Osram Sylvania Cuts GHGs 20% Over Five Years

Lighting company Osram Sylvania has reduced its corporate absolute greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent over the past five years, the company said.

This is double the commitment it made in 2007 — to reduce corporate-wide GHG emissions by 10 percent compared to 2006 levels — when it joined the US EPA Climate Leaders Partnership. The goal is also a part of the company's Global Care sustainability program.

Osram Sylvania says it has accomplished this emissions reduction through a range of activities including:

• Lighting upgrades at manufacturing facilities and distribution centers;
• An energy-efficient furnace rebuild at its Versailles, Ky., facility;
• Baseline energy improvements at all facilities;
• Sylvania Lighting Services fleet upgrades and retirement of older vehicles;
• Speed management and no-idling policies for service vehicles; and
• SmartWay certified vehicles required for the national sales fleet.

Additionally, Osram Sylvania has pledged to reduce energy intensity by 25 percent over the course of 10 years. In the five years since its 2006 baseline, the company says it has reduced its energy intensity by 12.77 percent, as reported to the US Department of Energy’s Better Plants Program — keeping it on track to achieve its 10-year goal in 2017.

Last year, Enterprise Rent-A-Car announced it had developed an internal sustainability protocol in consultation with several of its suppliers, including Osram Sylvania. Enterprise said the guidelines, intended to save the company 35 percent on its energy and water spending, would inform the building and retrofitting of more than 1,000 locations.

A 2010 survey by Osram Sylvania found that 81 percent of building and lighting professionals were focused on energy efficiency, and about 75 percent of respondents said they were already using, or plan to use, LEDs due to their energy efficiency, low maintenance and reduced operating costs.