Chrysler's Trenton Plant Leads Green

There is gold in the green at Chrysler's Trenton South Engine Plant.

The 822,000-square-foot plant is one of the greenest auto manufacturing plants around, earning it a Gold LEED certification. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design—and the gold ranking is highly coveted.

Only four auto plants have received a LEED rating of any kind, according to Chrysler.

“The Trenton South Engine Plant has established a new industry benchmark for efficient, environmentally conscious design,” said Scott Garberding, head of manufacturing, Chrysler Group LLC. “This Gold certification is tangible evidence of Chrysler’s dedication to the environment and to the well-being of our surrounding communities.”

The plant, which employs about 478 people and builds a fuel-efficient V-6 engine known as the Pentastar, has an array of attributes that make it one of the greenest auto manufacturing plants in Michigan, and it has kept its carbon footprint minimal.

The plant reduced its carbon-dioxide emissions by more than 12,000 metric tons or the equivalent of 1,000 homes, according to the press release.

How green is it?

Here are some of the higlights of the Trenton plant's green features:

• It has a design to use 40 percent less energy, a savings of nearly $1.3 million annually. The plant uses higher performance insulation and more efficient manufacturing processes, fluorescent lighting, and heating and cooling systems.
• Water use was reduced by 1.5 million gallons annually compared with the Trenton North Plant, which is scheduled for demolition in May.
• The plant diverts more than 670 tons of waste from landfills with its Zero-Waste-to-Landfill processes, keeping surrounding nature from being overcome by waste.
• In addition, native grasses and trees were planted nearby, reducing heat coming from the building, also known as the "heat island effect."
• It has reduced the number of parking spaces and increased car and van pool spaces to cut down on vehicle emissions from employees.
• The building’s roof was colored white rather than black to reduce heat even further.

Peter Adriaens, professor of environmental engineering and professor in the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan, said Chrysler’s effort is laudable. He said, though, the plant's claims regarding avoided CO2 emissions would need to be monitored for validation.

Adriaens said LEED gold certification for a manufacturing plant is quite unusual, considering the energy and emissions associated with such a plant.

"Whether the plant will actually reduce its carbon footprint significantly is not directly related to the LEED gold," Adriaens said. "LEED awards points to various environmental improvements, including energy, water, materials recycling, reducing commuting, etc. So the aggregate of these points adds to LEED Silver, Gold, or Platinum."

Adriaens said changing lighting to be more energy efficient may reduce energy consumption by 20 percent and the use of a white roof, which reflects light and reduces air-conditioning costs and heating costs, may result in a decrease of 10-15 percent of energy use.  He added the use of vegetation does not have much impact on the heat island effect–this is very area-dependent.  

The engine plant was not the first automotive plant to receive gold, Adriaens added. General Motors was the first to win gold with their Lansing Delta Assembly Plant. Some other manufacturing plants that have received gold include semiconductor manufacturers and bottling plants.

Reduce-reuse-recycle

In addition to cleaner and greener energy systems, nearly 50 percent of the materials used in the construction were made up of recycled content.

"Depending on how you count, the use of recycled building materials implies less embedded energy from not having to extract new raw materials," Adriaens said.

The plant achieved the LEED Gold certification with the help of two architect and engineering firms, BEI Associates Inc. of Detroit and Harley Ellis Devereaux of Southfield, and the construction management firm Walbridge of Detroit.