Industry uses more than one-third of the energy consumed in the United States—and even more when product transportation is factored in. The escalating costs for natural gas and oil clearly have a major impact for manufacturers in America that, left unaddressed, could hurt their competitiveness in world markets. Moreover, energy experts predict that global market pressures on oil and gas markets will ensure that high prices will be with us for some time.

That means manufacturing is a prime area for seeking ways to be more energy efficient. Even small gains can have big impacts when scaled over all operations. Industry executives agree that energy efficiency is a prime concern, party due to a focus on the bottom line, but also growing regulatory pressure to become more environmentally conscious.

♦  About 77 percent of manufacturers have stated that energy efficiency is critical to their long-term profitability, and about half that percentage asserts that sustainability is equally crucial to their economic targets.

♦  In a typical manufacturing facility, an average of 84% of consumed energy is process related. Contributing factors that continue to keep process energy costs high include lack of peak demand management, idle state management, and effective demand response.