WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that, beginning today, a three-day industrial Energy Saving Assessment is taking place at the W.L. Gore & Associates facility in Elkton, Maryland, as part of the comprehensive national energy efficiency effort undertaken by the Bush Administration.  Through no-cost assessments, DOE is working with major manufacturing facilities to identify energy- and money-saving opportunities, primarily by focusing on steam and process heating systems.

 

“President Bush has called on all Americans to be more energy efficient.  Private industry is joining the federal government in taking a lead role in this effort,” Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman said.  “DOE’s Energy Saving Teams will play a key role in assessing and recommending energy efficiency strategies for some of the largest industrial facilities across the nation.”

 

W.L. Gore & Associates facility is a GORE-TEX fabrics plant and is in one of several campuses that make up Gore’s 17-plant presence in and around Elkton, MD, and Wilmington, Delaware.  Perhaps best known for its consumer products like GORE-TEX® fabric and ELIXIR® guitar strings, W.L. Gore & Associates is a leading manufacturer of thousands of advanced technology products for the electronics, industrial, fabrics and medical markets.

 

DOE’s Energy Saving Teams have completed visits to 29 large federal facilities and are in the process of visiting 200 energy-intensive manufacturing facilities in the United States as part of the national “Easy Ways to Save Energy” campaign launched by Secretary Bodman on October 3, 2005. 

 

The first 18 energy saving assessments have identified, in aggregate, $61 million per year in potential energy cost savings and could reduce natural gas consumption by more than 7 trillion Btu per year, equivalent to the natural gas consumed by approximately 100,000 typical homes annually.

 

Companies interested in a free energy assessment can get more details at http://www1.eere.energy.gov/industry/saveenergynow/ and request brochures detailing “Fifteen Tips to Help Your Plant Save Energy.” 

 

For tips on easy, inexpensive steps consumers can take to lower their energy bills, please visit http://www.energysavers.gov/ or call DOE’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Hotline at 1-877-337-3463.