Profile of a Patriot

Alcoa Howmet, LaPorte and Alcoa Warrick Operations are the 36th recipients of the Lugar Energy Patriot award.

Through the Lugar Energy Patriot, Senator Lugar profiles a student, professional, scholar, or member of the business community who has demonstrated leadership and initiative in taking concrete action to improve America’s energy security.

Making an Impact, Leaving no Footprint

Competition. It’s a driving force that can produce exceptional results from business to education, and even energy savings.  The Alcoa Howmet, LaPorte and Alcoa Warrick Operations are shining examples of how a little competition can produce an extraordinary impact on communities.

In the fall of 2010, the two Alcoa facilities joined forces with the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) to conduct employee workshops about reducing their carbon footprint and being more energy efficient. Employees used a Carbon Calculator to determine just how much energy they were consuming and in what areas they could cut back their energy usage at home.  Many Alcoa employees installed rain barrels and added home recycling bins to promote energy saving habits in their personal lives.

“While our company is aggressive with sustainability goals, we thought it was important to share practical tips with our employees on how they could reduce energy usage at home,” said Jim Beck, Communications and Public Affairs Manager at the Warrick Operations facility, which is located east of Evansville. “The partnership with the C2ES helped us accomplish that.”

Employees were energized about energy savings, and when Alcoa was approached by C2ES about participating in a nation-wide competition called ‘Make an Impact: Changing Our 2morrrow (CO2)’, the two Indiana Alcoa locations knew it would be an opportunity to teach their greater communities about sustainability and energy conservation.

Representatives from each Alcoa facility helped to distribute energy kits to science teachers at local middle schools. Students from Castle North, Castle South and Boonville middle schools in Warrick County, along with students from Paul F. Boston and Kesling middle schools in LaPorte County, were taught the importance of reducing energy consumption from Alcoa volunteers.

Local schools competed against 10 other schools from across the nation to win bragging rights and grants, totaling $10,000, from the Alcoa Foundation, noted Tera Grinnell, Human Resource Manager at Alcoa Howmet, LaPorte.  Students took the information they learned from Alcoa volunteers into their homes and neighborhoods to educate their families and friends about the importance of energy conservation and sustainability.  The school that recorded the most completed Carbon Calculator forms would win the competition.

On Earth Day 2011, Paul F. Boston Middle School in LaPorte was recognized as the grand prize winner of a $5,000 Alcoa Foundation grant, with more than 1,100 completed calculations. Castle North Middle School in Warrick was named a runner-up and received a $1,000 grant, while Castle South and Kesling middle schools were named honorable mentions and awarded $500 grants from the Alcoa Foundation.

Four of the five Hoosier schools placed in the top third of competing schools and participating schools helped their communities identify more than $1.75 million in potential energy savings.

Senator Lugar agrees with the need to focus on doing more with less energy in order to save Hoosier families and businesses and make our economy more competitive.  His Practical Energy Plan, introduced in spring of 2011, would save more than $33 billion in energy costs.

Yet, Alcoa didn’t stop at making an impact with the schools.

The LaPorte facilities began an Employee Appreciation Green Fair Day.  To promote healthy energy habits, local food vendors treated Alcoa employees to energy-themed foods. Information about recycling and other energy saving tips were available from local businesses, and employees received free recycling bins and energy-efficient prizes.

“It was important to us that our employees see the impact,” said Grinnell. “We wanted them to see how the small decisions matter, and how those habits can be multiplied exponentially for an even greater impact.”

The Warrick Operations facility continued to promote the Carbon Calculator and energy conservation at an Earth Day event at the Mesker Park Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Evansville, Ind. More than 250 Hoosiers pledged to reduce their energy usage and received recycling bins from Alcoa volunteers.

The Warrick plant is one of Alcoa’s largest facilities and houses one of North America’s last remaining aluminum smelters. There are eight operating aluminum smelters in the U.S., five of them operated by Alcoa. Alcoa’s Warrick smelter is the largest fully operating facility in the nation.

“For us, energy conservation is more than just good environmental sense,” said Beck. “It’s a key to our business. Energy accounts for about one-third of the cost to produce molten metal.”

To ensure transparency with the company’s stakeholders, each year Warrick Operations invites the public to an Environmental Open House. Alcoa’s top managers share information with the community regarding how the operations are lowering energy consumption and reducing the facility’s carbon footprint.

“Alcoa is a big user of energy and we feel a responsibility to use less,” said Grinnell. “We strive to make a positive impact on the environment and be good community stewards. It’s really a team effort.”

Senator Lugar agrees. That is why he congratulates the Alcoa Howmet, LaPorte and Alcoa Warrick Operations on being Lugar Energy Patriots.