The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recognized Polaris for attaining DOE’s 50001 Ready status at its off-road and on-road vehicle production facility in Huntsville, Alabama. Polaris’ 950,000-square-foot Huntsville plant saved at least 2.6 million kilowatt hours and nearly $200,000 in energy costs by implementing simple operational changes as part of 50001 Ready. The team at the Huntsville plant, the newest and largest of Polaris’ 10 U.S. manufacturing facilities, saw an opportunity to lead the company toward greater sustainability.

“Completing all [50001 Ready] Navigator tasks is key to ensuring you have performed a thorough evaluation of your whole system,” said Aaron Tyrie, Environmental Health Safety and Securities Manager at Polaris. “DOE’s tool walked us step by step through the process, helped us identify gaps, brainstorm solutions to close those gaps, and charted a clear path forward to meet our objectives.”

DOE’s 50001 Ready provides a self-paced, no-cost way for organizations to build a culture of structured energy improvement that leads to deeper and sustained savings. The rigor and structure of 50001 Ready can help pave the way for potential certification to the global ISO 50001 standard, if a partner chooses to go that route. Polaris was able to achieve great savings in the first year of a Strategic Energy Management initiative, administered by the Tennessee Valley Authority, with help from the 50001 Ready Navigator online tool hosted by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Learn more about how Polaris earned 50001 Ready status.

DOE offers two key programs to encourage wide uptake of ISO 50001: 50001 Ready helps organizations get on the road to sustained energy savings, and Superior Energy Performance 50001 (SEP 50001) provides a robust measurement and verification protocol to support third-party verification of energy performance improvements. Both programs support DOE’s Better Buildings, Better Plants Program with materials, tools, and training.

50001 Ready and SEP 50001 are managed by DOE’s Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) within the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. AMO supports early-stage research to advance innovation in U.S. manufacturing and promote American economic growth and energy security.