During this year's event, we hope to educate you about how our innovative products, systems and solutions can help make your business more energy-efficient, productive and profitable. Read on to find out how we did this in our own facility.
ABB aspires to create value for our stakeholders by meeting the needs of our customers, employees and the communities in which we do business. We also continuously strive to increase the efficiency with which resources such as energy, water, and material are consumed in the facilities that we own or lease around the world.
To show you this in action, we have chosen our newly opened Longmeadow facility in Johannesburg as the backdrop for Automation and Power World South Africa 2009.
Green by design
The multi-million dollar facility, which opened in early 2009, was built by ABB with energy efficiency in mind and features key green building elements, including solar panels, a grey water recycling system, energy-efficient lighting and temperature control and building automation systems, all developed by ABB. The building also features energy-efficient ABB low-voltage drives and motors.
The roof of the building is fitted with a rain water collection system, which automatically diverts rain water from the roof into two ponds, and then to tanks from where it can be used to water gardens and top up water features.
Meanwhile, a solar system on the roof heats water delivered to the showers. This natural, free energy source replaces electrical heating and does not produce carbon emissions. Energy consumption for the building’s heating system is also reduced with a heat reclaim pump system that captures hot air from the airconditioning system and diverts it to supplement the building’s boilers.
On the design front, the building’s H-shaped structure also contributes to lower energy consumption as all office workstations are on the edges of the building where they is an ample supply of natural light. Moreover, every workstation is fitted with a photo-sensitive switch that turns on low energy lights when people arrive and off when they leave.
ABB's Full Service® concept also ensures that the factory's production lines run smoothly and energy is optimized at every stage of the manufacturing process. With the Full Service agreement, ABB Service commits to maintaining and improving production equipment by taking over responsibility for the complete scope of an entire plant’s maintenance activities, including engineering, planning, execution, management and more.
As you can see, the facility is a true testament to green building standards and serves as the perfect setting for an event centered around more efficient products and solutions.
Delivering on our values
The Automation and Power World 2009 event puts the spotlight on our on-going commitment to energy efficiency and sustainability, which for us, is about balancing economic success, environment initiatives and social programs to benefit all our stakeholders. These values are at the core of our business and are evident in everything we do, including how we build our products and solutions and how we tailor our solutions to meet your needs.
Join us this November in Longmeadow and see our innovative products and solutions for yourself. This is an opportunity that shouldn't be missed!