Energy

Most of our manufacturing processes are not energy-intensive, but we are committed to reducing our energy consumption to minimize our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, reduce costs and create more efficient facilities.

The Natural Resources and Climate Change Subcommittee of our Sustainability Committee oversees our energy-reduction strategy and actions. Key initiatives include creating a culture of energy conservation through communication and awareness-building; developing energy management requirements based on ISO 50001 and Energy Star; identifying and focusing resources on locations with the highest energy use; and increasing our use of renewal energy.

In 2019, we drafted new energy management requirements for all locations globally that will be implemented in 2020. Key requirements are:

• Identification and characterization of energy usage;
• Identification and documentation of all regulatory requirements for energy usage;
• Compliance with all regulatory requirements;
• Documented operational practices to reduce energy consumption, including identification of equipment with high energy use, a written preventative maintenance program and energy-reduction practices;
• Training on energy use and minimization; and
• Documentation and records pertaining to energy usage.

These efforts are supported by an internal online site for sharing energy management training documentation, tools, resources and best practices. In addition, our tracking system helps us gauge performance on a timely basis.

The vast majority of our coatings are produced at ambient temperatures and pressures, meaning the production processes are not energy intensive. The milling step is the most energy intensive, and we are focused on making this step more energy efficient. We are also shortening cycle times and making other changes to reduce the energy required to manufacture our resins, which we typically produce in reactors that may require heating or cooling.

We have two long-term energy goals:

• Reduce energy consumption intensity by 15% by 2025 from a 2017 baseline.
• Increase renewable energy to 25% of total electricity usage exclusive of GHG reductions by 2025.

We consumed 12.6 million gigajoules of energy in 2019, which is a 5.1% reduction from 2018. Our energy intensity was 3.2 gigajoules per metric ton of production – a negligible increase over prior year and a 0.6% decrease from the 2017 baseline. Our direct energy intensity declined 0.5% and our indirect energy intensity decreased 0.8% from the baseline.]

In 2019, 4.7% of our total energy consumed came from renewable sources. For electricity usage, renewable sources comprised 18.2%.