Sullair carbon neutrality

Sullair, a Hitachi Group company, announced its long-term goal to globally reach carbon neutrality. It will be achieved by undertaking capital expenditure projects to further facilitate CO2 reduction, transitioning to 100% renewable electricity through a voluntary green power program, and implementing a voluntary carbon offset program.

This comes in line with Hitachi’s environmental targets, titled “Hitachi Environmental Innovation 2050.” The Hitachi Group has set a target of becoming carbon neutral in all its global factories and offices by fiscal 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality throughout its entire value chain by fiscal 2050. The Sullair Michigan City campus achieved carbon neutral status in fiscal 2021, and the rest of its global operations aim to achieve carbon neutrality by the end of fiscal 2022.

The company’s plan has three elements:

• Undertaking capital expenditure projects over the next 12 months to facilitate CO2 reduction including:

1. Upgrade nearly 1,100 fluorescent lights in its Michigan City, Ind. factories to high-efficiency LED lighting, reducing its annual CO2 by 350 tons.
2. Upgrade its nearly 40-year-old HVAC equipment to a variable refrigerate flow (VRF) HVAC system, reducing CO2 by 605 tons each year.
3. Install 80 pace node devices throughout its Michigan City campus to monitor energy usage on each piece of equipment.
4. In its global facilities, install a variable speed drive compressor to power its China manufacturing facility, along with installing solar panels and upgrading air conditioning units.
5. In Australia, transition its service fleet to hybrid vehicles and, later, fully electric vehicles.

• Transitioning to renewable electricity by joining a voluntary green power program to run a portion of its Michigan City campus which purchases Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) on the company’s behalf and allows Sullair to designate a portion of its monthly electric usage to come from power generated by renewable energy sources, such as wind power.

Implementing a voluntary carbon offset program allowing Sullair to offset CO2 emissions while developing and implementing future additional measures for fossil fuel use reduction over the next 4 years.