Norman Vincent Peale said, “Change your thoughts and you change your world.” Almetals, Inc. practices that message in almost everything they do and is committing to environmental responsibility with their latest endeavor.
Almetals is a distributor and processor of all types of metal coil: aluminum, brass and copper, clad metals, and stainless steel for industries that manufacture by roll-forming and stamping. The organization has been requesting for years to have more manufactured parts made from recyclable metals to reduce energy usage. Why? The growth of landfills that are required for all non-recyclable items should be completely removed from our realm of possibilities, due to the fact that recyclable materials do exist and can be utilized better in manufacturing.
The green effort we are most proud of to date is the recent installment of a 20 kilowatt solar panel system to its corporate facility in Wixom. The installation includes 74 – 270 watt solar panels and a specially designed racking system with four PV powered 4800 inverters. These panels are designed to provide up to 20% of the electrical requirements for the metal processing facility. The system will be placed into service during the first quarter or 2011. The function of this system is to harness the sun’s energy to convert to DC power via the solar PV panels. This power is then converted to AC power via the inverters so that the power created can be used by Almetals, Inc. for their day-to-day energy requirements. This, in turn, will reduce carbons otherwise required to produce its needed power.
Almetals has also installed new lighting throughout the production facility and the exterior of the building in Wixom. The company removed 45 high energy consuming 400 watt HID metal halide fixtures and replaced them with a much-reduced energy consuming system of T8 fluorescent fixtures. The company also installed occupancy sensors to additionally reduce their power usage. These changes should reduce the company’s energy requirement by almost 35% annually.
Almetals recycles and re-sells scrap metal material, a practice that has been done for numerous years. The company has reduced the amount of paper used in past years and many of our ink cartridges are also reused or recycled.
There is potential for this work to be a model for change that others in Michigan can embrace or replicate. Some of Almetals manufacturing neighbors have stopped in to inquire what was being done, why, and what the cost-savings would be long-term. Almetals would welcome anyone who is considering this endeavor to make an appointment to see how the process was done and how the latest effort will save money and the environment in the long-term. Management is responsible for ensuring the projects long-term success, but the associates at Almetals understand the importance of making a mark to make a difference in our community and fine state of Michigan.
“Change your thoughts and you change your world.” It’s just that simple.
See almetals.com.
