Legrand joins White House initiative to spur energy efficiency in commercial buildings

Today, Legrand joined President Obama and Department of Energy officials in Washington, D.C. to announce the company has joined the Better Building, Better Plants Presidential Leadership initiative to create American jobs through energy efficiency.

Legrand is a manufacturer of electrical and data networking products for residential, commercial or industrial buildings. The company is one of just nine U.S. industrial organizations that have joined the initiative as Challenge Partners, pledging to the most aggressive energy savings, management and reporting practices outlined in a U.S. Department of Energy agreement.

By encouraging office and plant upgrades and renovations, the deployment of energy-saving solutions will boost local construction projects and expand opportunities for architects, design engineers, contractors and installers in communities throughout the U.S.

“People think energy-saving solutions are more complex than they are,” explained John Selldorff, president & chief executive officer of Legrand North America. “We hope to show our customers, suppliers and other mid-size manufacturers how to cut through the complexity with simple, repeatable solutions that are currently available to significantly reduce energy consumption. It can be as simple as controlling the lights to make sure they are off when not needed.”

The Better Building Challenge reporting requirements demand transparency and encourage replication of Challenge Partner projects across the U.S. economy.

“As other companies see what we do and deploy these ideas, they’ll realize energy and cost savings and, ultimately, spur more job creation in their own communities,” continued Selldorff.

As a Challenge Partner, Legrand has agreed to a series of high-impact actions that include:

Reduce corporate wide energy intensity by 25% over ten years.
Implement a “Showcase” project at a single site that will achieve a 10% energy intensity reduction in just two years.
Deploy a “market innovation” that will accelerate achievement of energy efficiency gains.
Report regularly on progress toward goals and lessons learned in deploying innovations and energy efficiency solutions.

Specific Legrand energy saving pledges and projects will be announced at a later date; however, the company is already installing sub-meters technology at 14 of its U.S. offices, manufacturing plants and warehouses. The technology will allow Legrand to instantly measure energy use, determine where greater efficiencies can be achieved through lighting and plugload management, and identify other upgrades needed to achieve energy efficiency goals. BD+C

Rural hospitals present unique opportunities and challenges for healthcare facility operators. Oftentimes, the infrastructure and building systems have not been updated for years and require significant improvements in order to meet today’s modern medical demands. Additionally, as these smaller, more remote hospitals are acquired by larger regional and national healthcare systems, the first step by new ownership is often to update and rehabilitate the building. But how can this be done thoughtfully, economically, and efficiently in ways that allow the engineering and facility staff to adapt to the changes? And how can the updates accurately reflect the specific needs of rural communities and the afflictions with which these areas most commonly face?