Johnson Controls Building Technologies & Solutions has selected one of its largest facilities as the first plant to shift 100 percent of its electricity to wind power. The plant located in Wichita, Kansas, manufactures residential heating and air conditioning equipment for the YORK®, Luxaire®, Coleman®, and Champion® brands. The facility will produce zero emissions from electricity and reduce the company’s North American greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 18 percent.

“This renewable energy agreement is a win-win for the business. This plant will operate on 100 percent clean energy, dramatically reducing emissions and saving costs,” said Liz Haggerty, vice president and general manager, Ducted Systems, Johnson Controls. “This is a great example of Johnson Controls’ commitment to sustainability, which drives our enterprise excellence.

The wind farm is scheduled to be completed and delivering clean energy to the Wichita plant by the end of 2019. The energy savings projections from the wind power agreement are conservatively expected to be about $2.7 million over the life of the 20-year contract.

“Sustainability is a core value of our company,” Haggerty added. “We’ve set a goal to achieve a 25 percent reduction in our global greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 2025.”

The Johnson Controls Corporate Sustainability Team worked collaboratively with Energy Procurement and Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) teams as well as plant leadership to identify opportunities to increase the amount of renewable energy used in its operations while reducing costs. Michael Richardson, the Wichita plant manager; and Matt Sansone, energy procurement manager, took the lead in securing the deal.

Since Johnson Controls set its first sustainability goals in 2002, the company says it has reduced greenhouse gas emissions from global operations by nearly half and cut energy use in U.S. manufacturing locations by 25 percent.