Canon U.S.A. Implements Aggressive Energy-Saving Practices To Cut Energy Consumption by 2.7 Million Kilowatt-Hours

As part of its ongoing commitment to environmental sustainability, the Company examined its energy practices at four U.S. regional office locations – Itasca, IL, Irving, TX, Jamesburg, NJ, and Irvine, CA, as well as its Lake Success, NY headquarters – to uncover areas where energy consumption could be improved, and implemented strategies to reduce consumption. Additionally, the Company expanded the scope of its environmental training to cover energy and resource consumption in the office, and to increase awareness of techniques that reduce energy, paper, toner and other materials.

To achieve its energy-saving goals, Canon U.S.A. focused on four key areas:

1. Energy-Efficient Lighting: Canon U.S.A. installed high-efficiency, low-carbon lighting, replacing thousands of light bulbs throughout its U.S. offices. The company also installed automatic switches that rely on motion sensors that switch off if a room is not in use. Select lighting was also removed, deactivated and/or reduced altogether in areas near sources of natural light (windows) and low-traffic areas (hallways).
2. New Computer Screens: The Company replaced more than 4,000 cathode ray tube computer screens in its offices with energy efficient LCD monitors. Outgoing monitors were donated to local schools and charities, limiting waste and extending use of the products.
3. Energy Efficient Document Management: More than 550 personal printers were removed from service, and replaced with imageRUNNER and imageRUNNER ADVANCE multifunction devices. Canon installed uniFLOW printing software to manage its fleet of document output devices, a strategy the Company recommends to its own customers. Among a variety of workflow enhancing capabilities, uniFLOW has the ability to route print jobs to the most energy-efficient printer available, determined by establishing a baseline of energy consumption that measures paper, toner and power use of printers on the network. In 2010, the company saved more than 1.6 million sheets of paper by using duplex printing.
4. Operational Management Efficiencies: Canon limits the hours that its buildings are lit during the business week; staff staying late or working on weekends need to inform facilities if lighting is needed beyond allotted ‘lit hours.’ Unnecessary lights are automatically turned off after-hours based on the use of motion detectors in some areas.

“With such a strong commitment to environmental sustainability, the team at Canon U.S.A. is inspired to be green by implementing stringent measures to save energy and minimize our environmental footprint,” said Joe Adachi, president and chief executive officer, Canon U.S.A., Inc. “We are happy to share our experiences and strategies for energy savings, to show others that taking measures to go green and protect the environment for future generations can have an enormous impact, both at home and in the office.”