While Bethune-Cookman and Florida A&M face off on the field during the annual Florida Classic this Saturday, teams of City employees and GE technical experts will be hunting behind-the-scenes for “treasure”– that is, opportunities to save energy, reduce waste, save money and lower carbon emissions.
The teams will comb the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium from top to bottom, looking for excess lighting, air leaks, inefficient generators and other opportunities to increase efficiency.
This is the second of two ecomagination Treasure Hunts hosted by GE, the City of Orlando, and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) as part of a nationwide pilot project that includes multiple public and private facilities. Orlando was selected to participate through a competitive process among southeastern cities. In August, the first Orlando event, performed at the Conserv II Wastewater Treatment Facility identified opportunities for $177,000 in annual energy savings – equal to 11% of its annual energy costs. The suggested improvements would have a two-year payback, leading to emissions reductions of more than 2,400 metric tons annually.
Developed by GE, based on a model from Toyota, the ecomagination Treasure Hunt is an action-oriented discovery process that brings together site employees with external technical experts to investigate a facility’s resource consumption and recommend projects to maximize efficiency. GE has conducted more than 200 Treasure Hunts internally, resulting in $150 million in savings.
WHEN:
Saturday, November 20, 2010
WHERE:
Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium
1610 West Church Street
Orlando, FL 32805
WHO:
Jonathan Ippel, City of Orlando Sustainability Manager
Howard Mikytuck, GE Capital LEAN Six Sigma Team Leader
Beth Trask, EDF Deputy Director of Innovation Exchange
David Witzel, EDF Director of Innovation Exchange
