Saint-Gobain Receives 2023 Better Project Award From U.S. Department of Energy for Smart Energy Management System at its Buchanan, New York Gypsum Wallboard Plant

The Buchanan, New York gypsum facility's smart energy management system was highlighted for its competitiveness and energy efficiency standards. 

Saint-Gobain, through its building products subsidiary CertainTeed Gypsum Inc., received the 2023 Better Project Award from the U.S. Department of Energy for the company’s smart energy management system at its Buchanan, New York gypsum facility.   

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Project awards recognize manufacturers who improve energy efficiency and competitiveness in the industrial sector. To be considered for an award, projects must deliver significant waste or energy savings and must be discreet, innovative and replicable in similar industrial facilities. 

In operation for over 50 years, CertainTeed’s plant in Buchanan is the only gypsum wallboard manufacturing facility in New York state. The system, which was designed in-house and consists of over 180 energy meters, allows the Buchanan team to track and contextualize energy data, forecast future energy use and tackle actual losses once identified. Within the first three months of installation, the system helped identify several opportunities to reduce energy usage and enabled the plant team to scope process changes and projects to address them. 

The project comes as Saint-Gobain continues to implement its global Grow and Impact strategy, which includes ambitious environmental sustainability goals, such as reducing the company’s consumption of energy at its manufacturing sites, allowing Saint-Gobain to achieve a net zero carbon footprint by 2050. With the installation of this first system in Buchanan, the company plans to deploy similar technology at sites throughout North America. 

“In a dynamic, continuous production facility like our Buchanan plant, it is essential to have real-time, in-depth data that can help us reduce our energy consumption, and our smart energy management system does just that,” said Jay Bachmann, Vice President and General Manager of CertainTeed’s Interior Product Group. “We are honored to be recognized by the Department of Energy for this work and I want to thank our entire Buchanan team for all their efforts to make this system a reality. As we continue to work towards our purpose of making the world a better home, we will always look for innovative ways to minimize our environmental footprint, while maximizing our positive impact.” 

Today’s announcement follows several other recent actions taken by the Buchanan facility to solidify its commitment towards sustainability. In November, the plant was awarded an Excellence in Energy Award by NRG Energy for its commitment to energy efficiency, including the installation of energy-efficient grinding control technology, which reduced the plant’s energy consumption by nearly 700,000 kWh per year. Earlier in 2022, CertainTeed Buchanan, in collaboration with three New York partner companies, launched a circular economy initiative to reclaim waste gypsum wallboard and reuse it as feedstock in production. 

With over 145 manufacturing locations in the United States, every current and future member of the company’s team plays a vital role in achieving its sustainability goals. A current list of job openings at all Saint-Gobain locations, including the Buchanan facility, can be found on the company’s careers website.   

For more details on Saint-Gobain, visit http://www.saint-gobain.com and follow us on Twitter @saintgobain.  

About CertainTeed

Through the responsible development of innovative and sustainable building products, CertainTeed, headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania, has helped shape the building products industry for more than 115 years. Founded in 1904 as General Roofing Manufacturing Company, the firm’s slogan “Quality Made Certain, Satisfaction Guaranteed,” inspired the name CertainTeed. Today, CertainTeed is a leading North American brand of exterior and interior building products, including roofing, siding, solar, fence, railing, trim, insulation, drywall and ceilings. www.certainteed.com.  

About Saint-Gobain

Worldwide leader in light and sustainable construction, Saint-Gobain designs, manufactures and distributes materials and services for the construction and industrial markets. Its integrated solutions for the renovation of public and private buildings, light construction and the decarbonization of construction and industry are developed through a continuous innovation process and provide sustainability and performance. The Group’s commitment is guided by its purpose, “MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER HOME”.