General Motors has pledged to participate in the DOE's Better Buildings, Better Plants program to reduce energy costs, per unit of production, at 25 of its US facilities. Through the program, the automaker expects a 25 percent or greater combined reduction in energy use at the plants by 2018.
The Better Buildings, Better Plants program is a national initiative in which the DOE works with industry partners to promote greater energy efficiency in the US industrial sector.
The program provides commercial and industrial building owners with assistance to enhance energy efficiency. It also encourages collaboration among companies to discuss lessons learned.
For example, GM said that in cooperation with the United Auto Workers, employees at Fairfax (Kan.) Assembly identified over $200,000 a year in cost savings, after attending a four-day compressed air training event conducted by the DOE.
GM said that the program – with its other existing partners – will save billions in energy costs, create new manufacturing jobs, strengthen the nation's economic competitiveness and help protect the environment.
Other companies including Sprint, Macy’s and Johnson Controls have joined the Better Buildings, Better Plants Challenge launched by President Obama in 2011.
GM also recently became a founding partner of the DOE’s Workplace Charging Challenge, a program that aims to increase the number of employers providing workplace vehicle charging stations. The automaker said it currently has more than 230 charging stations available to employees in the United States.
