely with Duke Energy to develop economically viable solutions to meet their desired 2025 sustainability goals. Milliken’s Magnolia/Allen plant in Blacksburg, S.C., opted into Duke Energy’s EE programs, using its custom performance incentives to eliminate coal as an on-site fuel source and to significantly reduce air pollutant emissions. Also, as part of Duke Energy’s net metering program, Milliken installed two solar arrays at their Roger Milliken Center (RMC) Global Headquarters.

Evonik 
Tippecanoe, Ind.

Category: Safety Partnership

Evonik, a German based chemical company, partnered with Duke Energy to strengthen the safety culture at its Tippecanoe Laboratory site. Through this partnership, Evonik and the Duke Energy Lafayette Distribution Operations Team performed “Safety Days,” a series of live-line demonstrations designed to communicate everyday best safety practices to Evonik employees. Evonik also worked with Duke Energy to install warning signage underneath on-site high voltage lines and sought consultation on safe vegetation clearing practices.

Catawba College 
Salisbury, N.C.

Category: Sustainability Excellence

Catawba College, a longtime customer of Duke Energy, was recently recognized for becoming the first campus in North Carolina and the Southeast to achieve carbon neutrality. Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions (DESS) assisted Catawba College with the development of a sustainability plan that got them to this goal. In addition, the college used DESS resources to upgrade their campus electric system and implement a campus-wide metering system to track their energy usage. Working together with Duke Energy, the college was able to achieve their 2030 goal of carbon neutrality seven years ahead of schedule.

Duke University 
Durham, N.C.

Category: Sustainability Excellence

Duke University has established the Duke Climate Commitment, a university-wide initiative to address climate change. To advance this initiative, the university is a participant in Duke Energy’s Green Source Advantage (GSA) Program, which enabled the construction of three solar arrays totaling 100.9 MW of renewable generation. In addition, the university has installed net-metered solar arrays, totaling approximately 876 kW of clean energy.

Purdue Research Foundation 
West Lafayette, Ind.

Category: Service Excellence

Purdue Research Foundation (PRF) has two major development sites within Duke Energy Indiana’s service territory, Purdue Research Park and Discovery Park District. Both sites are creating jobs and bringing capital investment to the West Lafayette, IN community. Three projects have broken ground at these sites in 2023: the Rolls-Royce High Altitude Test Facility, Rolls-Royce Hybrid Electric Test Facility, and Ascension St. Vincent Hospital campus. Duke Energy Indiana and PRF have partnered closely to develop a long-term planning strategy to accommodate future growth at these facilities.

FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotech USA 
Holly Springs, N.C.

Category: Solution Innovation

In March 2021, FujiFilm Diosynth announced that Holly Springs, N.C. had been selected for their new cell production site. By 2025, FujiFilm will invest $2 billion into the site and surrounding community, creating 725 skilled jobs that pay an average of $100,000. Duke Energy will serve the 16 MW campus, which will be the largest culture bio-pharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) in North America. The facility will enable FujiFilm to produce transformative medicine to meet market demand. FujiFilm has also partnered with Duke Energy to provide backup generation to the site through a 15-year Premier Power agreement. Further, the design and construction of the campus will align with Fujifilm’s Sustainable Value Plan.

Toray Resin Company 
Shelbyville, Ind.

Category: Sustainability Excellence

Toray Resin Company, an international plastics manufacturer, partnered with Duke Energy to construct a solar energy facility capable of producing up to 900 kilowatts of power at its campus in Shelbyville, Ind. Toray Resin Company signed up to be the first participant in Duke Energy Indiana’s solar services pilot program, which aims to make it easier for businesses, schools and nonprofits to incorporate clean, renewable energy sources into their energy mix. Under the program, Duke Energy owns, operates and maintains the Blue River Solar Facility on Toray Resin’s campus for a monthly service fee. The program provides Toray Resin with the advantages of clean energy while minimizing upfront costs and maintenance obligations. Construction on the 8-acre, ground-mounted solar project began in October 2021, and it was brought into service in 2023.

Duke Energy

Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of America’s largest energy holding companies. Its electric utilities serve 8.2 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and collectively own 50,000 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas unit serves 1.6 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky. The company employs 27,600 people.

Duke Energy is executing an aggressive clean energy transition to achieve its goals of net-zero methane emissions from its natural gas business by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions from electricity generation by 2050. The company has interim carbon emission targets of at least 50% reduction from electric generation by 2030, 50% for Scope 2 and certain Scope 3 upstream and downstream emissions by 2035, and 80% from electric generation by 2040. In addition, the company is investing in major electric grid enhancements and energy storage, and exploring zero-emission power generation technologies such as hydrogen and advanced nuclear.

Duke Energy was named to Fortune’s 2023 “World’s Most Admired Companies” list and Forbes’ “World’s Best Employers” list. More information is available at duke-energy.com. The Duke Energy News Center contains news releases, fact sheets, photos and videos. Duke Energy’s illumination features stories about people, innovations, community topics and environmental issues. Follow Duke Energy on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

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“Today I want to talk about something that is the driving force of all of our progress – and that’s the courage of our movement. Everyone here today is a leader,” said Jason Hartke, IWBI’s EVP of External Affairs, to WELL Summit attendees as he helped kick off day two of the event. Leadership means having to go against the grain, fight the status quo, pioneer innovation and chart a different path, Hartke noted. “And to me, that’s the essence of leadership and courage.”

Leadership and courage were at the forefront, as Hartke announced a collective call to action from 12 public health leaders and premier organizations in the healthy buildings space, calling on policymakers across the nation to prioritize buildings as instruments of public health.

The announcement provided an ideal set up for IWBI President and CEO Rachel Hodgdon’s lively discussion with four former U.S. Surgeons General: Dr. Joycelyn Elders, Dr. Antonia Coello Novello, Dr. Richard Carmona and Dr. Kenneth P. Moritsugu. As the Nation’s Doctor, the Surgeon General’s mission is to provide Americans with the best scientific information available on how to improve their health and reduce their risk of illness and injury.

With this mission in mind, the session, “A Prescription for Well-being: Places that Put People First” shed light on key topics including:

Speaking truth to powerHow to address the diminishing trust in government institutionsThe importance of health literacy, cultural competency and empathyBuildings as a prescription for health

Speaking Truth to Power
Each panelist spoke to their roles in often delivering inconvenient truths and the importance of speaking truth to power. As Dr. Carmona noted, “Good leaders surround themselves with equally good leaders. They are not afraid to listen to the truth, and they stay focused on the needs of the people.”

Diminishing trust in government institutions
But is that today’s reality? According to the most recent Edelman Trust Barometer, collective faith in U.S. government and public health institutions is at an all-time low. Trust in government is at 44%, the lowest it’s ever been, making it the least trusted institution for the third year in a row.

Hodgdon asked panelists, “What do we need to do to build back that trust?” The Surgeons General pointed to a few key steps that can apply well beyond the political landscape, including the role of leadership, education, health literacy, cultural competency and empathy.

What they said:

“We need elected officials who recognize the importance of public health and support the best science. What we’ve seen the last few years is a community that’s been plagued with half-truths and mistruths for political gain, and the public then loses confidence in science.” – Dr. Carmona“Health literacy is so important today because it’s about us being able to translate what we know into usable information for the public. It’s not only about health literacy, but also cultural competence. Unless you know the culture, you’re just talking translation. For that reason, culture is the crucial thing to be able to get to me so that I feel that you really care. We are losing empathy.” – Dr. Novello

Buildings as a Prescription for Health
Research shows that we spend almost 90% of our time indoors, so the impact that buildings are having on our health is significant. How will the places and spaces where we live our lives be used to cure what ails us? It was a far-reaching conversation covering an important range of topics from the challenges facing rural communities, schools and prisons to equity and climate change.

A few takeaways:

“If buildings are a prescription for public health, schools are a particular kind of patient… It’s not just students that are impacted, but also the teachers and staff.” – Hodgdon“We all want children in our communities to grow up healthy, educated and motivated – and to have hope for the future. But we fail them because when we talk about increasing the taxes to make things better, to innovate schools, we don’t do that.” – Dr. Elders“Our prisons aren’t focused on providing a healthy atmosphere, even though the occupants have a constitutional right to a safe environment. We need to build and improve prisons to provide safe and humane care.” – Dr. MoritsuguOn the decision by some architecture and design firms to not participate in prison design, “Everyone has a choice to participate or not participate. But, it’s a loss to the community because we will have lost the benefit of their knowledge, their science and their experience in building and constructing new institutions.” – Dr. Moritsugu“We know that over the next couple of years hundreds of billions of dollars are going to be spent fortifying our buildings to withstand the impact of climate change, but the question is will all of those improvements be made with an eye toward protecting people inside of those spaces as well?” – Hodgdon

The consensus: We need to start education early to ensure that the next generation is prepared to continue to drive progress and so that we can provide a better future for all.

Read more about the call to action, organized by IWBI, on behalf of renowned public health leaders, urging a significant change in how buildings and indoor environments are perceived—from mere structures to critical levers for public health.

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BRANTFORD, Ontario, September 28, 2023 /3BL/ – SCS Global Services (SCS) has published the EPD for the Ceranovus® product line, which is a line of specialty waxes that includes both polyethylene and polypropylene polymer additives. These additives enhance processing and performance for a wide range of products, including injection molded products and asphalt products such as roofing and roadways. The EPD outlines the environmental impacts of the products, and more importantly, allows customers to realize GHG reduction opportunities when they select Ceranovus.

Made from 100% recycled inputs, customers can compare the impacts of the GREENMANTRA product with alternative, non-recycled products offered on the market today. Carbon reduction is increasingly a mandate in both the public and private sectors, and achieving those carbon reduction goals is driving procurement decisions. This is particularly true for industries such as the asphalt paving industry.

“We committed to the process of publishing the Ceranovus EPD to not only help our customers better meet industry transparency requirements, but also pursued this because we believe it will help our customers gain a competitive edge in positioning their products,” notes Domenic Di Mondo, President of GREENMANTRA Technologies. “Recycled inputs inherently offer environmental impact reductions, and I think the industry will see that come through in the EPD.”

The EPD outlines product impacts in the areas of raw material inputs, energy and water consumption, waste generation and emissions. Published by SCS Global Services, the data in the EPD is third-party verified.

“GREENMANTRA’s EPD is an important step towards efforts in their supply chain and the green building industry,” said Keith Killpack, SCS’ Technical Director of Environmental Certification Services. “EPDs are the most robust multi-attribute transparent report that communicates what a product is made of and how it impacts the environment, and SCS commends GREENMANTRA for this high level of transparency.”

The full EPD can be viewed on the SCS Global Certified Green Products Guide, Ceranovus® PE and PP Polymer Additives or upon request from GREENMANTRA Technologies.

About GreenMantra Technologies

GREENMANTRA Technologies is a leader in molecular recycling that transforms hard to recycle plastics into value-creating specialty waxes and polymers. GREENMANTRA’s products are used as performance enhancers and processing aids in roofing, asphalt roads, extruded plastic pipes, and other construction infrastructure applications with useful lifespans of 20-50+ years. In each application, GREENMANTRA improves product performance, provides a more efficient manufacturing process, and allows manufacturers to greatly increase the recycled content of their end products without sacrificing performance. GREENMANTRA annually diverts thousands of tons of waste plastic from our oceans and landfills into new applications. For more information, visit https://greenmantra.com/.

About SCS Global Services

SCS Global Services is a global leader in third-party environmental and sustainability verification, certification, auditing, testing, and standards development. Its programs span a cross-section of industries, recognizing achievements in climate mitigation, green building, product manufacturing, food and agriculture, forestry, consumer products, and more. Headquartered in Emeryville, California, SCS has representatives and affiliate offices throughout the Americas, Asia/Pacific, Europe, and Africa. Its broad network of auditors are experts in their fields, and the company is a trusted partner to companies, agencies, and advocacy organizations due to its dedication to quality and professionalism. SCS is a chartered Benefit Corporation, reflecting its commitment to socially and environmentally responsible business practices. For more information, visit www.scsglobalservices.com/.

CONTACT: 
Ben Scott 
Director of Research & Innovation 
GREENMANTRA Technologies 
+1 226-979-3142 
ben.scott@greenmantra.com

Nikki Senseman 
Director of Client Marketing 
SCS Global Services 
+1 510-295-0667 
nsenseman@scsglobalservices.com

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