Archive for October, 2009

In Case You Missed Us…

October 26th, 2009

Last Thursday, viewers of Fox Business News got an in-depth look at Johnson Controls. From our corporate headquarters in suburban Milwaukee, reporter Jeff Flock presented three live reports that included interviews with two of our top executives.

If you missed the interesting and wide-ranging reports, click below to watch them.

Vice President and General Manager, North American Service and Global Workplace Solutions, Iain Campbell on the 2010 outlook, the Empire State Building project and other topics: http://www.foxbusiness.com/search-results/m/27016444/cost-savings-through-energy-efficiency.htm#q=johnson+controls

 

Chairman and CEO Steve Roell on our history of strong financial performances plus our projecton for getting "back on track" in the coming year:

http://www.foxbusiness.com/search-results/m/27018470/johnson-control-ceo-on-staying-profitable.htm#q=johonson+controls

 

Chairman and CEO Steve Roell leads a behind-the-scenese tour of our corporate headquarters control center:

http://www.foxbusiness.com/search-results/m/27018901/driving-out-of-recession.htm#q=johnson+control

 

Also last week, Green Magazine TV was at our corporate headquarters videotaping an interview with Don Albinger, Vice President for Renewable Energy Solutions. Look for that broadcast on Discovery Channel in December.

 

Efficiency Now! It’s never been more important.

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Posted in Green Buildings

At the Intersection of Water and Energy Efficiency

October 19th, 2009

By Sandra Buettner, Johnson Controls

The links between energy efficiency and water efficiency become clearer every day. To mention just a few:
·  Generating electricity requires a lot of water
·  Treating water and wastewater uses a lot of energy
·  As we reduce greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency, we can lessen the impacts of climate change – which include droughts and flooding.

The connection is especially strong in commercial buildings, where more than 11% of all water used is hot water. A recent report from McGraw Hill Construction on Water Use in Buildings indicated that reducing water use by 15% with water efficient tools leads to 10-11% less energy used and 11-12% lower operations costs.

Last week, we got a hands-on demonstration here at Johnson Controls of how energy and water efficiency go hand-in-hand. We teamed up with Kohler Company – a global leader in plumbing fixtures – to present a “water efficiency fair” at our Building Efficiency business unit headquarters in Milwaukee.

We blocked off the street next to our building, making it convenient for hundreds of our employees to take part in the fair, which included:
·   Demonstrations of Automatic Meter Reading and leak detection technology offered by Johnson Controls — wireless devices that make it easier for city water utilities to accurately measure residential and commercial water usage, as well as detect leaks in water pipes
·   Displays of Kohler highly-efficient plumbing fixtures such as low-flow shower heads, kitchen and bath faucets, and toilets
·   An entertaining talk by Ed Del Grande – a master plumber, comedian and Kohler spokesperson
·   Case studies illustrating how Johnson Controls Metasys® building management systems are helping organizations save both water and energy
·    Information from the Milwaukee 7 Water Council – the public/private initiative seeking to establish the Milwaukee Region as the global capital for freshwater research, economic development and education.

Kohler generously offered Johnson Controls employees attending the water fair their employee discount on purchases of plumbing fixtures.

As a colleague pointed out to me recently, as we step up our efforts to use energy more efficiently, we can and are developing alternatives to fossil fuels – such as solar, wind and other renewable energy resources. But there’s no alternative to water. We must use the planet’s fresh water – which, by the way, is less than one percent of the total on earth – as efficiently as possible.

At Johnson Controls, this water fair will become an annual reminder of how each one of us can make a difference in water and energy efficiency, both at work and at home.

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Posted in Water Efficiency

Gore Optimistic on Climate Bill – Says We Are At Tipping Point

October 12th, 2009

By Steve Thomas, Johnson Controls, Inc.

Former Vice President Al Gore was in Madison, Wisconsin last week to speak at the annual convention of the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ). His main topic was the need for the US to pass a climate bill, and he implored the Senate to get it done before the UN climate negotiations in Copenhagen in December. He asked attendees to get onboard to help drive the Senate to action, saying that to go into Copenhagen without a bill would hamper the ability of the US to help drive negotiations to a productive conclusion – significantly delaying action on global warming.

Gore said he believes we are at a tipping point, that we have reached a critical mass where many people, organizations and business leaders around the world agree that we need to have a successful agreement. As proof of a change of attitude among businesses, Gore cited the high-profile defections from the US Chamber of Commerce in the past few weeks. He also pointed out the full-page advertisements being run in USA Today, The New York Times and The Washington Post by large companies and NGOs calling on the Senate to pass a bill this year.

For the record, Johnson Controls is one of the companies supporting the advertising campaign calling for a clean energy bill this year. We do not belong to the US Chamber of Commerce. And we have signed the Prince of Wales Copenhagen Communique, along with more than 500 other global corporations, in support of an agreement at the UN climate negotiations. Finally, we will be in Copenhagen at the “Bright Green” expo being held in conjunction with the negotiations – and we will have people serving as observers in conjunction with several NGOs that we work with.

While others at the SEJ conference, including members of President Obama’s own staff, were not as optimistic as Gore, I hope that he is right and the others are shown to have been too pessimistic. Having watched this issue for many years, it really seems that there is more support and more urgency than ever before. If we don’t get it done now, when will we?

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Posted in Climate Change

When We Build It, They Will Learn

October 5th, 2009

By Don Albinger, Vice President, Renewable Solutions, Johnson Controls

If I said the words “solar farm” to you, I bet I can guess what picture would pop into your mind’s eye: a football field-sized array of solar panels permanently attached to a patch of ground somewhere in the boondocks. Am I right?

I’ll wager that the last thing you would think of is those same solar panels mounted so they’re completely portable and all parked in the middle of an urban neighborhood. But hang onto that mental image for a few months – because that’s exactly what we’re about to start building in Milwaukee.

Last week, the body that governs technical colleges in Wisconsin gave the green light for Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) to work with Johnson Controls to build what will be the state’s biggest solar installation. The $6.9 million solar education farm will be located on 32 acres of MATC-owned land where the transmitter for the public television station the school operates is located.

The photovoltaic (PV) panels will generate 411 kilowatts of electricity – power that will be used to run the television transmitter, making it the first public television station transmitter in America to be removed from the traditional electricity grid.

When it’s completed, the solar farm may also be the first fully portable solar PV system in the nation. The solar panels themselves, as well as fences and solar trackers, will all be mounted on concrete pads. Nearly 2,500 solar panels will be arrayed in eight different configurations. This flexibility and portability will dramatically enhance one of the facility’s key functions: a training center for technicians, designers, site assessors, electricians, salespeople and other professionals building careers in the renewable energy industry.

The growing solar market promises to create demand for thousands and thousands of these jobs in the coming years – jobs that must be filled by trained and experienced workers if our communities, and our nation as a whole, are to reap the economic benefits of the growth in renewable energy. This project promises to expand educational partnerships between MATC and other Milwaukee-area institutions of higher learning – as well as K-12 schools that will be able to give students and teachers the opportunity to visit the site, either in person or virtually.

All this is certain to make the project a model for other colleges and universities around the country: solar facilities located not in the middle of nowhere, but on under-utilized pieces of land much closer to where the electricity they generate is needed.

Efficiency Now. It’s never been more important.

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Posted in Sustainability