When Betty Wurzel joined the 2024 Sustainability Cohort, offered by the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP) at Georgia Tech, she wasn’t expecting to have a “game-changing realization.”
But that’s exactly what happened after Wurzel — the compliance coordinator at Piolax, a supplier of plastic and metal fastening products — was encouraged by her supervisor to enroll in the yearlong program, which is funded by an EPA P2 grant.
Cohort Overview
With its focus on eliminating, preventing, or reducing pollution from the source, the Sustainability Cohort allows manufacturing executives like Wurzel to explore, develop, and implement strategies that result in cost savings and reduced environmental pollution.
The current cohort wrapped up in August, and at a recent graduation ceremony for participants, Sandra Enciso, a project manager with GaMEP’s energy and sustainability group, recapped the curriculum.
Over the course of 12 months, cohort members attended six in-person meetings, received an equal number of personalized coaching sessions, and participated in two onsite assessments — one of which led to Wurzel’s big revelation.
Piolax’s Success
With the help of GaMEP’s Energy and Sustainability team, Piolax established a company-wide carbon footprint and established a data collection and analysis program on various manufacturing components.
“We found that our chiller system is actually consuming 60% of our electricity,” said Wurzel. “We thought it was the 125 air conditioners. No, it was the chilling system.”
By adjusting the temperature on the chillers, Piolax was able to save more than $49,000 a year while reducing more than 320,000 kWh of electricity per year. Once Wurzel’s colleagues realized how simple the fix was to achieve environmental improvements, they found themselves motivated to get even more involved in sustainability efforts.
GEMÜ North America’s Experience
Wurzel’s fellow cohort members were similarly inspired. Although the participating companies produce a wide range of goods, participants learned that many of the sustainability principles they encountered were transferrable, and they shared their takeaways at the graduation event.
Giovana Bosquiroli is head of quality and management systems at GEMÜ North America, a German manufacturer that prides itself on innovation and sustainability. As she put it, “Sustainability is not something that we can isolate. It’s about behavior. It’s about practices, regardless of the business.”
Advice for Potential Participants
Bosquiroli’s colleague Suzana Mueller, GEMÜ’s head of strategy, sustainability, and corporate development, joined her as a cohort member.
Said Mueller, “If you’re trying to develop a whole sustainability program for a company, [this sustainability cohort program] gives you a road map on how to start it. For companies that still haven’t done it, and would like to consider this, it’s a tremendous opportunity. The level of expertise that you have here, if you were to go for a consultancy, would be extremely costly.”
Mueller was not the only one who would recommend the course to future participants; unsurprisingly, Wurzel is a fan, too. “It’s definitely worth getting involved and meeting the other people who are in the same boat as you’re in,” Wurzel said. “I learned so much.”
The Next Cohort
The next Sustainability Cohort begins in March 2025. For more information, including details on how to join, visit gamep.org/sustainability-cohort.