In-plants Go Green

THE PRINTING division of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints uses a great deal of electricity. To conserve energy and save money, the 450-employee Salt Lake City in-plant wanted to flatten out its extreme peaks and valleys. “We typically experience a peak [in terms of usage] at 7:30 a.m., for example,” notes Director Craig Sedgwick.

Fortunately, the in-plant’s power company has been a friend both to the environment and to the in-plant. About three years ago, the shop worked with the power company to install high-efficiency lighting, replacing nearly all of what it had been using.

“Our power company agreed to pay half of our initial outlay to change the lighting and convinced us that the move would save us money over the years,” Sedgwick reports. At this point, he estimates that the project has allowed the in-plant to reduce its lighting energy usage by approximately 50 percent.

This energy-saving move is just one of many green initiatives being undertaken by in-plants, as they strive to become more environmentally friendly. The age-old perception of the print shop as a den of dangerous chemicals and paper waste is rapidly changing as in-plants eliminate their chemistry, recycle their paper scraps and switch to greener inks and sheets.

In-plants’ green initiatives range from garden-variety efforts to less-typical arrangements. Here are just a few:

• Recycling paper, cardboard, cans, bottles and toner cartridges.

• Reducing paper usage via more efficient design and mailing practices.

• Printing on recycled paper and/or virgin paper made from sustainable sources.

• Using soy- or vegetable-based inks.

• Conserving/reducing energy.

• Upgrading technology (with thermal CTP systems, chemistry-free plates, automation solutions and high-production output).

• Eliminating alcohol-based solutions.

• Embarking on solvent reclamation.

• Curtailing VOCs and hazardous waste.

• Acquiring smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles (even hybrids!) for pickups and deliveries.

Lowering the Pressure

At the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, its partnership with the power company also yielded other results.

“We separated our house air into high- and low-pressure systems, since high pressure is very expensive to maintain and we need very little of it,” Sedgwick explains. “We bought new compressors, all linked by computer, that cycle only as needed, thus saving lots of electricity.” Yet another cooperative effort was upgrading HVAC system controls so that the chillers and boilers would function more efficiently.

The church is also capitalizing on in-house eco-assistance. One of its current environmental projects was inspired by an employee.

“We have quite a big place, and are trying to create drought-resistant landscaping by replacing plants,” Sedgwick notes, crediting a grounds crew person with the idea.

Making eco-friendly changes to its facility is also the approach at the University of Oklahoma.

“More than anything we are tightening up the building,” notes John Sarantakos, director of Printing Services. This includes adding insulation and hanging plastic strips on dock doors, sealing exhaust fans during winter months, and programming thermostats to reduce temperatures in unoccupied hours.

The shop has also joined a growing number of in-plants that have installed chemistry-free CTP. A Kodak Magnus computer-to-plate system was added about a year ago.

“We have zero discharge into the waste stream,” says Sarantakos. “We have converted to a green fountain solution.”

Sold on Sustainable

The University of Mississippi’s Printing and Graphic Services department is happy to talk shop about its environmentally friendly paper offerings.

“We provide to our customers a list of our ‘house’ papers and others our vendor carries, and where they fit in the recycled, forest certification and environmental certification programs,” reports Director Tony Seaman, who supervises a staff of 17. “A lot of what we have now is already FSC-certified and environmentally friendly.”

He explains that the in-plant prefers to purchase virgin papers that are made from sustainable sources rather than recycled papers.

“Recycled can be harder to print on and is way more expensive,” he opines. “We’d rather use sustainable products.”

Recycling is not synonymous with sustainable, Seaman contends.

“One paper company told us that if we did nothing but recycle the same paper, we’d run out in about two-and-a-half months because, eventually, the papers’ fibers would no longer bond together,” he relates. “With sustainable paper, we can print a better sheet at less cost.”

Seaman notes that customers have been enthusiastic about using green sheets.

“Customers are really on board with our sustainable products when they hear that recycled paper can be up to 80 percent more in cost,” Seaman remarks. “And since we are a non-funded department, we have to operate like a business.”

Taking Advantage of Technology

Colorado Springs School District 11 has spent a decade improving and refining its technologies and workflow toward greener pastures.

“We began with the elimination of our darkroom, which was certainly very environmentally unfriendly, and have since made continual upgrades,” says Joe Morin, manager of Production Printing. He anticipates that the 19-employee operation will replace its current CTP system with a chemistry-free platemaker, and expects to add more economic wide-format printers that use eco-friendly inks.

Morin prioritizes machinery maintenance and automation to minimize paper and energy waste.

“Our equipment is chosen to be more efficient; faster setup and running speeds ensure more output per kilowatt of electricity used,” he calculates, using the shop’s four-color Ryobi 524 as an example. “It’s just simple math: printing a four-color job on a four-color press cuts energy usage and printing time in half compared with running the same job on a two-color press. That, in turn, impacts general energy consumption and yields greater overall efficiency during an eight-hour shift.”

Certainly, a technology’s environmental impact is not the in-plant’s only consideration.

“Of course, it’s a moral decision and we have made conscious efforts, such as looking for [products that have earned] the ENERGY STAR rating, but we are also seeking financial benefit,” Morin admits freely. “For me, the biggest benefits are quicker throughput and less cost—all resulting in savings passed through to very happy clients.”

“Green doesn’t happen overnight,” Morin concludes. “Take it a step at a time, but just take steps, regardless of their size.”