For the fifth year in a row, Portland Cement Association (PCA), which represents America’s cement manufacturers, has won the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year Award for sustained excellence.
The award is given to organisations making significant contributions in support of the clean energy transition.
Two PCA member companies are also winners of the Partner Award today. CalPortland has won the award for 20 consecutive years, and this is the seventh year in a row that CEMEX has been named an ENERGY STAR Partner.
“It’s gratifying that this association and its member companies continue to be recognised by the federal government for taking consistent, proactive actions to be more energy efficient and have less of a carbon impact”, said Mike Ireland, PCA President and CEO. “Cement manufacturers are raising their profile among environmentally conscious industries through their enhanced partnerships with government agencies, their innovation, and their unshakeable commitment to reaching carbon neutrality.”
In all, 211 organisations in the US received the prestigious award, representing thousands of industrial commercial, utility, state, and local organisations that work with the EPA throughout the year in the ENERGY STAR Programme. Since the EPA introduced the programme in 1992, ENERGY STAR and its partners have helped American families and businesses avoid more than US$500 billion in energy costs and achieve more than 4 billion t of greenhouse gas reductions.
Some initiatives PCA performed during 2023 to earn its fifth ENERGY STAR Partner Award included:
- Supplying industry data and providing substantive feedback on the Energy Performance Indicator.
- Supporting industry participation in ENERGY STAR’s Cement Industry Focus Meetings to identify how facilities can continue to reduce energy use and GHG emissions.
- Advocating for federal policies to expand the implementation of carbon capture technologies within the hard-to-decarbonise sector.
- Focusing on the implementation of the PCA Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality, which outlines how the industry can reach carbon neutrality across the cement- concrete-construction value chain by 2050.
“I congratulate this year’s ENERGY STAR award winners for their innovation and leadership, in delivering cost-effective energy-efficient solutions that create jobs, protect the climate, and contribute to a healthier environment for everyone”, said Michael S. Regan, EPA Administrator.
11 PCA Member Company Plants Win EPA’s ENERGY STAR Certification
Also announced this month, 11 Portland Cement Association (PCA) member company plants earned ENERGY STAR certification in 2023, a designation reserved for manufacturing plants in the top 25% of energy efficiency in their sector. A total of 103 US manufacturing plants received the certification for 2023. Together they prevented more than 8 million t of CO2 emissions, equivalent to emissions from the electricity use of more than 1.5 million American homes.
ENERGY STAR-certified PCA cement company plants include:
- Ash Grove Cement, Seattle, WA.
- Buzzi Unicem USA, Chattanooga, TN.
- Buzzi Unicem USA, Festus, MO.
- CalPortland Company, Redding, CA.
- CalPortland Company, Rillito, AZ.
- Drake Cement, LLC, Paulden, AZ.
- GCC of America, Pueblo, CO.
- GCC of America, Rapid City, SD.
- Salt River Materials Group, Clarkdale, AZ.
- Titan America LLC, Medley, FL.
- Roanoke Cement Company LLC, a subsidiary of Titan America LLC, Troutville, VA.
“The fact that US cement plants make up approximately 10% of all US manufacturing plants recognised with this EPA certification, speaks volumes to this industry’s efforts to develop and implement energy-efficient strategies”, said Ireland. “I congratulate them for their initiative and am proud to work with them toward the industry’s goal of carbon neutrality.”
