energy consumption
Sponsored by
Arway Linen and Uniform Rentals is Philadelphia’s largest provider of linen and uniform services. The company has evolved considerably since its 1979 founding. Yet, to scale for further market share gains, the management team recognized a larger facility with additional and more complex machinery was required. Included in their planning was the objective to increase productivity and meaningfully reduce labor and energy costs.
Arway has always been committed to green business practices, which led them to partner with Ecosave. While initially Ecosave’s water and energy efficiency services resonated with Arway’s sustainability mindset, it was Ecosave’s off-balance sheet funding model that proved invaluable. The additional capacity provided by the funding model enabled the leadership team to think outside the box for expedited and transformative growth.
“Ecosave’s engineering and funding model align perfectly with Arway’s business and sustainability goals. They demonstrated the engineering insights to earn our trust and the innovation and collaboration to become a trusted and valued partner.”
— Mario Stagliano, Managing Partner
The Ecosave Energy Services Agreement (ESA) enables clients to implement efficiency measures by entering into a service agreement with Ecosave. Meaning, Ecosave funds the projects and remains accountable to service and maintain equipment to deliver the annual energy savings contractually guaranteed. For Arway, where the facility upgrades total over $16 million, payment to Ecosave comes in the form of the annual Ecosave Service Fee, which is paid for with a portion of the annual energy cost savings, leaving Arway cashflow-positive.
Ecosave remains financially invested in the success of the project from implementation and for the life of the service contract. Put simply, Arway receives the new equipment necessary to grow their facility and saves more than $1M net annually. For Arway and Ecosave, it is a win-win.
With the new facility’s state-of-the-art energy efficient equipment upgrades, Arway is guaranteed to reduce water and energy consumption by 51% per year.
Key benefits:
- Upgrade outdated machinery with low maintenance, energy and cost-efficient equipment
- Automate processing systems to ensure operational workflows can be managed in a singular platform
- Monitor, track, predict and reduce energy consumption with AI-backed utility management systems and real-time data analysis
- Minimize water costs with Smart Water Valve Installation enabling water demand management
- Manage pollutant concentrations to guarantee compliance with local environmental standards
In addition to the energy efficiency services, Arway is benefiting from EcosaveWatch, a proprietary AI-powered management and analytics software designed to safeguard operations and proactively manage building systems. With EcosaveWatch, Arway can be alerted when equipment begins to show signs of anomalies in operations before they impact operations at the facility — reducing downtime before it ever even occurs.
Ecosave provides tailored and precision-engineered energy efficiency solutions. As an early implementer of the energy-as-a-service, Ecosave modernizes client infrastructure for enhanced productivity and resiliency and reduced costs, energy consumption, and carbon emissions.
QUESTIONS TO ASK
Too often facility improvements are based on lagging indicators and short-term solutions. Shifting to a proactive and efficiency-driven mindset empowers production efficiencies, as well as cost and carbon savings.
Questions to ask when assessing facility needs:
- Are present facilities an asset or a liability?
- Do we actively control our energy costs?
- Are we prepared for the costs incurred from downtime?
- Is deferred maintenance creating greater operational risk?
- Do data-driven and predictive insights currently inform planning?
- Are we in compliance with existing – and upcoming – emissions and sustainability laws?
- Could parts of our system benefit from a total replacement versus ongoing repair?
- Have we considered funding energy infrastructure upgrades using an off-balance sheet model?
