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Green Factory / Green Building Issue Brief

In addition to its ongoing efforts to improve the environmental performance of its automobile, motorcycle and power equipment products, Honda is working to reduce...

In addition to its ongoing efforts to improve the environmental performance of its automobile, motorcycle and power equipment products, Honda is working to reduce the environmental impact of its factories and other work facilities through its "Green Factories" and "Green Buildings" initiatives. This includes increasing energy efficiency, reducing waste and enhancing recycling activities. Through its "Green Purchasing" program, Honda also encourages and supports activities by its more than 600 North American OEM parts suppliers to adopt green factory programs.

NORTH AMERICAN GREEN FACTORY INITIATIVES

  • Through Honda's Green Factory initiatives, every Honda facility works to reduce the environmental footprint of our manufacturing operations, including emissions reduction, energy efficiency improvement, and recycling of manufacturing byproducts.

    Thirteen of Honda's fourteen North American manufacturing plants have earned third-party ISO 14001 certification for environmental management systems. Honda Precision Parts of Georgia completed their ISO 14001 certification audit on November 20, 2009 and was recommended for certification. Honda of Canada Mfg. Engine Plant, which began operation in August, 2008, was incorporated into the Honda of Canada Mfg. site-wide ISO 14001 certification during their March 2009 audit. Honda Manufacturing of Indiana LLC, which began operations in September, 2008, is targeting achieving ISO 14001 certification no later than 2014.

    Energy use per automobile in Honda's North American automobile production facilities increased 8.7 percent from the previous fiscal year, primarily due to a significant reduction in production levels. Because manufacturing systems remain in operation whenever production is taking place, reduced unit production negatively affects per-unit measures of energy use, CO2 emissions, waste and water use.

    Energy efficiency initiatives included the use of more energy-efficient light fixtures, increased use of variable speed drives and efficiency improvements in compressed air systems, chiller systems and HVAC systems. Honda initiated implementation of a new paint booth air conditioning control technology, "Intelligent Paint Booth," which reduces paint booth natural gas consumption and related CO2 emissions by as much as 25%.

    Honda has eight "zero waste to landfill" plants in North America - the Alabama auto plant, North Carolina power equipment plant, the Mexico auto plant and motorcycle plant, the two Canadian auto plants and the Canadian engine plant and Indiana auto plant. The Alabama auto plant and the Indiana auto plant started up as zero landfill plants. Overall, Honda reduced waste to landfill by 18.4 percent in FY 2009 from the previous fiscal year.

    As a result of this success, Honda has set a new target to achieve "nearly zero" landfill waste (less than 1% waste to landfill) at all its North American plants by FY2012.

GREEN PURCHASING

  • Honda encourages its suppliers to reduce packaging waste, adopt more energy-efficient processes and obtain third-party ISO 14001 certification.
  • Eighty-eight percent of Honda's total North American OEM supply chain is ISO14001 certified.

NORTH AMERICAN GREEN BUILDING INITIATIVES

  • Honda has been building green since 1999 when the company built its first LEED certified building in Gresham, Oregon.
  • Honda is only automaker to achieve a LEED-Platinum certified existing building.
  • Six Honda facilities are certified by the U.S. Green Building Council

    One LEED-Platinum - recertification of existing Gold-certified building

         American Honda's Northwest Regional Center in Gresham, Oregon

    Five LEED-Gold

         Acura Design Studio in Torrance, Calif.

         American Honda's Midwestern Consolidation Center in Troy, Ohio

         Central Plant facility at Honda R&D Americas Ohio Center in Raymond, Ohio

         American Honda's Northwest Regional Center in Gresham, Oregon

         Honda Aircraft Company's world headquarters in Greensboro, North Carolina

    One LEED-Silver - first automaker to achieve a LEED Version 2.2 Silver-certified data center in the country

         American Honda's Data Center in Longmont, Colo.

  • Additional new Honda facilities are currently being designed to achieve LEED certification in the future including the Honda R&D's Marine Engine facility in Grant-Valkaria, Fl.; Honda Manufacturing of Indiana's welcome center building; the Honda Engineering expansion at the engine plant in Anna, Ohio; and, Honda Canada's head office in Markham, Ontario.
  • Among many site-specific efficiencies and innovations, these facilities share common sustainable features such as:

    Energy Star highly reflective roof and dual-paned windows with low-emissivity glass to reduce solar heat gain

    Extensive use of recycled and recyclable materials in the building envelope and interior

    Use of U.S. steel, guaranteed to contain at minimum 25 percent, and often as much as 90 percent, recycled content

    Energy-efficient light fixtures with motion sensors

    Diversion of construction waste from landfills to recycling centers

    Selection of suppliers based on the high level of recycled content of their products and their proximity to the job site.

  • A few of the unique features at Honda's certified buildings include:

    Acura Design Studio's high-efficiency displacement ventilation system that moves cool air from rooftop air conditioning units to large, floor-level grills, where it displaces heat from the human body.

    The 547,000 square-foot Midwestern Consolidation Center has a mezzanine made from wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council as having come from sustainably-managed forest lands.

    Honda R&D's Central Plant uses an ice chiller system that reduces peak energy demand from air conditioning by as much as half.

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