Stars now shine more brightly in the Star City
While millions of people around the world recognized Earth Hour by customarily turning off lights and appliances in their homes and businesses for an hour, Roanoke Cement quietly switched off lighting on its pre-heater tower, a 400-foot signpost to the plant campus, indefinitely.
Lowering the illumination footprint was part of Titan America's aggressive goals to reduce energy consumption and coincides with its partnership with the U.S. EPA and the Department of Energy’s ENERGY STAR Program initiative.
RCC's guiding energy principle is "the easiest way to save power is to not use it."
Residents of Botetourt County noticed that the night sky was a little darker and the stars were brighter. Gone was the former glow emanating from the Troutville plant. Previously, almost 100 lights were visible from the Blue Ridge Parkway beyond Buchanan.
Kevin Baird was RCC's Plant Manager at the time. He noted, "We knew we would make the neighbors happy if we just shut the lights off at night. The pre-heater tower now has just two red lights flashing to alert small aircraft flying in the area."