Indiana Municipal Power Agency rewards Kimball International flight hangar for energy efficiency
In rural southern Indiana, global operations that require round-the-clock staffing are a normal day’s work at the Hangar and Flight Operations offices of Kimball International. Reflecting the Company’s environmental commitment, Kimball today received an incentive rebate for its efforts to reduce energy use. The rebate was presented to the facilities and property staff of Kimball International, Inc. (NASDAQ: KBALB) for a new lighting installations project recently completed at the Hangar facility. The rebate was the first to be awarded by a new energy efficiency program in the state.
The rebate was presented during a tour of the Kimball Flight Hangar facilities by Raj Rao, President and CEO, and other visiting members of the Indiana Municipal Power Agency (IMPA). The IMPA’s Commercial and Industrial Energy Efficiency Incentive Program offers cash incentives to business customers in IMPA member communities. Through the program, businesses can receive financial rebates for implementing exemplary energy-saving environmental projects with measurable results. The electric utility provider for the Kimball Flight Hangar is Huntingburg Municipal Utilities, an IMPA member.
Arnold Tempel, Facilities Project Manager for Kimball International, explained the significance of the project, saying, “We completed a lighting improvement project for the Hangar facility that replaced older, less efficent Metal Halide and T12 Fluorescent light fixtures, with more energy efficient and environmentally friendly T5 and T8 Fluorescent fixtures and occupancy sensor light switches.” Tempel noted, “This change will save more than 10,000 kilowatts of electricity per year and also reduce utility costs by approximately $1,200 dollars a year.”
IMPA’s Rao congratulated Kimball on its efforts, “We are happy to see companies like Kimball take advantage of an opportunity to realize energy savings in a cost-effective and environmentally friendly manner.”
Kimball has a Power Management Plan that focuses on energy reduction at all of the Company’s facilities. The new IMPA program is a way to encourage commercial and industrial customers to reduce their energy use and recognize the benefits of such actions. Kimball anticipates this Hangar improvement to be the first of several other projects at the Company’s facilities to be eligible for IMPA rebates in the Huntingburg and Jasper utility areas.
The rebate reflects Kimball’s ongoing sustainability focus, which leads and encourages the company’s business units to take seriously their responsibility to minimize the ecological impact of their products and daily operations. Recycled content, clean materials and plant efficiency all factor into Kimball’s overall business strategies.
