Industry:
Pharmaceuticals
The Client:
AstraZeneca delivers life-changing medicines to Canadian patients, while also taking bold action on sustainability to help build a healthier future for people, society, and the planet.
AstraZeneca Reduces Energy Usage & Optimizes Procurement
AstraZeneca Canada partnered with 360 Energy to implement comprehensive energy management solutions at their Mississauga facility, resulting in significant reductions in energy consumption and costs.
The Challenges
- Meeting global greenhouse gas reduction targets
- Higher ROI requirements for environmental projects
- Continuously adapting to changing energy markets
- Managing multiple buildings across 25 acres
- Coordinating between internal teams and external expertise
The 360 Solution
- Implementation of Advanced Monitoring Systems
- Installed electrical metering for four buildings
- Added electrical sub-metering for main office buildings
- Implemented automated load shedding system
- Lighting Optimization
- Upgraded warehouse lighting with motion sensors
- Installed LED lighting in main office buildings
- Implemented lighting control system with daylight harvesting
- Infrastructure Improvements
- Added variable frequency controls to refrigeration equipment
- Developed strategic utility procurement plans
- Established ongoing market monitoring and reporting
The Results
- Energy Consumption Reduction
- Reduced natural gas consumption by over 50% (2003-2010)
- Decreased electricity usage by 10% annually in one building (2008-2010)
- Long-term Success
- Maintained eight-year partnership with 360 Energy
- Successfully met environmental goals
- Achieved significant cost savings through consumption reductions
AstraZeneca Canada is the Canadian division of an innovative, multinational pharmaceutical company, with its head office located in the United Kingdom. The Canadian business centre is located in Mississauga, and has five buildings situated on 25 acres of property. Taking a leadership role in environmental sustainability, the company has set global targets for greenhouse gas reduction. Each of their sites around the world is required to report on their greenhouse gas levels as well as meeting their local reduction targets. To support local environmental initiatives, the company has recognized that the return on investment (ROI) has a higher hurdle approval rate and has subsequently modified the typical project ROI requirements to ensure site environmental projects would be approved.
Project
As part of the Canadian initiative, internal teams were set up to deal with facility energy management, including energy supply, procurement and energy usage. 360 Energy was contracted to provide their expertise for the Canadian program which resulted in 360 Energy developing an energy program to identify and establish what actions should be considered regarding energy management. Specific site members were exposed to energy management best practices which were helpful for yearly internal auditing a facility audit were completed which identified and categorized sustainability opportunities.
The facility audit provided assistance to identify government incentives and assist with the development and submissions for government grants.
The projects which have been executed to date include:
- Electrical metering for four of the buildings.
- Electrical sub-metering for the main office buildings.
- Upgrading of existing warehouse lighting to fluorescent lighting with motion sensor controls.
- Extensive use of LED lighting in the main office buildings.
- Automated load shedding, which utilizes data from the building electrical meters and automatically adjusts building environmental parameters based on these readings.
- Installation of a lighting control system, which takes advantage of fluorescent dimming, daylight harvesting and motion control.
- The main office tower refrigeration equipment was upgraded with variable frequency controls.
360 Energy also provided expertise for the procurement of utilities. This included working with AstraZeneca's Category Management team to develop a procurement strategy that would meet their needs. Once the strategy was in place, 360 Energy provided guidance with the development and negotiation of contracts with local utilities and suppliers. 360 Energy continues to monitor and report on the energy markets, as well as providing ongoing guidance and support for resource procurement.
360 Energy has been working with AstraZeneca for eight years. This has ensured that AstraZeneca Canada continue to meet their environmental goals. 360 Energy has helped them reduce their natural gas consumption by an average of 10% annually between 2003 and 2010, with a net decrease of over 50% in consumption.
AstraZeneca has also reduced electricity usage in one building by at least 10 percent annually between 2008 and 2010. The reductions in consumption have also impacted pricing, with AstraZeneca realizing significant savings from the changes they implemented. The energy market continues to change and so the facility must always assess their current energy management activity annually and prioritize what actions should be taken every year to reduce energy cost.
