Success Stories - Business

Paramount Farms, Kern County

• The company has installed a solar-energy farm. The energy provided can offset a significant amount of plant operations, saving grid power derived from fossil fuel.
• The company operates employee van pools for its sites in Lost Hills and Kings County.
• The Lost Hills facility has a cafeteria to allow employees to refrain from offsite commuting for meals.
• The facility saves travel with teleconferencing between offices in Lost Hills and Santa Monica, and allows employee telecommuting.

Pelco, Fresno

• Wide variety of employee-focused programs that reduce vehicle miles traveled, including bike to work, flex work schedules, bus incentives, onsite food service, postal services and dry cleaning service.

IKEA Wholesale, Kern County

• IKEA participates in and encourages in carpooling and other alternative transportation with subsidies.
• IKEA’s telecommuting program allows some job classifications to work from home.
• IKEA is an EPA SmartWay Truck Fleet charter member and award winner. IKEA requires that all contract carriers are part of the SmartWay program, which seeks to cut idling and improve mileage in order to reduce emissions.
• IKEA conducts energy use audits for its facilities, and has instituted a program of energy savings at the local plant. A project to use motion- and daylight-controlled lighting in conjunction with skylights saved enough energy to pay for itself in six months.
• IKEA is considering solar power for the Kern County facility and geothermal power for a facility in Canada. Their goal is to be 100 percent renewable. They use electric forklifts.
• IKEA contracts with a catering service to keep employees on site for meals.
• IKEA educates its employees about environmental concerns and energy savings, and hopes to gain a 20 percent savings from this activity.
• The company has a no-idling policy at every facility.

Best Buy, Dinuba

• Best Buy has significantly reduced truck trips to the Bay Area by using a satellite distribution center and consolidation of loads. The company is expanding the concept to L.A. this year.
• Best Buy has changed lighting for efficient energy use.
• The company plans to install solar in its distribution center later this year and then expand to stores.

Covanta Energy

• Covanta is in the process of installing Rentar units (type of catalyst) on off-road, heavy-duty equipment. These units reduce emissions and increase fuel efficiency.

OK Produce, Fresno
The entire operation has switched to green technology, including:

• Solar energy for five years.
• Retrofitting all their refrigeration units for energy efficiency.
• Changing all lighting to being energy efficient.
• Using the latest technology in its truck fleet.
• Changing truck tires to maximum efficiency.
• Installing particulate filters on two trucks with applications pending for more.
• Sales staff drive hybrid vehicles.

Big West Refining

• Big West’s upcoming expansion will allow on-site refining of gas oil, eliminating the need to truck the material to plants in Long Beach.  The result:  elimination of thousands of truck trips per year; and an estimated 75 percent of fuel now trucked in will be manufactured locally.
• As part of the expansion project, the facility will spend $5 million locally for environmental projects.
• Big West has pledged to plant 1,000 trees to offset emissions from the new plant, and has installed high-efficiency lighting, in the office, and long-life, low-leaking valves throughout the facility.
• The company has utilized a high-efficiency control technique on the burners for the heaters and boilers. more effectively meeting emission requirements and saving a significant amount of fuel.

South San Joaquin Irrigation District (SSJID)

• The water treatment plant is run by solar panels and more solar installations are planned.
• Six inches of gravel will be installed on about 60 miles of roads this year to reduce dust.
• The irrigation district includes Healthy Air Living information in its customer newsletter.

Sun Maid Raisin Growers

• The company is purchasing hybrid fleet vehicles.
• It is implementing new fuel-efficient processes in their plant.
• It is using digesters to produce methane fuel at their distillery.
• Sun Maid conducts “green” contracting with trucking companies.
• It holds educational seminars for growers, including displays of new technology to reduce farm emissions.
• It provides growers a paper tray recycling program as an alternative to burning.
• Sun Maid encourages carpooling.

Foster Farms

• Foster Farms is testing a filter for refrigerated trucks.
• In Livingston, employees can walk to a company restaurant.
• Foster Farms is considering solar panels at its chicken houses.

Las Palmas Dehydration

• Fuel additives have been used successfully in bus fleet trials to increase mileage and decrease NOx and PM10. Las Palmas is working on state certification for the product and has tested it in fleets worldwide.

Tejon Ranch

• The company is starting  a van pool to serve tenants employees at IKEA and Tejon Industrial Complex.
• Buildings have efficient interior lighting and cool roofs to save energy. The company is committed to using solar power.
• They are committed to solar power depending on securing a firm tenant for one of the largest warehouses in the TIC.

Diamond Foods

• Diamond has undergone a lighting retrofit program to reduce energy consumption.
• Portions of operations are shut down during peak electrical demands periods.

Frito-Lay

• A solar project is providing power to the plant to replace boilers used in the cooking of chips.
• Frito-Lay is establishing a rideshare/carpooling program at the site.

Panella Trucking

• The company has added 66 particulate filters and installed 11 engine repower retrofits
• On its ranching operations, it has replaced several diesel pump engines with the help of Moyer funds.
• Half- and three-quarer-ton trucks are being replaced with smaller, more fuel-efficient models. The saving in fuels covers most of the cost of the new vehicles.

Costco Depot

• Trucks leave full.
• Trucks are managed to eliminate backlog and congestion.
• All trucks are leased, which keeps the fleet new.

Turlock Irrigation District (TID)

• TID is in the process of taking waste gas from the City of Turlock’s wastewater treatment plant (currently sent to a flare), cleaning the gas stream and using the gas to operate a 1.2 megawatt fuel cell
• The utility runs a number of energy-efficiency programs and incentive programs for its customers.

California State University, Bakersfield

• CSUB subsidizes student bus passes and sponsors an Alternative Transportation Day.
• CSUB offers many web-based classes, has dining and postage facilities, and provides daycare for students and staff.

Chevron USA

• Facility has developed a program to maximize the efficiency of the heat put into the ground for heavy-oil production.
• Chevron’s facility near Fellows is solar powered.
• Facility operates van pools to outlying field areas.
• Facility uses high-efficiency lighting in its offices, has a gym on site, provides lunch service, mailroom, 9/80 schedule and bicycle storage, and operates a fleet of small economy or hybrid as fleet vehicles.
• Chevron participates in the San Joaquin Valley Clean Air Program, and is the major sponsor of Valley Clean Air Now, which pays for smog checks and repairs for older vehicles.

Aera Energy

• Facility uses high-efficiency lighting in its offices, has a gym on site, provides lunch service, ATM and  9/80 schedule, and operates two van pools from office.
• Aera has engaged in energy studies to minimize energy use in field and in office.

Dreyers Ice Cream

• Facility is in the process of ISO 14001 certification. Company has set as a goal reduction in gas, water and electricity usage of 5 percent/ton of product per year. These changes come from a resource conservation team and are funded by the parent company. Improvements or ideas to date include reflective paint, solar power, high-efficiency condensers, compressors and lighting.
• Dreyers uses videoconferencing and telecommuting to cut down on travel, and encourages walking, bicycling and carpooling to work.

Peninsula Packaging

• Company has installed a five-acre solar power generation field.
• Company changed all lighting to energy efficient fixtures and installed skylights