Norfolk, Va. - Norfolk, Va. – While millions of people around the world recognized the fourth annual Earth Hour by customarily turning off lights and appliances in their homes and businesses for an hour, Roanoke Cement Company (RCC) quietly switched off lighting on its pre-heater tower, a 400-foot signpost to the plant campus, indefinitely.
Lowering the illumination footprint is part of Titan America’s (RCC’s parent company) aggressive goals to reduce energy consumption and coincides with its partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy’s Energy Star® Program initiative. For more than a decade, the EPA has worked with businesses and organizations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through strategic energy management practices.
Titan America LLC, has been recognized with Energy Star® Awards every year since 2007 and consistently ranked as one of the top performing plants in the country. Titan America will continue to implement their plan to reduce energy intensity across all operations using strategies provided by the program. Because they have set a gold standard for cement manufacturers, the EPA has requested RCC to educate other facilities through the use of training sessions and energy audits.
Kevin Baird, Plant Manager for RCC, follows the guiding energy principle that “the easiest way to save power is to not use it. In times of economic downturn, we must look to the low-hanging fruit, like automation and optimization, for efficiencies.” Kevin came across his conservation strategy through the plant’s four year affiliation with the Roanoke Valley Cool Cities Coalition, the principal Roanoke Valley organiza¬tion that tackles energy policy and environmental issues, when they point out the obvious answer to a basic question, “What can we turn off?”
Roanoke, nicknamed the Star City, is located in Botetourt County, where residents have noticed that the night sky is a little darker and the stars are brighter. The former glow emanating from the Troutville plant no longer exists.
“We knew we would make the neighbors happy if we’d just shut the lights off at night,” said Kevin. The pre-heater tower now has just two prominent red lights to alert small aircraft flying in the area.
Roanoke Cement Company is a subsidiary of Titan America LLC, headquartered in Norfolk, Va. Titan America is the premier heavy building materials producer in the eastern United States. Titan America’s products include cement, aggregates, ready-mixed concrete and fly ash beneficiation. Its parent company, Titan Cement Company, S.A., headquartered in Athens, Greece, is a signatory to the UN Global Compact, a group of companies committed to sustainable and socially responsible business practices.