Float plant wins energy efficiency awards
The Vitro Architectural Glass Fresno, California facility is the first float glass manufacturing plant in the USA to earn US Environmental Protection Agency ENERGY STAR certification for superior energy efficiency. It also received a 2019 Green Award from USGLASS in the glass manufacturing plant category.
The Fresno plant earned the EPA’s industry first certification by registering an energy performance score ranked in the 75th percentile or higher among other float glass manufacturing plants in the USA. According to the Energy Performance Indicator (EPI), the benchmarking tool established by ENERGY STAR, the plant scored in the 100th percentile among its peers, meaning there are few, if any, more energy-efficient float glass plants in the country.
Melting raw materials with high purity oxygen instead of air, the Fresno plant reduces natural gas consumption by 15%, carbon emissions by 10% and nitrogen-oxide emissions by more than 50% compared to traditional gas/air-fired furnaces. The plant underwent a complete redesign and rebuild in 2016 to incorporate the latest advances in insulating refractory materials. It was also furnished with automated proximity lighting and more energy-efficient motors, pumps, compressors and other equipment.
