Danbury Facility Makes Advances in Energy Savings

Rich Ciardi was a man on a mission.

As the Maintenance Manager at the STANLEY^® Engineered Fastening plant in Danbury, Connecticut, Ciardi – along with his team – set the goal of revamping the facility’s systems to achieve compliance with Stanley Black & Decker’s ECOSMART^™ guidelines, and thus recognizing substantial energy savings. In late 2016, Ciardi invited a group from the local power company, Eversource, to join him and pinpoint opportunities for improvement at the 123,000-square-foot plant. The Eversource team developed a punch list for Ciardi to complete, with the assurance of cost and energy savings upon the fulfillment of the tasks.

It’s sustainability that keeps the plant running, keeps us in business, keeps our jobs going.— Rich Ciardi, Danbury Plant Maintenance Manager 
STANLEY^® Engineered Fastening

Ten months later, Ciardi and the Danbury team had worked through the list. By completing the modifications Eversource identified, the Danbury facility not only made a direct contribution to the bottom line in the amount of nearly $200,000, but it also qualified for a $383,000 rebate. But that’s just the beginning of the payoff: altogether, these updates will have an ongoing impact on the environment through dramatically reduced energy use, translating to savings on an open-ended basis.

Work done at the plant included switching to LED lights; replacing air-driven notch motors with energy-efficient models; repairing air leaks; rearranging air-compressed piping for more efficient air flow; replacing inefficient air blow guns; placing machinery, equipment, and lights on timers to permit automatic shutdown when not in use; and installing insulation. When Eversource officials first met with Ciardi, he was unaware that these updates would produce such sizeable benefits.

“They came in and did a thorough look around, had a look at our entire operation, and said if you do these things, you can expect to be rewarded,” says Ciardi. “Even based on what would be considered a best-case scenario, I had no idea our work would produce the gains that it ultimately did. We passed with flying colors, and I’m happy for everyone involved in the process.”

"Stanley Black & Decker is a leading Eversource customer that infuses energy efficiency into its processes, which helps to enhance its operations and boost productivity,” said Eversource Vice President of Energy Efficiency Tilak Subrahmanian. “We applaud STANLEY^® Engineered Fastening’s team for their innovation and how they’re using energy-efficient technology to keep competitive and contribute to a cleaner, healthier environment.”

We applaud how STANLEY^® Engineered Fastening is using energy-efficient technology to keep competitive and contribute to a cleaner, healthier environment.— Tilak Subrahmanian, Vice President of Energy Efficiency
Eversource

Though Eversource officials are quick to credit Ciardi’s tenacity for the remarkable success and quick turnaround of the team on this project, Ciardi himself has a very matter-of-fact view of the situation. “It’s sustainability that keeps the plant running, keeps us in business, keeps our jobs going,” says Ciardi. And it’s in this simple yet expansive philosophy that Ciardi is the embodiment of ECOSMART^™, the Stanley Black & Decker sustainability plan which seeks to embed environmental awareness into everything we do, across our entire value chain.

Focusing on substantially decreasing environmental impacts by an additional 20% over current levels by 2020 through reducing operational energy and water consumption, waste generation and carbon emissions, ECOSMART^™ extends across the entirety of Stanley Black & Decker’s global operations, from product design and manufacturing to marketing, selling, and transportation. The company has been consistently recognized for its sustainability progress, including for seven consecutive years by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and five consecutive years as a global leader by the Carbon Disclosure Project.

ECOSMART^™ is just one way that Stanley Black & Decker – and STANLEY^® Engineered Fastening – is proving that good is also good for business. One million plus dollars later, Rich Ciardi and his team in Danbury have the proof.

Mission accomplished.