Manufacturers Meet Demand for Clean and Green Products
Published Feb 16, 2009
Business is whirling along at Aerisyn, a manufacturer of wind-power turbines.
Rising energy costs in an economic downturn force even the healthiest companies to take a look at power usage. And through a combination of greener operations and more efficient systems, the SEIDA region’s manufacturers not only are finding ways to be more energy-conscious, some are even going into the green-energy field itself.
Consider Aerisyn LLC, which manufactures wind-power turbines. Since beginning operations in Chattanooga in 2005, the company has added both people and production, operating at full capacity over the last couple of years.
Then there’s Aerisyn’s neighbor Alstom Power Systems, which is pumping more than $200 million into its Turbomachines Group operation. The global manufacturer of power-generation equipment is building a new facility to manufacture steam engines, gas turbines, generators and other machinery, and is expected to create about 350 new jobs when production begins in mid-2010.
Other companies seizing on the green trend include U.S. Floors Inc., which is expanding its Dalton, Ga., facility to meet growing demand for bamboo and cork flooring products. The company is paying attention to its own environment, too, by adding solar panels to the roof and implementing other energy-saving measures, says Melanie Suggs, director of the Dalton-Whitfield Joint Development Authority.
“They are using highly renewable resources to produce their flooring, so they have a very green story to tell just with their products,” Suggs says. “The building that they’re refurbishing will have a lot of green elements in it, and they are building another [one] that they hope to have LEED certified.”
The company is on the cusp of the region’s new environmentally friendly production sector, Suggs says, by “bringing new finishes and textures to a market that hasn’t had them. And their finished product is something that’s environmentally friendly and something other companies can use when they renovate or build new buildings that are more efficient.”
Story by Joe Morris
Photo by Ian Curcio
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