According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the average annual electricity use for commercial building space is 14 kilowatt hours per square foot. Below is a breakdown of different electricity uses in commercial buildings with lighting contributing 17%.
Chaney’s Waldorf Facility is one of our largest across all of our locations. With a program supported by Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative (SMECO) all of our lighting needs across this facility were replaced with LED lighting, therefore reducing our electricity needs considerably.
In addition to updating our Waldorf Facility lighting needs, our employees have become more aware of hidden power drains, such as truck idling and unnecessary room lighting. Together we can help reduce the amount of power we consume companywide.
Chaney Enterprises has replaced fossil fuel oil with renewable biofuel in their Infern-O-Therm hot water boilers. In addition to the boilers, Chaney Enterprises will ultimately use biofuel in their many off-road vehicles. Adding biofuels to their operations is one of many green initiatives for Chaney Enterprises. Not only is concrete remarkably green in its planet cooling properties, durability and recycled content, but many of the practices Chaney Enterprises uses to produce concrete—including mining, water reuse and even reusing motor oil to heat the fleet maintenance shop—all contribute to its ongoing environmental strategies.
“The renewable nature of biofuel allows us to reduce the carbon footprint of every cubic yard of concrete we ship with something as easy as switching our boiler fuel over from fossil fuels to biofuel” Bill Childs, Director, Chaney Enterprises.
According to the United States Energy Information Administration, “Biofuels are transportation fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel that are made from biomass materials. These fuels are usually blended with petroleum fuels (gasoline and diesel fuel), but they can also be used on their own. Using ethanol or biodiesel reduces the consumption of gasoline and diesel fuel made from crude oil, which can reduce the amount of crude oil imported from other countries. Ethanol and biodiesel are also cleaner-burning fuels than pure gasoline and diesel fuel.”