Emerson Foundry Receives 2025 Better Project Award from Department of Energy
Automation leader’s South Milwaukee plant recognized for cutting natural gas usage by 20% with an innovative building management system.
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Pictured left to right: Zion Taylor, sustainable energy analyst, Emerson; Mike Barkan, sustainable energy analyst, Emerson; Paulomi Nandy, better buildings, technical account manager, Department of Energy.
Emerson was recognized with the 2025 Better Project Award from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) at the Better Plants Summit on May 1 in Washington D.C. The award highlights Emerson’s success in achieving significant heating and energy savings with a new building management system (BMS) at its South Milwaukee foundry.
The foundry, which manufactures electrical fittings, enclosures and other cast products for electrical infrastructure under the Appleton Group brand, has historically been one of the largest energy-consuming operations within the Emerson portfolio. By implementing a new BMS to optimize comfort heating at the site, Emerson was able to reduce natural gas consumption by 20%, nearly 13,000 MMBtu, and mitigate 9% of the foundry’s entire emissions footprint.
“At our foundry, we’ve built a legacy of innovation and continuous improvement to deliver best-in-class solutions for our customers across industries,” said John Schuster, foundry plant manager with Emerson’s discrete automation business. “That same dedication drives our efforts to minimize our environmental impact. Receiving this recognition from the U.S. Department of Energy affirms our progress in creating a more energy-efficient future.”
The Emerson foundry was among 16 other plants to receive the Better Project Award in recognition of outstanding accomplishments in energy efficiency. The DOE’s Better Plants Program works with leading U.S. manufacturers and commercial building operators to set ambitious energy, water, waste and emissions reduction goals. By partnering with industries, the program aims to help leading manufacturers boost efficiency, increase resilience and strengthen economic competitiveness.
The new BMS now enables precise control and monitoring of comfort heating and cooling systems. By optimizing this equipment, the facility has substantially reduced both gas and electricity usage by eliminating long periods of overheating that were accentuated by radiant heat from foundry operations, and by reducing temperature setpoints outside of operational hours.
This project was supported by Focus on Energy®, Wisconsin utilities’ statewide program for energy efficiency, which provided technical oversight of project scoping and system design. Focus on Energy also helped the foundry capitalize on a custom utility project grant that greatly boosted project economics, saving ratepayers money by mitigating the cost of future infrastructure buildout.
The BMS helped Emerson realize $127,000 year-over-year savings in natural gas costs at a net project cost of $118,000, resulting in an effective payback period of under one year. The solution also reduced total site energy consumption by 10%, from 130,000 1,000,000 British thermal units (MMBtu) to 117,000 MMBtu.
“By optimizing our use of heating energy at our South Milwaukee site, we’ve greatly reduced energy cost, providing a competitive edge to American production of iron castings while also driving a significant reduction in Emerson’s difficult-to-abate scope 1 emissions footprint,” said Schuster. “Now, we’re able to more efficiently and effectively serve our customers with trusted Appleton solutions that make electrical installations safer, more productive and more reliable.”
The Appleton brand includes a broad range of rugged electrical solutions for customers working in industrial and hazardous environments around the world. The Appleton portfolio includes solutions for electrical construction, lighting, industrial power, power controls and connectivity, industrial heat tracing, heating cables and more.
The South Milwaukee foundry that produces Appleton products has previously been recognized for excellence. In 2019, the facility earned the 2019 Plant Engineering Award by the American Foundry Society for innovation and commitment to continuous improvement.
For more information about Appleton electrical solutions from Emerson, visit.
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