Blog posts of '2008' 'December'

Albina Pipe Bending Co., Inc. is a strong proponent of energy conservation. We believe that every little bit helps; we can all do our part to make a difference. Albina, like many other businesses, has made a pledge to save energy with Portland General Electric. In addition to our pledge Albina has taken specific action steps to actually conserve energy. Our entire 50,000 square ft production facility was upgraded with energy efficient light fixtures and bulbs. The new lighting drastically lowered the amount of energy we use and provided a brighter shop floor and better working conditions. We have also installed motors on all of our overhead doors. Prior to the motor installation we opened our doors once during the day and kept the doors open for ease of in and out traffic. The doors were opened only once because they were labor intensive to open and close, but having the doors open created problems keeping our shop heated. The motors allow us to keep our overhead doors closed for a majority of the day during the cold winter months. We now open and close them only as needed. Having the doors closed for a majority of the day has drastically decreased the heating requirement in our shop and in turn eliminates the energy required for heating. Our air compressor that runs our shop was analyzed and found to be inefficiently using energy. Albina immediately put a plan in place to replace and upgrade our air compressor with a more energy efficient compressor. This upgrade has proven to reduce the amount of energy required, daily. Finally, we have made it company policy to only purchase new sales vehicles that get a minimum of 30 miles per gallon. Albina has utilized and will continue to utilize the business energy tax credit that the Oregon Department of Energy provides. Not only are we saving energy to help the environment and improve our business community, but we are able to recognize tax credits for the energy savings. Our pledge to conserving energy, along with the pledges of many other businesses can be found at: Portland General Electric. Our hope is that our pledge and actions will strengthen the business community and demonstrate the power every company has to make a difference.