North America’s first ISO 50001 certification for energy management awarded to Canada’s largest cement plant

St Marys Cement Inc. - Bowmanville Plant, has received the first International Organization for Standardization’s (ISO) ISO 50001 certification in North America. The ISO 50001 standard is a framework for industrial facilities seeking to manage their energy use.

Cement plants consume significant amounts of energy; plants as large as Bowmanville operate 24/7 with a rated capacity of over 1.8 million metric tonnes of product. This responsibility was not taken lightly by Fabio Garcia, Manager of Plant Operations, who back in 2005 laid out a strategy for an integrated approach to reducing the plant’s energy consumption.

“Employee awareness of the costs of various operations and procedures and training programs paid big dividends,” Mr. Garcia observed. “Other important steps were engaging 360 Energy of Burlington Ontario and establishing an energy management and conservation committee, that we call E=MC2. With representatives from Finance, HR, Environment, Quality Control, Maintenance, Mining and Production departments, the Committee identified and acted upon over 100 separate energy efficiency initiatives. Much of the energy savings required little capital expenditure or were done at no cost.”

The ISO 50001 certification helps businesses understand and modify their energy consumption and use. It has the added benefit of communicating to customers, regulators and suppliers in a reliable and transparent manner how the St Marys Cement - Bowmanville Plant is reducing its energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.

Jim Storey, Electrical Maintenance Manager and E=MC2 Co-leader observed, “Since 2005, we have reduced electricity consumption by over 11 million kilowatt hours (approximately the same amount of energy used by 1100 Canadian homes in one year) with over $3 million in savings. We modified our existing systems and developed programs in-house to maximize internal and external opportunities in Energy Management.”

Fabio Garcia concluded, “The energy conservation elements of ISO 50001 certification means we are on track for over $1 million dollars in savings in 2011. The commitment of everyone working at St Marys Bowmanville day-in and day-out is why we are the first North American site to receive this certification. I want to thank each and every one of them.”