For further Information contact:
Dave Cary, Communication Specialist
Orion Energy Services
1204 Pilgrim Rd.
Plymouth WI 53073
(920) 892-5804
dcary@oriones.com
Brad Bruggink, President
Wisconsin Plastic Products, Inc.
PO Box 580
Plymouth, WI 53073-0580
(920) 893-4500
brad@wiplastic.com
When Wisconsin Plastic Products, Inc. was working with neighboring Orion Energy Services to develop a component part, according to its president Brad Bruggink. “Indirectly, we learned things about Orion lighting and how it would save money compared to the metal halide lighting we had,” Bruggink said. “Especially when our lights were on 24/7 as they are.”
Ultimately, the Plymouth WI plastics firm replaced 182) 320- and 400-watt metal halide lamps with 182) 6-tube Illuminator™ fixtures from Orion. The change lowered the amount of power Wisconsin Plastics uses for lighting from an annual 425,928 kilowatt-hours (kWh) to 266, 565 — a 158,363 kWh drop of over 37 percent. The company’s electric bill fell correspondingly.
“The lighting has been received very well,” Bruggink said. “We now have a much better quality of light, with close to 40% energy savings. It is not only brighter than the metal halides but there are not so many shadows. We can see much better.”
Also falling due to the lighting change were the negative effects on the environment caused by generating that amount of power. According to federal EPA formulas, the 158,363 kWh savings will mean that 154 tons of carbon dioxide, 42 tons of carbon, .7 tons of sulfur dioxide and .3 tons of nitrogen oxide — all ‘greenhouse gas’ pollutants — will not enter the atmosphere each year.
According to other government formulas, the reduction is the sir-scrubbing equivalent of a 29-acre forest or of removing 26 cars permanently from the road. At the same time, it is also the equivalent of saving 13,073 gallons of gasoline each year.
Hence the Orion Environmental Stewardship Award, which is given to companies who reduce their power consumption significantly through use of Orion products. Orion feels there is an inaccurate public perception that companies are indifferent to the environment — a perception that deserves to be countered.
“We appreciate receiving this award, which we didn’t expect,” Bruggink said. “In general I’d say we are very environmentally conscious. We do as much recycling as possible and are always looking for ways to save energy. We use only water-based, environmentally friendly spattercoat paint systems for our production parts, and use returnable or reusable packaging when ever possible.
“Taking a 158,363 kWh chunk off the power grid has benefits all the way around,” commented Orion president Neal Verfuerth. Wisconsin Plastics saves money and obtains better light. We find a home for some of our products and the environment benefits.”
“But beyond that, all of us benefit because taking power off the grid tends to lessen the upward pressure that exists of power prices — and electric power usage and rates are a vital issue we’re all facing both now and in the future. We congratulate Wisconsin Plastics on their achievement.”
Wisconsin Plastic Products, Inc., is an ISO-9001 certified company that provides custom profile extrusions to a variety of industries. They specialize in co-extrusion, multiple hollow, metal embedded, and complex profiles requiring tight tolerances and vacuum calibration sizing. The company was recently profiled on the “Winners Circle”(MSNBC) hosted by Terry Bradshaw for a newly developed technology they call “Meta-Plast” tm. The Meta-Plast process combines metal roll-forming and thermoplastic extrusion into one process. As a continuous strip of metal is roll formed, the thermoplastic materials are co-extruded and chemically bonded to the metal substrates resulting in a unique composite material that can be customized for various applications. Parts produced from the Meta-Plast process offer improved mechanical properties over traditional plastic extrusions. Stiffness, yield strength, coefficient of expansion, and impact are all properties that our enhanced by introducing a metal shape into a thermoplastic extrusion.
In addition, they provide product design services, build all tooling in-house, and supply customers with products in very short lead-times at competitive prices. For more information, visit them on line at http://www.wiplastic.com/
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Orion Energy Services, Plymouth WI, manufactures and markets energy efficient lighting solutions for the manufacturing, distribution center, warehousing, commercial, school, and gymnasium markets. Orion provides capacity displacement solutions for supply side management, transmission management, and demand side management for the electricity industry. Neal Verfuerth, Orion President, received one of Wisconsin’s most prestigious awards, the Ernst & Young 2004 Manufacturing Entrepreneur of the Year, and Orion has won numerous awards as a company. For more information, visit http://www.oriones.com./
