Molson Energy Conservation Programme
| Region(s) | Canada |
|---|---|
| In domains | Energy Conservation, Food and Beverage Industry |
| Participants |
In April 2008, Molson introduced an energy conservation program to raise the profile of energy efficiency amongst its 1600 employees in Canada. The focus of the program is to educate, involve, and motivate its employees to share the responsibility for energy conservation.
The energy conservation program is the latest in a series of efforts by the company to improve its overall environmental footprint. Its aim is to become one of the most environmentally conscious and energy efficient breweries in the world. The company has already implemented environmental conservation efforts in its brewing operations: it has set and achieved targets to reduce the consumption of water, natural gas, and electricity by 5% per year over the last three years; it has set standards in waste reduction and recycling.
The energy conservation program was initiated due to feedback from employees who were interested in participating more actively or directly in helping to reduce the company’s environmental footprint.
The current Phase I of the energy conservation program was developed to focus on energy use in the company’s five brewery operations in Canada. It includes three components:
1. The installation of scoreboards in highly-visible locations within each brewery to report on the facility's energy performance in relation to the company's goal of reducing energy consumption by 5% annually.
2. A SNAGTAG system – literally a large tag with space for comments – which allows employees to post their energy conservation findings so that they can be seen by their supervisors and other employees. Employees can also put tags on equipment where they believe energy savings can be found; a detachable portion is removed and delivered to the supervisor, who makes a record of the tag.
3. Brewery partnerships with local environmental projects, by providing either volunteer manpower or financial assistance (Autumn 2008).
The energy conservation program is complemented by a comprehensive communication plan to raise awareness amongst employees about energy conservation.
Phase II of the program will focus on raising the profile of energy use in Molson’s office settings. Based on the brewery energy conservation program, it will help catalyze employee awareness while helping to drive company energy performance forward.
The program was developed as a result of interest by employees in participating more actively in reducing energy and other resource use. This interest was elicited through direct discussions, meetings, and company surveys. Employees also wanted the company to participate in broader sustainable development practices, such as in Earth Hour (where lights are shut down for an hour).
A steering committee was formed to develop the energy conservation program. The chief facility engineer heads the committee and members of the steering committee include operation employees as well as a member of the corporate affairs group (the chief facility engineer is also the “energy team leader” who is responsible for energy conservation efforts within the facility, as part of Molson’s broader conservation efforts). The steering committee conceived and implemented the energy conservation program.
The company plans to regularly communicate energy conservation results and provide updates, ideas, and tips to employees.
The ability to record progress in energy conservation was made possible by the previous installation of measurement and monitoring equipment.
One of the main challenges in environmental conservation is to sustain momentum in employee interest. The practice cannot be seen simply as a current fad. This requires the company to be innovative and pro-active in the design of its conservation programs and communication plans.
Generally, energy conservation efforts become more difficult to achieve over the years as energy reduction opportunities are captured.
The company’s initial focus was on brewing operations, as energy savings are obtained more easily in this area. However, the company intends to spread out efforts into other areas of the company, in Phase II of the program, as brewing process efficiencies become optimized.
The SNAGTAG system has worked very well to identify low-cost energy and other resource savings, leading to productivity gains.
The active nature of the energy conservation program has to satisfy and improve the motivation of Molson employees.
As the program is currently in its early phase, it is difficult to assess results more completely. In the fall of 2008, the company will organize an event to celebrate energy efficiency ideas suggested by employees.
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