OCEAN SPRAY

Powerdigm funded a Worthington Energy Innovations project at Ocean Spray’s Lehigh Valley plant. Powerdigm owns the equipment and guarantees revenue from utility savings. Lehigh Valley uses a hydronic loop system to deliver and recover process heat into HVAC and to eliminate the need for steam to process juice. The heat recovery system is so efficient that Lehigh Valley does not need to purchase fuel for heating during the winter months.

WORLD’S GREENEST MANUFACTURING PLANT

Powerdigm’s CEO, Tom Kiser, designed the HVAC system at Hero Moto’s Garden Factory. The “Green Wall” produces oxygen inside the building and is incorporated into the Bigfoot HVAC system to reduce the need for air handling units and eliminate ductwork.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=r9v4BiVQjO0

THE FORD MOTOR STORY

Powerdigm’s funding model evolved from Tom Kiser’s experience in 1998 of funding $94 million worth of energy efficiency projects at a dozen Ford Motor Company plants in the United States and Canada.

After implementing groundbreaking energy efficiency systems at Ford Motor Company facilities in Sandusky, Ohio and Nashville, Tennessee Ford Management invited Professional Supply, Inc. (“PSI”), Kiser’s first firm, to participate in the largest performance contract in the auto manufacturer’s history. Ford offered Kiser twelve plants if he would be willing to finance, own and guarantee the utility savings of PSI’s energy systems in 10-year performance contracts.

Kiser agreed and PSI implemented new energy systems at the twelve Ford plants over a period of three years at a cost of $94 million, which was well under the $150 million in costs estimated for the projects. PSI discovered that the performance of its energy systems improved over the course of the 10-year contracts because PSI engineers developed a close relationship with workers at Ford facilities through a Monitoring & Verification program that included hourly performance snapshots, training of Ford personnel and maintenance schedules.

The results exceeded everyone’s expectations: PSI’s work helped Ford achieve $350 million in savings over the course of 10 year contracts— significantly better performance than the $150 million in savings PSI guaranteed. Not only that, but the performance of Ford’s PSI systems improved over time because when the projects exceeded expectations, everybody won.

Read More About the Ford Motor Story

Tom Kiser’s experience financing, owning and guaranteeing these projects at Ford Motor Company form the foundation that Powerdigm’s Funding Model evolved from.