Energy
As a family of companies who are in the environmental services industry, we strive to protect and preserve all ecosystems. We continue to reduce our footprints and promote carbon positive practices at our offices and in the communities we serve. The Wright Service Corp. (WSC) North American headquarters based out of West Des Moines, Iowa, underwent a remodel in 2020 and was completed in 2021 with environmental sustainability and economic sustainability in mind. This posed an opportunity with many working from home to remodel the existing buildings on the headquarters’ campus to accommodate the growing amount of support staff while also providing the infrastructure needed for the flexibility with the Work from Home Policy.
Prior to the remodel, the headquarters had many energy efficiency actions implemented. An estimated 50% of the lighting was on a motion activated setting. Thermostats were also set on timers to decrease air conditioning energy in the summer months and reduce heat in the winter after typical workday hours. The building now has 100% LED lighting, 95% motion activated with vacancy switches and on a lighting control system, and the heating and cooling system on an efficiency timer to optimize energy and cost savings.
The existing state-of-the-art high-efficiency HVAC system was enhanced with additional zones and reworked for optimized employee comfort. Since the building now has many large glass windows on the exterior, WSC worked with a local contractor, Baker Group, during the remodel to optimize energy use in our infrastructure.
The two electric vehicle (EV) charging stations allow for four vehicles to be charged at the same time.
WSC HQ Total Annual Electricity Consumption
As the workforce is adjusting to post COVID-19 working conditions, more employees worked from the office location and more visiting employees traveled into the office in 2022.
Another local service provider, MidAmerican Energy Company, has a goal of being net zero by 2050. In 2019, they produced 61.3% of annual energy needs with renewable energy and increased to 83.6% in 2020, and then 88.5% in 2021. MidAmerican has also reduced their CO2 emission by 58% since 2005.
In addition, the Information Technology (IT) Department takes steps to reduce energy consumption with the devices they select for office and field staff use. The corporate office has three Canon copiers and five Lexmark printers. The Canon copiers are ENERGY STAR® certified. The default settings are established for energy efficiency and manufactured for low energy use.
WSC HQ Total Annual gAS ConSuMPTION
According to the EPA, if all imaging equipment in the United States was ENERGY STAR certified, we could save more than $32 million in electricity costs and prevent 596 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions every year – equal to the emissions from more than 57,000 vehicles.
Source: Canon
