Bridgestone Firestone Plant Awarded ‘Green’ LEED Certification

Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire’s (BFNT) Warren County tyre production facility in Tennessee has earned LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver Certification from the US Green Building Council. LEED certification is a recognition of outstanding environmental building design and utilisation that is rarely given to existing manufacturing sites. This is, says BFNT, the first LEED certification for a tyre factory in the world.

LEED was designed by the US Green Building Council to encourage the development of more sustainable buildings. As such, LEED is used by the Environmental Protection Agency to certify its buildings and promote energy and resource efficiency, waste reduction and pollution prevention practices, indoor air quality standards, and other environmental initiatives for both new construction and existing buildings.

The environmentally beneficial programmes implemented by the Warren County tyre plant include its use of clean energy hydrogen fuel cells in automated-guided vehicles in the plant. Energy-efficient lighting, hi-tech fans, and resource-conserving fixtures in restrooms are also part of the Warren County facility’s environmental conservation efforts. The BFNT Warren County facility is reported to have significantly reduced energy consumption and has reduced water consumption in the plant by more than 32 million litres a year.

“We are extremely proud of this recognition by the US Green Building Council,” said BFNT Warren County Plant manager Ron Brooks. “Environmental stewardship and a strong commitment to community are major initiatives of our facility and of our company. We knew we had outstanding programs and activities in place to make this goal become a reality.”

This type of recognition is rare for an existing building and even more impressive for the Warren County truck and bus tyre plant, considering it was built 19 years ago. It is only the second existing manufacturing site in the country to earn this certification.

“We are honoured to be the first tyre plant in the world to achieve LEED certification and the second existing manufacturing building in the United States to achieve this recognition,” said BFNT’s director of Environmental Management, Greer Tidwell. “Since most LEED certifications are awarded to new buildings (typically office environments), our team had to work very hard to meet the stringent standards necessary to achieve LEED.”

“While climate change is a global problem, innovative companies like Bridgestone Firestone are addressing it through local solutions,” said Kim Shinn, director, US Green Building Council. “Achieving LEED Silver certification is not an easy accomplishment. It takes diligence, long-term commitment and leadership.

“Existing buildings make up 95 per cent of the buildings, and only about 5 per cent of buildings are replaced each year,” added Shinn, who is also a principal of TLC Engineering for Architecture, a southern US based sustainability consulting firm. “Building a new facility to green building standards is laudable and good for the earth. However, we have a more immediate challenge. We must reach into our current buildings and raise them to the green operation and maintenance standards of LEED for Existing Buildings. Bridgestone Firestone is clearly showing the way to respond to the most-important challenges of our time.”

Plant manager Brooks credits BFNT Warren County facilities manager Muneer Chowdhury for his hard work and for initially proposing the idea for LEED, and Kelsan, Inc., one of the Warren Plant’s supplier partners, for ongoing support in obtaining the LEED certification. Brooks also commends BFNT employees who were led by engineering/maintenance division manager Vern Duncan; environmental engineer Sean Fisher; and powerhouse manager Herb Cannon for their long hours and dedication to achieving this goal. Their efforts, he said, along with support and technical guidance from Bridgestone America Holdings’ director of Environmental Affairs Tim Bent and Tidwell, made this recognition possible.