CertainTeed installed a smart water submetering system and upgraded equipment at its siding plant in Jackson, Mich., reducing the site’s consumption of water by more than 9 million gallons per year. According to CertainTeed, the consumption reduction enabled by the system and equipment is more than 50% compared to 2019 levels.
The project comes as CertainTeed parent company Saint-Gobain continues to implement its global Grow and Impact strategy, which includes environmental sustainability goals, such as reducing the company’s industrial water withdrawal by 50% by 2030.
The new system in Jackson, which captures nearly 100% of all water that flows through the site, works by allowing the plant to more closely manage how much water is used at each step in the manufacturing process. An alert system, developed by early career participants in Saint-Gobain’s Essentials of Manufacturing Development Program, helps to notify the Jackson team of leaks and accidental overuse so that they can be pinpointed and fixed quickly. The plant also invested in a closed loop system for its vacuum pumps, which allows the facility to reuse the water needed for its production process.
“With this smart water submetering system, our Jackson plant has shown how equipment optimization and enhanced technology can have a huge impact,” Joe Bondi, vice president and general manager of CertainTeed Sidings Product Group, said in a prepared statement. “I would like to thank each member of the team for their help in achieving our industrial water withdrawal reduction goals and for their commitment to sustainability and minimizing our environmental footprint.”
