3M recently announced that it has earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year-Sustained Excellence Award for its comprehensive worldwide energy conservation efforts. It is the ninth consecutive year the company has received the award.

The award recognizes “a select group of organizations that have exhibited outstanding leadership year after year,” according to the EPA. “These winners have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by setting and achieving aggressive goals, and employing innovative energy efficiency approaches.”

“3M’s commitment to reducing its environmental impact on a global basis long predates the ENERGY STAR program; in fact, it’s thoroughly embedded in our corporate culture,” said Steve Schultz, Corporate Energy manager for 3M. “The year-over-year consistency of the company’s ENERGY STAR recognition is a reflection of sweeping corporate initiatives that were instituted 40 years ago and have been vigorously and creatively expanded ever since.” 

Among its achievements in 2012, the company:

• Earned ISO 50001 energy management certification for two plants
• Implemented 201 new energy-efficiency projects and funded 23 smaller initiatives from a special corporate fund
• Engaged in partnerships to further develop carbon dioxide separation and recycling technologies
• Hosted a “Working with ENERGY STAR” workshop for local manufacturing companies
• Initiated a facility metering project to better track and manage energy use
• Hired a full-time analyst to organize facility energy data and mine it for new efficiency opportunities
• Awarded $225,000 in grants to academic researchers for energy-related studies
• Involved 78 3M facilities in the Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Challenge, collaborating with other industry participants on energy-saving techniques
• Launched an education program to engage students in environmental leadership

For additional information, visit www.3m.com.